


One Personal Favour

by CharlotteML



Series: Charlotte's Fanon Ishimondo Timeline [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: (In Sayaka's Chapter), (i think), Board Games, Bullying, Childhood Trauma, Christmas Party, Drawing Badly, Fat Shaming, Fluff and Angst, Football | Soccer, Gen, Genderfluid, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied past sexual coercion, Internalized Homophobia, It's not as depressing as those tags make it seem, Junko's a bitch basically, Karaoke, M/M, Mentions of Suicide (Yasuhiro's chapter), Political Discussion, Sensory Overload (Mild Example), Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, Terrible attempt at song lyrics, Underage Drinking, Valentine's Day, Wet Dream, not explicit though, roleplaying, transphobic language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 10:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 519,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7312015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteML/pseuds/CharlotteML
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This voucher entitles the bearer to One Personal Favour from Kiyotaka Ishamaru". It's a cheap present to give his new classmates, but it's the best he can afford. The last thing he expects is for any of them to actually USE it! Let alone for some of the odd things they come up with...</p><p>(Pre-despair, takes place over the course of their first year at Hope's Peak. Perspective of each chapter switches between Ishimaru and the classmate being focused on that chapter. Will gradually become Ishimondo, though I'm hoping to focus more on Taka's relationship with other characters as well.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stealth attack (Sakura Oogami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a prequel to my other story "Surprise for Ishimaru" and will ultimately end on a sort-of cliffhanger that leads into that one.
> 
> Also this story takes place in a weird fusion of America and Japan where they use Japanese naming conventions and eat Japanese food but the school year starts in September and they know American pop culture.
> 
> Just a warning that as this continues Ishimaru will change how he refers to other characters, and possibly even himself, as he gets more comfortable with them and starts thinking of them by their firsts name or nicknames.
> 
> Also I'm not sure about whether calling a female classmate -kun would be considered an insult or not. I've read about women being referred to as -kun but that seemed to be more in a male boss/ female subordinate relationship.

"This voucher entitles the bearer to One Personal Favour from Kiyotaka Ishamaru"

Ishimaru breathed a small sigh of relief as he finished the calligraphy. He didn't have much natural talent for it. But then again he'd never had much natural talent for anything, he'd got better at it the same way he got better at everything else: effort and practise. 

Especially practise writing the previous phrase, along with "This voucher entitles the bearer to One Hours Tutoring from Kiyotaka Ishimaru", "This voucher entitles the bearer to One Room Cleaned by Kiyotaka Ishimaru" and "This voucher entitles the bearer to One Weeks Laundry Cleaned by Kiyotaka Ishimaru".

It was embarrassing, really. He wished dearly that he could come up with better presents for his classmates, it was one of the many things his previous ones had thought was so awful about him. But his family didn't have spare money and he was even worse at arts and craft than he was at calligraphy. His only practical choice was promising them his time. 

Not that anyone had ever held him to his promises before. Most of his classmates had just thrown the painstakingly hand-made books in the bin, or ripped them up to make spit wads to shoot at his head. He'd still made them of course. As he'd told his new classmates when he'd reminded them about tomorrow, birthdays were important to people, and it would be rude to ignore them completely. (Even if his birthday taking place in the holidays meant that they all tended to forget _his_.)

So here he was, a high school student making a childish voucher booklet for his classmate's birthday. He wondered how Oogami would react. To be frank, even though the martial artist hadn’t caused any trouble since they started school, he was still scared of how she would react to being given such a...cheap present. What was the martial artist equivalent of a spit wad? Something fatal maybe?

He shook his head, he was being ridiculous. Oogami would probably just throw it in the bin. Then he'd briefly consider fishing it back out and re-using it on the next student's birthday. But he wouldn't, he always made a new booklet each time. 

He needed the calligraphy practise.  

* * *

 Sakura was feeling slightly... uncomfortable. She'd not expected so many of her classmates to remember it was her birthday today. But so far every single one of them had wished her a Happy Birthday, although she'd thought some of them might have been... Coerced maybe? Perhaps Hina had been trying too hard to convince the others to like her?

Speaking of which...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!" Hina ran into the dining room, a tray in one hand and a package in the other. "I got you a protein shake! And a present!" She put both on the table in front of her.

"Did you also remind everyone about my birthday?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, uh...ha ha! No that wasn't me." Hina was embarrassed, "I actually needed to be reminded as well...Sorry..."

"Ah, don't worry. We've not known each other long enough for me to expect anyone to remember it, that you decided to get me a present at all is appreciated.”

"Aww, thanks!" Hina replied. "But speaking of the present, open it! Open it!"

She opened it, it was a case of protein deluxe X. She hadn't realised it was available in the shops here. "Where did you get this?"

"Fujisaki-chan helped me order it through the internet!" Hina bounced happily. "It wasn't even that expensive really..."

That was good to hear. She quizzed Hina on online orders for a while, before realising that Ishimaru was nervously standing ramrod straight by their sides, waiting for them to finish talking.

"Good morning Ishimaru-kun?" It was unusual for the hall monitor to approach her.

"Good morning Oogami-kun! And Happy Birthday!" He saluted. “And good morning Asahina-chan”

Oogami- _kun_? That was unfortunate. It wasn't the first time she'd been mistaken for a man, but it was always difficult trying to find a way to correct them without making them think she was upset and frightening them.

"...Sakura's a girl as well." Hina said bluntly. That probably wasn't the right way.

Ishimaru's eyes went wide and his face went pale. "I'M SO SORRY!" He bowed deeply. "Please accept this present and my apologies and I hope you have a good day, goodbye!" He dropped a thin envelope onto the table in front of her, and speed walked away, looking horrified. 

* * *

 AAAAAHHHHH! HOW could he have DONE that!? And on her birthday no less! He KNEW she was female, but seeing her chatting to Hina so happily had reminded him of classmates who were dating, and she was the most muscular student in their class, and then she'd called him kun and he wasn't used to that either...

Urg, and now here he was trying to justify his rudeness! There was no excuse! That had just been terrible of him! And they were probably going to tell the whole class to. So much for maybe making some friends now he was in high school! Perhaps he'd be lucky and Oogmai would rather just punch him for the insult... 

He got to class, sat down and pulled out a book to hide his face in. Why did he have to be so awful... 

* * *

 "Geez! How'd he remember your birthday but not that you're a girl?" Hina asked as Ishimaru left the dining room.

"Perhaps he was reminded by the same person you were." Sakura suggested.

"Err, no. He WAS the person who reminded me. And everyone else in class..." Hina explained, looking embarrassed again. "He kept going on about how disheartening it would be for you if we all ignored it..."

Hmm. She hadn't expected the hall monitor to be the sort who would worry about that kind of thing. So far anything that could be considered even a minor distraction to studying had been frowned upon by the overly-intense boy. He did seem to place a lot of importance on tradition though, perhaps that was why?

She looked at the envelope in her hand. It felt too flimsy to be a card. "What do you think's in it?" Hina asked, peering at it over her shoulder. "Bet it's school related!"

"Hmm, let see." Sakura opened the envelope. Inside was a set of 5 pieces of plain paper that had been stapled together to make a booklet. The cover read "Happy Birthday Oogami-chan!" in intricately curled letters.

"Oogami- _chan_?" Hina noticed the different honorific.

"It must have been a slip of the tongue, then." She realised. How unfortunate. Accepting a birthday present would have been a good way to have a casual conversation with him, and then perhaps he might have helped convince the others to stop being so fearful of her. Hopefully she would get another chance soon.

"Geez! Why didn't he just say so?" Hina wondered, "Anyway, what's in the book? Is it study notes or something?"

She flipped the page, in the same intricate writing it read "This voucher entitles the bearer to One Hours Tutoring by Kiyotaka Ishimaru". The paper had been pieced down the side with a pin to make it easy to remove from the book. The others pages were similar "entitling the bearer" to laundry, room cleaning and "One Personal Favour" from Ishimaru.

"He made favour vouchers?" Hina asked, slightly incredulously.

"Favour vouchers?" Sakura asked. She'd never seen anything like this.

"You never did that? My brother and I make them every mother and father's day. The idea is you write stuff like "One room cleaned" or "One lawn mowed" or maybe even "No being a brat today!" and then they can give you them later to get you to do the stuff on them." Hina chuckled, "We don't write quite this well though..."

"I see, so Ishimaru's present is to offer to help me with things." She confirmed. "But what does "one personal favour" include?"

"I dunno, it's kinda vague...You'd probably have to ask Ishimaru."

That seemed like the best plan, hopefully _this_ time the conversation wouldn't end with him fleeing.

  

Unfortunately, the day passed without her getting a chance to talk to the prefect. They didn't share any classes and each time she'd spotted him outside of them he'd either been busy reprimanding trouble makers or one of their classmates had stopped her to wish her Happy Birthday. Hopefully tomorrow, when she was no longer the centre of attention, she'd have the chance to ask about the voucher.

"Goodnight Sakura!" Hina waved happily as she made her way to her own room.

"Goodnight Hina." Sakura replied, as she entered her own. The feeling of a sheet of paper under her feet made her pause. It seemed someone had left her a note. She picked it up to read it.

"Happy Birthday Oogami! Enjoy it because it will be your last! You will pay for humiliating the Murusame family name! I'll come for you when you least expect it!"

Murusame? The family of swordsmen was familiar to Sakura, she'd defeated their current champion a month ago, but he had seemed amicable enough about the result. This was likely some lower branch member who'd lost money betting on the match. Certainly not worth worrying anyone else over. She'd best keep her guard up until he made his attempt though.

It was unfortunate that she wasn't more familiar with fighting swordsmen. It would be useful to have an idea of how he might approach.

Wait, didn't Ishimaru practise Kendo? Perhaps she was in need of a personal favour… 

* * *

Ishimaru walked through the school corridors a little faster than usual. He’d not slept well last night and it had taken him longer than it should have to get up and dressed as a result. He really should have apologised to Oogami yesterday, but every time he’d seen her in the corridors either another of their classmates had been saying Happy Birthday (using the _correct_ honorific) or he’d been in the middle of dealing with troublemakers and too cowardly to follow her afterwards. At least nobody had mentioned it yet. Maybe she and Asahina would keep it quiet? Or perhaps everyone was just laughing at him behind his back…

He headed through the dining hall towards the kitchen. Today he would definitely apologise to her! He just needed to have breakfast first… He turned around the corner to where the rice and vegetables (that were completely free to take! This school was wonderful!) were kept and collided with something solid. Since when had there been a pillar there?

He stepped back and looked, it wasn’t a pillar it was “Oogami!” He exclaimed. Then realised he was being rude _again_ “-CHAN! Oogami-chan!” That was better!...Except now she was staring incredulously because he’d just careened into her and then yelled her name like a lunatic hadn’t he? “Ah! I’M SO SORRY!” He bowed.

“It’s fine. That looked like it hurt you more than myself, are you alright?”

“Y-yes thank you!” He said as he straightened, and would have done even if it wasn’t true. But then he remembered he had something else to apologise for and bowed again. “And I’m so sorry!”

“…Ishimaru, you just said that. You need to go to the nurse’s office…”

“NO! I mean for yesterday!” He explained.

“Ah, that. It’s fine. I realise it was just a temporary slip. Please don’t worry about it.” …Was that it? She wasn’t upset? He been so _rude_! If he’d done that at his old school he’d have found himself pushed into lockers constantly for _weeks_. “There is, however, another matter I’d like to discuss with you, perhaps we could eat together? I’ll make food if you could prepare tea?”

He nodded, too shocked at the invitation for words and set about making one of the free varieties of green tea.  

* * *

“Mmm! This is delicious! You’re a good cook!” Ishimaru told her, as he started digging into the rice eagerly.

That surprised her. It was a simple dish and she’d realised after giving him his food that she’d added her usual amount of bonito flakes, which was much more than people usually added (she liked the extra protein) she’d also given Ishimaru a larger portion than he was used to, if his trouble keeping the rice from spilling out of the sides of the bowl was anything to go by, but he was making his way through it with gusto.

Unfortunately she couldn’t say the same about his tea making ability. He’d made the pot incredibly weak by her tastes. She didn’t mention it though, more people were entering the dining room and she didn’t want to draw attention by eliciting another panicked apology from the boy. He was only just starting to calm down.

Ishimaru finished the bowl of food and poured himself another cup of tea, his hold on it shifting awkwardly. “Err…So, what was it you wanted to discuss?” He asked, nervously.

She pulled the voucher from her pocket. “I wanted to discuss this “personal favour”, how does it work exactly?”

His face lit up in surprise. “I, err, I guess it depends on what favour you want? And when? I mean I’ll try to do whatever it is at your convenience but I do have my other responsibilities…” He trailed off awkwardly. He didn’t seem to be too sure about this either, perhaps this was the first time someone had asked him?

“I see. I would like you to help me with a training exercise. It would be best if I didn’t know if advance when you were going to do it.” She explained.

“Well that sounds perfectly reasonable!” He said, happy to help. “What exactly do you need me to do?”

“You practise Kendo, don’t you? Do you have your own sword?” He nodded. “I’d like you to sneak up on me and hit me with it without me noticing.”

Ishimaru’s face paled with shock. “What? No! I couldn’t possibly do _that_!” He shouted, aghast, which unfortunately attracted the attention of several other students. “What benefit does me hurting you have for your training?”

“It’s to help me gain awareness of my surroundings.” She explained “And besides, you don’t have to _hurt_ me. Just a light sparring level.” He looked confused, so she quickly backhanded his arm as an example. Enough to be felt but not enough to cause pain beyond a light sting. “Something like that.”

“I…I’m not sure that’s possible in Kendo…” What? It was perfectly possible. It was expected for any martial artist to learn to control the strength of their hits. “I’m sorry, I’ll have to think about this!” He bowed his head.

“That’s understandable. I know it’s an odd request. But if you do decide to help me, please don’t tell me you are. It will give you more of chance…” She put the voucher back in her pocket, bowed and headed to class. Leaving the prefect looking thoughtful. 

* * *

Later that evening, Ishimaru was looking at this sword. It was a cheap bamboo shinai that he’d had since early middle school, although it had originally been his father’s. There was tape keeping it together in the middle. He was trying to decide if he could hit a girl with it.

Admittedly, the girl was far stronger than him and she’d specifically asked him to do so, but he still felt that it would be wrong to sneak up on a classmate and hurt her!

Well, _hit_ her, he should say. She’d seemed to think it was possible to strike someone without really hurting them. He’d never had that happen in his lessons at school though. Usually he’d been paired against someone older and stronger than himself, who had no qualms about pummelling someone weaken than them, at least not if that someone was _him_ (everyone in his home town had a reason to hate the Ishimarus).

His first lesson had been the worse, he’d gone in with childish fantasies of himself, in a flowing red scarf like the heroes in his mother’s stories, standing proud and performing forms with grace and precision. He’d come out crying from the sting of bruises forming over his body and wrists, and dizzy from the hits on his head, even with the helmet on.

He’d kept the lessons up for a few years, but eventually the constant beatings and lack of improvement (He couldn’t remember if he’d ever actually scored a point again anyone) drove him to quit sparring and work on his forms (which he’d always enjoyed) quietly in the safety of his home.

Still, it wouldn’t do to dwell on the past. Oogami had asked him for a favour! He should at least consider it… Perhaps if he could manage to hit himself lightly then he could try to fulfil her request?

He considered how to go about the attempt, and settled for sitting on the bed with his legs stretched out ahead of him so he could strike his shin. Hesitantly, he tapped the area with the sword. It didn’t hurt, but could hardly be considered a “strike”! Gripping his sword in both hands, he raised it and attempted what he considered a normal strike. Ouch! Ok that was too hard!

He slowed it down so it didn’t hurt, then tried to practise swinging quickly but slowing down at the last second… That seemed to work well and after a few tried he was confident that he could consistently perform a strike without it being too painful. Perhaps he could help Oogami after all… 

* * *

She was walking down the hall chatting to Hina when Ishimaru decided to try his first attempt.

It had been obvious he was going to attempt to do so, as he’d been carrying his shinai with him all day and glancing at her occasionally. His booted feet thumped loudly as he switched from his usual walk into a fighting stance and quickstepped down the hallway.

“Hina, move ahead of me a bit please…” She gently pushed her friends back to move her out of harm’s way, just in case Ishimaru’s accuracy was as bad as his stealth.

As he approached, she listened for his movements, to determine where he’d aim his hit. She needn’t had bothered.

“MEN!” Ishimaru gave the traditional kiai for a headstrike. She sighed as she reached a hand up behind her to catch the sword. At least Ishimaru had been on target, and judging from the pressure of the sword in her hand he would have only given her a small tap on the head if she hadn’t stopped him.

However, she’d need him to work on his stealth if he was going to give her any idea of what to expect from the Murusame member who’d threatened her. She pulled the sword out of his hands and turned, intending to give him a small tap with it to signify she’d “won” as her father often did when they trained… 

* * *

_His sword had been pulled out of his hands. Why had that happened?_

Ah, that was right, they’d put their safety gear away after class, when suddenly Ochida, a large boy several years older than him, had yanked his shinai out of his hands.

“Please give me my sword back, Ochida-sama, I have to go home now.”

“Screw you Ishimaru!” He’d been pushed backwards onto the benches lining the storeroom. “I didn’t get to pummel you during class today, so I’m going to enjoy it now!”

“No! Please! Don’t hurt me!” He yelled uselessly as he raised his hands over his face. 

* * *

“No! Please! Don’t hurt me!” Ishimaru suddenly cried out, legs trembling and hands desperately hiding his face. Did she really frighten him that much? She knew her appearance was intimidating, but she thought Ishimaru had begun to be less fearful of her at least.

“What’re _you_ crying about!? You just tried to whack Sakura in the head with that thing!” Hina yelled at him.

“Uuuhh?” Ishimaru opened his eyes, confused. “What…Why…Oh. I’m at Hope’s Peak aren’t I?”

“Yes and you just tried to whack Sakura with a big stick!”

“Hina… It’s alright, I asked him to.” She explained. “Ishimaru, do I scare you that badly?”

“Ah…No… It was just…I suddenly remembered something from my old Kendo classes…” He bowed suddenly. “I apologise for my overreaction! And for failing to hit you!”

That was concerning, that something violent enough to have that effect on him happened in a dojo. No wonder he’d not believed Kendo strikes could be controlled.

“Not hitting her isn’t something you should be apologising for!” Hina scolded him, “If you’d hit her it would have really hurt!”

“No, it wouldn’t have. It would have been more like this…” She took advantage of Ishimaru’s distraction to strike his shoulder with the sword, with roughly the amount of force he would have used.

“Ah! You can tell how hard I’d have struck?” Ishimaru’s asked. “I’m glad it was only that much! I’d practised on myself but I wasn’t sure…”

“I appreciate that you practised.” Sakura told him, “Though you need to change your approach dramatically.”

“Err…How so?” Could he really not see what he’d done wrong? Maybe he wasn’t the right person to ask to be stealthy.

“Well… Carrying your sword with you makes it obvious you’re planning an attack, as your clothes are too tight to conceal a sword, you should try to hide it somewhere near to the area where you intend to attack.” Ishimaru nodded. “Also in your boots, moving in stance is noisy, you should just walk calmly.” She added, handing him his sword.

“Thank you! Oogami-chan! I will take that on board for my next attempt!” He turned to leave.

“And Ishimaru-kun?” He turned back to face her. “Don’t Kiai next time.”

“B-but if I don’t Kiai I don’t score points!”

Definitely not the right person to ask to be stealthy… 

* * *

Ishimaru was getting ready for his second attempt. He’d realised after the first one that he’d have to come up with a better plan. That was why he was in socks, leaning against the wall of his room, with the door propped open ever-so-slightly with an eraser so he could hear who was walking past his room, but his door would still look closed.

His class had ended slightly before hers, and he knew she usually came back to her room to change into her training gear. Once she came past (he was lucky to have a room right by the corridor entrance), he’d slip out the door and run softly up and hit her. Like a ninja!

He tried to keep his breathing soft so he’d hear her, trying not to notice how thrilling it felt to be this sneaky. After a few minutes he held his breath as he heard heavy footsteps go past his door. This was it! He pushed the door and ran up the hall, sword raised ready to strike.

The first problem with this plan he noticed was that even in socks his running was spectacularly noisy! This caused his intended victim to turn around for him to see the second problem, which was that he was charging full pelt not at Oogami, but at Mondo Oowada. He stopped short.

“Oowada! What are _you_ doing here! You’re supposed to be in detention!”

“What? So you were gonna hit me with a fucking stick!” The biker was understandably annoyed.

“It’s a shinai! And no, I thought you were Oogami-chan.” He explained.

“What? You were try and whack the Og…Oogami with that thing?” Mondo stumbled over his usual derogatory name for their classmate as he looked over his own shoulder. This caused Ishimaru to turn and notice the third problem with his plan, which was that Oogami had seen him come out of the door and was now inspecting how he’d propped it open. So much for re-trying that plan.

“Hmm, I didn’t realise the doors could be propped open like this. I take it you can hear from inside this way?”

“Err…Yes. It’s not noticeable from outside unless you’re actively looking for it.” He explained. “There have been several cases of students doing it to avoid the door locking automatically behind them if they forget their keys. Of course that can lead to their rooms being vulnerable so I usually unblock the door when I notice it.”

“I see…” Oogami muttered.

He heard footsteps behind him, Oowada was attempting to slink off while he was distracted. “Oowada! You _still_ have detention!”

“Well, _you_ just ran in the halls!” Oowada snapped back at him, “How’s about we both keep mum?”

Oh, Gods! He _had_ just run in the halls, hadn’t he? And now this _thug_ was trying to blackmail him! Urg!

“Nonsense! I will escort you to detention and then serve it as well!” He said, double checking he had his keys before unblocking his door and grabbing the biker by the hand to drag him down the corridor.

“Urg! How’s a prissy little nerd like you so _strong_!?” Oowada griped as he attempted to drag his feet to no avail. Even without the extra inch of height from his boots he still had no issue propelling the delinquent forward. “And why the hell didn’t the Ogre pummel you for tryin’a whack her with a stick?”

“Her name is _Oogami_!” He snapped, “She’s far less of an Ogre than _you_ are, you violent hooligan!”

“Tch! _Fine_! Why’d _Oogami_ not pummel you for tryin’a whack her with a stick?”

“She asked me to! It’s a training exercise to increase her awareness of her surroundings!”

“Wait, she _asked_ ya to sneak up on her and whack her with a stick!? That’s nuts!” They arrived outside the classroom. “And are ya _seriously_ gonna give yourself detention? C’mon! No one’s going to know if we both sneak off back to our rooms!” He pleaded, pathetically.

“You’d know! And even worse, _I’d_ know I’d used a position of power for my own benefit!” He grimaced at the thought… that was what everyone hated their family for, wasn’t it? “I’ll _never_ do that!”

“Dammit! You’re as nuts as the Ogre!”

“Neither of us is mentally deficient! We’re just _dedicated!_ ” He suddenly had a good idea of a way to try and get the message through to his most troublesome classmate. “And t _hat_ is how a “prissy little nerd” like myself got so _strong_!” He opened the door and dragged Mondo through it.

“Tch! _Fuck you asshole!”_ Mondo muttered under his breath as they entered. Perhaps his father was right and there really were some people who just wouldn’t listen? 

* * *

Hmm, perhaps Ishimaru could be of help with this after all. She’d learnt about the room doors at least. An unsecured room like that would be a potential place for an assailant to ambush her. She’d have to keep an eye on the doors more closely. If nothing else it seemed Ishimaru had a good understanding of this unfamiliar school and how one could hide in it.

She walked through the busy crowd, keeping an eye on her surroundings for anyone suspicious. No one stood out. But suddenly she felt a tell-tale rush of air behind her. Someone had a sword raised above her shoulder! It must be the Murusame member! Instinctively she crouched low and swung a leg out to sweep her assailant.

Her foot struck a familiar, tall black boot and Ishimaru fell to the floor with a thump. He panicked again and held his sword protectively in front of his face for a moment before opening his eyes and realising he wasn’t being attacked.

“I…I apologise! I over reacted again.” He said, still trembling slightly.

“I apologise as well. You approached so stealthily I thought I was actually under attack and I hit back on instinct.” She explained, as she extended a hand to help him up. “How did you approach? And where was your sword kept? I haven’t seen you carrying it today.”

He paused, then accepted her hand and stood. “I’ll tell you if you tell me how you could tell what I was doing?” He offered. “I thought I’d done that perfectly!”

“You probably did for one of your skill level.” Sakura told him. “But I was on guard and noticed the air movement from your sword.”

“So…So I’d have had to hit you without moving my sword?” Ishimaru asked, despairingly. “How is that possible?”

“It’s not that you have to avoid moving, it’s that you need to catch me off guard.” Sakura explained.

“Mmph…” Ishimaru probably had no idea if there even was a time she would be off guard. She wasn’t aware of one herself.

“And your answers?” Sakura prompted him.

“I hid behind Coach Nekomaru.” Ishimaru told her. She’d have to be more diligent with the larger students around. “And as for the sword, I’ll show you.” He led her to a gap between two lockers that had some cleaning supplies in it. He adjust the supplied and put the sword down behind them, hiding it from view. So she’d have to be careful of random items in unusual places as well then.

“Thank you Ishimaru, this has been very useful.” She told him. “I’m looking forward to your next attempt.” 

* * *

_He_ wasn’t looking forward to his next attempt. How was he ever supposed to know if she was or wasn’t on guard! She hadn’t looked _that_ cautious when he’d tried yesterday but she’d still made a fool of him so easily! And then he’d had a flashback to the time several of his class had tripped him over and attacked him in a circle. He certainly didn’t want another one of those!

Ah, and there was Oogami now, walking and listening to Asahina after their morning workout. He should at least wave, shouldn’t he? They’d talked enough he could consider her an acquaintance, right?

He waved to Oogami as they passed. No response. Apparently not then. Or perhaps she was being sarcastic when she’d said he was helpful? Maybe she was getting sick of his clumsy failures?

“Uhh…Hey, Ishimaru?” Said a concerned voice to his right. It was Naegi, the lucky student from his class. He was an average student in most respects, except his ability to socialise. Ishimaru had had several pangs of envy over the last fortnight at how easily the boy seemed to be able to carry on conversations with most of the other students in their class, a feat he apparently couldn’t even manage with one of them. Still, perhaps this would be a chance to have one of those conversations himself.

“Ah, Naegi-kun!” Making sure to get the right honorific. “Can I help you with something?” He saluted, and then instantly regretted it. Naegi never saluted did he? Would he think it was overbearing?

“No, I’m fine, Ishimaru!” Naegi smiled, well, that was something! “I just wanted to say not to let those two ignoring you just now bother you too much. They’re always like that after working out together!”

“… _Always?_ ” That could be his chance! “And they always come down _this_ corridor, don’t they?”

“Uhh, yeah. Usually.” Naegi confirmed, “Anyway, a group of us are going to go to the rec room after class…”

“I’m sorry Naegi-kun, could this wait? I’ve suddenly realised I have something I need to do urgently!”

“Uh…Ok Ishimaru.” Naegi seemed disappointed with his rudeness, but it couldn’t be helped. He had an attack to plan! “Just don’t work too hard!” The luckster added.

“There’s no such thing!” He snapped instinctively, then regretted it again. Naegi wouldn’t want to talk to him if he was always snapping at people to work, would he?

Luckily, Naegi didn’t take offense, instead just laughing and patting him on the arm. “Haha! Well, maybe not for you! You’re special! See you tomorrow!” He walked away.

“But I’m really not…!” He sighed as he realised Naegi was already out of earshot, he hated when people said that. There was nothing special about him, he just put the effort in. And so could everyone else if they’d stop depreciating themselves!

Still, first things first. He could encourage Naegi to realise his potential _after_ he’d fulfilled his favour to Oogami. 

* * *

_Right, this is it!_ He thought the next morning as he waited for Oogami and Asahina to pass him by and then took his broken shinai out of his locker. He quickly stuck it back together with tape like he’d practised last night and looked for someone he could hide behind as he made his approach.

Oowada was the only obvious candidate, but someone was already following him pretty closely… How annoying! It didn’t even look like a student! He was wearing baggy clothes and no shoes, just socks! Really, he ought to write a detention slip just for that! Let alone how suspiciously he was behaving, skulking behind Oowada and reaching for something under his shirt…

Ishimaru suddenly realised the strange man was acting the exact same way _he_ had been intending to. Was he trying to attack Oogami? He started following from a distance, he didn’t want to accuse the man without proof but…

Suddenly, as Mondo drew close to Oogami and Asahina, the man darted out from behind him…

“Oogami! OOGAMIII! BEHIND YOU!” If he was wrong he could apologise later! He ran forwards with his sword raised, planning to aim for a wrist hit to disarm the stranger.

The stranger turned to face him, which was good! He wouldn’t hurt Oogami now! And his hand was still under his shirt, so Ishimaru had the initiative! He reach the man and brought his sword down to hit the man’s wrist, aiming perfectly!

His sword didn’t connect. He realised this as the momentum of his swing carried him too far forward and he almost tripped, only just managing to right himself and stand back up in a fighting stance.

He looked at his sword, there was a clean cut right the way through it, just below where the tape had been… 

* * *

She was walking along in a post-workout glow, listening to Hina talking. “So, I was wondering if it’d be possible to make cakes or donuts with protein powder instead of some of the flour! Y’know, so it’d be a treat but also not completely terrib…”

“OOGAMIII! BEHIND YOU!” Ishimaru was suddenly yelling as he ran up the hallway. She turned around, just in time to witness Ishimaru running with his sword raised high and bearing down on an unfamiliar man who was stood a few meters away from her and had just turned to face Ishimaru. She recognised the stranger’s stance, it was one the Murusames often used when preparing a quick-draw strike.

She moved to intercept, but too late. With a barely-perceptible move, the stranger had drawn his sword, slicing Ishimaru’s shinai in two and given him a cut on his right arm, in the process. The stranger then twisted his stance in preparation for a thrust. That one she _did_ manage to intercept, grabbing the wrist of his sword arm with her left so she could spin him around and punch him out with her right.

The stranger, who she vaguely recognised from the fight again the Murusame champion, crumpled in a heap.

She looked over to Ishimaru. He was staring at his broken sword, then suddenly clutched his throat and passed out with a whimper. 

* * *

_His sword was in two parts._ _How had that happened?_

Ah right, he’d managed to block Ochida’s attack for once, but his sword had snapped under the pressure.

“Ah… Father’s shinai!” He said sadly.

“Hah! It’s a cheap piece of crap, just like you!” The larger boy laughed.

“Ishimaru, Ochida. Continue your sparring.” Their teacher scolded them.

“Ah, my apologies sir! My sword has broken!” He bowed in apology.

“I said continue.” His teacher replied.

“B-but how…?” He was gesturing to his sword, surely his teacher could see there was no benefit to continuing now?

His teacher sighed “Ochida, shut him up…”

“SIR!” Ochida shouted respectfully before yelling “TSUKI!” The Kiai for a throat strike.

But he was wearing the kit without a throat guard! They’d said no Tsuki! That didn’t stop the strike slamming into his throat. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.

“Point to Ochida.” He heard his teacher announce. This wasn’t fair! How was he ever supposed to improve himself in these conditions!?

He curled himself into a ball to try and protect himself and hide his tears. Just in time to hear Ochida Kiai “MEN!”

He couldn’t keep doing this…For the first time in his life, he was going to give up… 

* * *

“Nnnghh…” Ishimaru finally stirred. Fortunately his injury hadn’t been severe. He’d have trouble using his right arm from a while, but nothing permanent. He’d mostly just passed out from shock, according to the nurse.

Hina and Naegi (who had gone to the trouble of collecting notes for Ishimaru) sat up from their chairs to peer at the prefect as he woke up.

His eyes opened. “Do you remember what happened, Ishimaru-kun?” Hina asked him, gently.

“My sword broke…and sensei ordered Ochida to continue attacking me… That’s why I quit sparring”

 _What!?_ His _teacher_ ordered another student to attack him while he was defenceless!? What a waste Ishimaru had been on that dojo! What could he have possibly done to deserve such contempt!?

“Was Ochida that guy Oogami-chan punched?” Naegi asked, confused.

“Uhh… No. Ishimaru-kun, you’re in Hope’s Peak now!” Hina reminded him.

Ishimaru’s brow furrowed for a moment. “Oh! I remember I was going to attack Oogami-chan…But then someone else was…Ah! Oogami-chan! Are you alright!” His flew over to hers.

“I am unharmed, thanks to you, Ishimaru-kun.” She told him, and he smiled with relief. “We’ve been more concerned about _you_.”

“Ah! Y-yes! I…I over reacted again, didn’t I?” He said, guiltily. “I apolo…”

“Don’t.” She told him, standing up and bowing deeply. “You aren’t the one who should apologise. I got you involved in a fight that was my responsibility and you were hurt as a result. I’m the one at fault here. I am sorry.”

“B-but there was no way for you know you’d be attacked!” Ishimaru insisted.

“No. I received a letter from him on my birthday, warning me that he would do so at some point.” She explained. “I was arrogant and didn’t think it was enough of a threat to warn the school, but decided to use your offer of a favour to ask you to try to attack me so I could determine what he might try.”

“I see. You shouldn’t have done that.” He said.

“Indeed. I am sor…”

“If you’d just _told_ me someone was going to attack you I’d have been more than happy to help you prepare! You didn’t need to use the voucher at all!”

She stared, she hadn’t been expecting that response at all. “But…Your arm…”

“But if you _hadn’t_ asked for my help you might be dead!” Ishimaru said, rather more jovially than was probably appropriate. “Stopping that is worth far more than my arm! After all you’re my…err…classmate!”

Had he wanted to say “friend”? His eyes had dropped to stare intensely at the sheets in front of him, and his cheek were turning red. She wondered if he’d even had anyone he could even think of as a classmate before. Let alone a friend.

“In that case, as your _classmate_ I have a different favour to ask of you.” She said, passing him the voucher that had started this whole affair off.

“Err…Of course, what can I help you with?” He asked,

“When you have recovered, I would like you to begin sparring with me regularly.” His face paled. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I want to see you get stronger, so we can do a better job of protecting our classmates.”

“Well…Ok then! I…I’ll try not to over react as much!”

“Thank you, now try to rest.” She told him. “I’ll visit you tomorrow.”

“And if you can’t sleep, I got your next week’s work for you!” She heard Naegi tell him as she left.

“A whole week!? Why did they give you that much?”

“Well, that’s how long you’re supposed to stay here for?”

“WHAT!? I can’t stay in the here for a whole WEEK!”

Something told her Ishimaru wasn’t going to be doing much resting during his recovery. 

* * *

Four days! Four days he’d ended up stuck in that bed being unable to get on with anything study the notes Naegi had collected for him. At least that meant he was three days ahead of class, but he was four days behind in all his other duties, which included…

“Oowada! You’ve missed several days of detention!”

He’d caught the biker slinking out of the woodwork room he was becoming prone to goofing off in.

“Goddammit! Naegi said we had a week before we had to hear you’re fuckin’ voice again…”

“Well unfortunately for you I’m too _dedicated_ to my duties to be lounging in bed all week!” He boasted, feeling triumphant to be up and about again. “Now _we_ have detention to serve!”

“Wait, you too? Whadidya do this time?”

“You saw it. I ran in the halls again.”

“What? When…?” He could practically see the gears turning slowly in the biker’s brain “You mean when that nutcase tried to off the Ogr…Oogami!?”

“Correct!”

“You’re punishing yourself for _that_!? What you got some weird detention fetish or sumthin’?”

“I do NOT have ANY “weird fetishes” and I would appreciate if you keep such insinuations to yourself!” He snapped, he’d hardly be able to make Prime Minister if allegations like that started going around…

“Geez, it was a joke, ya weirdo! I just meant don’t you get off detention ‘cos you did it to save her life or nuthin’?”

“I didn’t check. Oogami’s my classmate and I’m more than willing to sit through an hour of detention to have helped her!” Oowada rolled his eyes. “Now quit stalling and come along!” He grabbed the biker’s wrist with his right hand and pulled…

“NNGH!” Pain shot through the wound on his arm and he sank to his knees as stars flashed in his head.

“You fuckin’ dumbass! You can’t “dedication” your body into healing quicker!” Oowada mocked him and pulled him up by his left hand and starting dragging him down the corridor.

He instinctively dragged his feet, to no avail. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

“Detention, dumbass!”

“ _What!?_ Why are _you…?”_

“What? You think I’m gonna make a guy who oughta be in hospital drag me around!?” He snapped, “Even _I’ve_ got standards, asshole!”

 _Huh._ Maybe he _could_ listen after all…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Next up will be Kyoko. (Although not all of these are going to be in order of the characters birthdays)


	2. Required reading (Kyoko Kirigiri)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to start adding dates to help keep track of when events are taking place. I'm not aware of a specific time that Dangan Ronpa is supposed to have taken place in so I picked 2011 for the year because the days suited the timeline for this chapter.

(Thursday, October 6th 2011)  
  
Kyoko flipped through her notebook, and helped herself to another of the chocolates from the box. (Just, not the nasty looking dark chocolate one). Her father had given her a rather simple case. He suspected that several of the reserve students had started taking cocaine and he wanted her to figure out who their dealer was. She was confident she knew who the culprits (her father had underestimated the scale of the problem. He always did that) were but still needed to gather evidence, and for that she'd need a plan...

She finished thinking about what she needed to do and writing down a cryptic itinary, then shut her book. "Thank you for waiting for me to finish." She said to the boy standing awkwardly straight at her side.

Ishimaru jumped a little, lucky not to spill his cup of coffee as he did so. They'd not talked very much in the first month of classes together. She was a model student so the prefect had little reason to deal with her, as he didn't associate with anyone outside of classes or duties. Truth be told she was quite thankful for that. Ishimaru was a decent person, but his intense passion for everything he did and loud attitude seemed like it would be tiring very quickly, and she already had enough distractions from Naegi constantly trying to get her involved with the rest of the class' activities.

"Good afternoon Kirigiri-chan!" He said, overly concerned with getting the honorific correct. "And Happy Birthday!" He handed her a thin envelope.

"Thank you, Ishimaru-kun." She said, opening the envelope. She knew it would probably be the same set of childish vouchers he'd given Oogami a few weeks ago, the ones that had led to him defending her from an attacker. She didn’t intend to use any of them, she was perfectly capable of looking after herself and had no intention of dragging the hall monitor into her work.

She placed the vouchers amongst the other presents she'd received, a cute bunny flash drive from Fujisaki, a fluffy seal toy from Naegi and Togami's chocolates, of which only the distasteful looking dark one remained. "Would you like a chocolate?"

"Ah, no thank you, Kirigiri-chan!" He replied, saluting. "Refined sugar makes me hyperactive!"

She looked briefly over at his cup, or more specifically, the crumpled empty sugar packets currently being crushed against it by his hand. "If that was true you wouldn't put three packets of it into your coffee every lunchtime."

* * *

 

Ahh! How embarrassing! This was why he always hated lying, even the little white lies his father drilled into him so he wouldn’t have to constantly bring up the shame of their financial situation (even if it _was_ common knowledge). Sooner or later someone always saw through it, and this time it had just _had_ to have been Kirigiri…

To be frank, he wasn’t sure he approved of the headmaster’s daughter. She’d been secretive about herself from the start, not even telling them what her talent was. But on the contrary she had a suspicious amount of knowledge about the other students, often referring to things they hadn’t told anyone. And to top it off she always seemed to be making bizarre notes in that book she always carried around…

“I apologise for lying…” He started, but decided he didn’t want to tell Kirigiri the truth. “To be honest I have a cocoa allergy, but whenever I tell girls that they act like it’s the end of the world. So I lie to avoid the embarrassment.” That last sentence was true at least.

“Funny, there’s no mention of any allergies in your medical records…” She mused.

His _medical records_? Those were supposed to be confidential! “Y-you’ve been _abusing_ your position as headmaster’s daughter in order to look at our _medical records!?_ ”

"No I haven't. And thank you for telling me you don't have a cocoa allergy." She replied. What was she talking about?

"I said no such thing!"

She sighed. "No, but if you _did_ have an allergy you would have been confused that it wasn't listed in your records, or realised I was bluffing and called me on it. Instead you instantly accused me of having access to them, thus implying that I was correct when I said there's no allergy listed in your medical records."

"But... How did you _know_ there's no allergy in my medical records?"

"I didn’t."

"But if you didn't _know_ , then why did you say it?"

* * *

This was going to go in circles, and she wasn’t in the mood. Maybe she could that voucher after all...

"I have a favour to ask." She picked the book up and tore out the correct one. "Read some mystery books. Start with an anthology of Sherlock Holmes. Hopefully even you should manage to understand it eventually."

"Ah, ok..." He said, confused at what he probably thought was a sudden change of topic. "When do you need me to do it by?"

"Just, at your convenience." She told him. "Now stop worrying about not being able to pay me back and have a chocolate."

"What makes you think _that's_ my concern!?" Ishimaru asked in a desperate voice that was enough evidence by itself to confirm that that _was_ his concern.

"I was assuming it would be because you get the relief fund." She didn't mention the cheap presents or his tendency to only eat and use the basic necessities that the school allowed students to take freely.

"I..." He started to say something, then paused to think. Maybe he was learning? "I'm not receiving any relief fund."

"The envelope with the payment receipt in it has been sticking out of your pigeon hole since this morning."

"The payments was given out in September, when we all arrived." He told her. "...or so I heard from...Oowada." As if he'd speak to Oowada! Honestly, he could have at least said Hagakure… Besides…

"It's a monthly payment." She told him.

“ _What_!? That’s ridiculous! It’s 60,000 Yen!” He paused and realisation kicked in. “Or that’s what Oowada says…”

“He only gets about 30,000 yen.” He looked suspiciously at her again, “I overheard him listing what bike parts he could afford with it…”

“Tch! What an irresponsible use of money!” Ishimaru snapped, “But why would he get less than me…” She wasn’t sure if he’d just given up on lying or was too foolishly honest to stop his mouth from saying what he was thinking.

“It’s needs assessed. Presumably they took your grandfather’s debts in account.” He just nodded. No more suspicious looks? “You’re not going to ask how I knew that one?”

He looked confused “ _Everyone_ knows that one.”

She didn’t think that was true, Naegi had failed to make the connection for instance, but that wasn’t the issue here. “Then _why_ are you making up so many excuses not to eat the chocolate?”

“Because I don’t want pity. Our family has been enough of a burden on society without people giving me handouts I can never hope to repay! …Even if it is just a little chocolate…”

While she could sympathise with the intent of not burdening others, he was being rather over-dramatic. Still, maybe if she could convince him he _would_ be able to repay her…

“Togami gave me these, and he gave Oogami the same. He probably doesn’t care enough to think of different presents for us all, so I’m willing to bet you’ll get the exact same box for your birthday.” She stated, “I’ll trade you my dark chocolate now for your caramel later.”

“But what if you’re wrong?”

“Then it’ll teach me not to speculate.” She shrugged, and extended her hand. “Deal?”

He considered it, then nodded. “Deal!” He said, shaking her hand.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” She lied and pushed the box over to him before picking up the other presents and leaving him alone, looking thoughtful.

Naegi was grinning at her as she went to leave the room. “I didn’t know you and Ishimaru got on so well." He smiled, what was his obsession with insisting that everyone in class be friends with each other?

“We _don’t._ ” She told him simply, wondering why the suggestion had been even more annoying coming from Naegi that it would have been otherwise.

“But you just gave him a chocolate!”

“Yes, to get rid of one I don’t like. And even then it was more effort getting him to take it than it was worth."

“Aww, C’mon! He can’t be _that_ bad!” Naegi offered, jovially. “I thought you two would get along well! You both seem like nice, studious people…”

“He thinks I’m suspicious, and I think he’s a fool.” She stated harshly, wanting to get the point through to Naegi. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” She walked away. She had a drug bust to plan.

* * *

 

(Friday, October 7th 2011)

“Excuse me, is this the Financial Administration Office?” He asked, feeling a bit foolish as he realised he’d just walked through a door with “Financial Administration Office” printed on it. “Err… I have an issue with my, umm, relief allowance.”

“Oh? You’re Ishimaru, from the 78th class, aren’t you? What’s the problem, did it not go into your account?” The woman at the desk asked as she tapped at her keyboard.

“That is me, and that’s not the problem…It’s just… I think it’s too much.”

Kirigiri had been telling the truth about him having received another 60,000 yen this month, and there had even been extra 10,000 payment included for being a hall monitor! He couldn’t _possibly_ accept that much!

The woman cocked her head, confused. “What’s too much?” She asked.

“The, err, amount of money you’re giving me…”

Her brow furrowed. “You’re upset…because we’re giving you _too much money!_?”

“Yes. The school already provides enough food and supplies for free! I’ve hardly had to spend any of it!” He explained, “I would like to return the excess, and have my allowance reduced. I think 6000 yen each month should be sufficient.”

She stared at him for a long time before answering. “Could you go and sit over there for a few minutes, please?” She pointed to a plush looking chair.

He saluted and sat down, taking the opportunity to open the thick tome he’d borrowed from the library as the lady at the desk made a phone call. He didn’t understand why Kirigiri wanted him to read mystery novels all of a sudden, but he’d promised her a favour after all…

He turned to the first story, it seemed to be the memoires of a war doctor who’d been wounded in battle and was looking likely to end up lodging with some bizarre fellow who attacked corpses with sticks…Were all fiction books like this?

“Sherlock Holmes? Not a textbook?” A familiar man’s voice came from above him.

“Headmaster Kirigiri-sensei!” He shot up like a bolt to salute the headmaster, cringing as the book fell from his lap and bounced on the floor. Damaging school property right in front of the headmaster! How could he be so careless!

The headmaster grabbed him by the outside of his arms and pushed inwards, squeezing them slightly. He realised his posture was lacking and straightened. The headmaster just kept his arms where they were, seemingly focused on his chest. Did he want something…? He couldn’t straighten any further, had he done something else wrong? Oh, of course! “I apologise for damaging the book!”

The headmaster looked up at him quizzically and laughed. “Ah! I’m sorry Ishimaru-kun! I had to check something!” He turned back to the lady at the desk. “It’s not _him_. This _is_ Ishimaru.” What was going on? Who else would he be?

“…Are you _sure?”_ The woman asked, “He was asking me to cut his relief fund to 10% of what we’re giving him. _And_ take back the excess from the last two payments!” What was so odd about that? He’d explained his reasoning…

“It’s definitely Ishimaru” The headmaster confirmed his identity. “But thank you for being diligent.” The woman nodded and gave him an odd look before returning to her computer.

“You can sit down again, Ishimaru-kun.” Kirigiri told him. He nodded and sat down, bending down to recover the book and try to smooth out any pages that had been bent. Luckily the book had landed on its spine and was relatively unharmed.

The headmaster was sitting down in the chair next to him and looked at the book again. “So why Sherlock?” He asked.

“Y-your daughter asked me to read it, Headmaster Kirigiri-sensei.”

“Oh really? So Kyoko wants you to learn deductive reasoning?”

“Err…” He didn’t know how to answer that. If she’d wanted him to learn something, why not tell him to read a textbook on it? But the Headmaster seemed so sure…

“Ah, never mind.” He chuckled. “Now, Ishimaru, what’s this about you wanting us to decimate your allowance?”

“Ah, yes! I feel that you’re giving me too much. You supply enough necessities that the only thing I’ve spent money on is the school uniform. And my talent doesn’t require funding either, so I feel there’s no reason I couldn’t make do with 6000 yen each month. Even in cases of emergency!”

“You’ve not spent any…What are you _eating_?”

“Well, I usually have miso rice with picked vegetables and bonito for breakfast. A banana and toast for lunch and rice balls with katsuobushi at dinner.” The headmaster looked concerned. “Don’t worry! I’ve made sure I’m getting a balanced diet!”

“But what about clothes, other than your uniform I mean…”

“I don’t need any other clothes, I’m a student! And that means dressing like one! Always!”

“Even in bed? What about pajamas?”

“Err,,,I find the sheets here thicker than the ones I had at home…so…” He trailed off, not wanting to actually _say_ he slept in his underwear.

“Well, you could use the money to buy thinner sheets then, if it would make you more comfortable…”

“Err…No, that’s not necessary! I’m sleeping well enough as it is!”

The headmaster sighed, “Well. What about socialising, then? What do you do when spending time with the other students?” Ishimaru frowned at that one. It was something he’d never been good at.

“W-well…I’m about to start sparring with Oogami, from my class.” He said. “But otherwise I’m too busy with my studies for meaningless socialisation!”

Headmaster Kirigiri let out a long sigh. “Ishimaru-kun…” He seemed to be considering what to say next. “Where are you?” He asked.

“The Financial Administration Office!” The Headmaster pulled a face. Was that not what he was supposed to say?

“No, Ishimaru…You are at _Hope’s Peak!_ You are an _Ultimate!_ One of the _Hopes_ of the _World_!” The way Headmaster said it almost made him flush with pride. But then again, the same was true of _Mondo Oowada_ as well… But then the headmaster winked conspiratorially at him, “And just between you and me, you’re one of my favourites!”

His cheeks burned red, but that didn’t stop the headmaster’s onslaught of compliments and reassurances. “You’ve worked hard to get here! And your ethics are admirable, but even _you_ need to take a break sometimes! And I understand that you’re worried about your family’s debt, but it was never _your_ fault! It’s OK to treat yourself to little luxuries occasionally! You’re the Ultimate Moral Compass! You’ve earned it!”

He didn't think his face could get any redder, but it still did somehow. "B-but, how does the school afford it? Wouldn't it be better if it was spent on things that benefitted everyone, not just me?"

"The school board is of the opinion that benefiting you and benefiting everyone is the same thing. That's the point of you being here, after all! In our eyes you’re worth every yen. So there's no way for you to return the money of reduce your payments. What you do with the money is up to you, but we're not taking it back." The headmaster told him, in a tone that conveyed that there'd be no room for argument. "As for how we afford it..." He seemed to glance at the book in his hands, "you can thank the reserve students!"

"Oh!?" He'd heard of the reserve students, of course, but it had never occurred to him that their payments would be being funnelled to help him and his classmates. He'd naively assumed it all went to their own part of the school. "I...I'll make sure to do that, Kirigiri-sensei!" He saluted.

"Good lad!" The headmaster smiled and patted his shoulder as he stood up to leave. "But, please do consider what I said about relaxing and treating yourself a little? I wouldn't want to see you burn out."

"Err I...I'll keep it in mind, Headmaster." He said, hesitating at the unfamiliar friendly contact.

"Thank you!" Kirigiri smiled as he walked out. Ishimaru sat for a moment before realising he didn't have any reason to be here anymore and followed him out.

* * *

 

"Sweetheart, are you _sure_ it was a good idea to take the security teams working on the drugs case off it?" 

Why was she having this conversation? She'd had every intention of walking into this school a month ago, interrupting the Headmaster's...her father's initiation speech to tell him she wanted him out of her life and that he was no part of it anymore, and then walking back out again. But when he'd seen her he'd run up and hugged her and tried to pick her up like he did when she was little and then she'd just...not told him and started taking classes instead. And agreed to let him treat her to a birthday dinner. _Why?_

"Yes. I told you, they'll get less cautious without security trailing them all the time, and then I'll be able to get the evidence needed to convict them." She told him again. She wondered if he'd known her intentions when he hugged her. While his investigative skills were appalling, he was quite capable of manipulation. She'd have to be careful when dealing with him...

"Well, if you're sure..." He pretended to concede. "Oh, by the way! I saw one of your classmates today!"

Where was _this_ going...? "You're my headmaster. I'd hope you see them _all_ occasionally."

He laughed as if she'd made some riotous joke. "True, true. Today it was Ishimaru. He was upset that we're giving him too much money, would you believe it? That boy's too nice for his own good."

"Hmm..." She murmured non-committedly. Why did her father think she cared about Ishimaru's stupidity? Had he been talking to Naegi? Was he planning something?

"Don't worry about him though, I told him to stop being so hard on himself, and that he should just thank the reserve students!"

Tch! So that was it. Nicely played...

"Oh? I guess I'll probably see him during my investigations tomorrow then..." She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of looking annoyed as she felt.

"Oh? You don't think he'll have taken me literally, do you?" He said, with feigned innocence.

"Of course he will have, he's too stupid not to." 

He looked disapprovingly at her, which was unusual. "He's not stupid." He insisted.

"Yes he is." She countered. "He just works _very_ hard to hide it."

He didn't have a response to that one.

* * *

 

Ishimaru stood in front of one of the phones and checked his watch. He was five minutes early. Maybe he could try the chocolate while he waited? He knelt down to fish through his bag for the box, listening to the sound of Naegi chatting away happily over the phone. He'd still not managed to have a conversation with the boy. He was starting to wonder if he’d made Naegi dislike him somehow, he seemed to have that effect on most people...

He found the chocolate box and took a small nibble... _Mmm!_ He slapped a hand over his mouth, he'd almost groaned at how good it tasted. It was smooth and creamy and sweet but just bitter enough to avoid being sickly... _Mmmmm_.... Was all dark chocolate this wonderful or was it just that Togami could afford a particularly good brand? Maybe he could buy himself to a cheap bar to find out, he had the money after all, and the headmaster had said he should treat himself...

"Oh hey, Ishimaru!" Naegi had finished his conversation and was talking to him. "Hey are you busy tonight? Sayaka's putting on a show in the music room and..."

There was a distinctive tick as the hour hand on his watch moved up. Drat! "Oh! I'm so sorry Naegi-kun! But I have to make a phone call now!" He realised how rude it was, and it would probably make Naegi dislike him even more, but he didn't have much choice. They didn't have a phone at home, so his father used the phones at his work instead. But he couldn't be taking personal calls while on shift, which meant they only had a 15 minute slot on Friday evenings (between the end of his father's shift and the start of the other man’s who used the same office) to talk each week.

"Uh... Ok Ishimaru! See you in homeroom Monday!" Naegi said as he punched in the number to his father's work phone.

After a short while it was picked up. "Police, Officer Ishimaru speaking." His father answered professionally, although he sounded tired...

"Good evening, father! I hope you've had a good week!" He said, saluting despite knowing his father wouldn't see it.

"What? Kiyotaka? I told you not to ring until...Oh it's 8 O'clock already? Sorry, I've been distracted today..."

"What's the matter father?"

"Oh, it's nothing for you to worry about... It's just the refrigerator’s broken so I'm having to work out which bills we can put off for a bit to get that replaced..."

… _What had he been thinking_? He didn't need _treats_! Especially not silly ones like chocolate… "Actually...I might be able to help with that..."

"How?" His father asked sceptically.

"Well, it turns out that relief fund I got at the start of the year is a monthly payment, not an annual one..."

"What? I thought you said it was 60,000 yen!?"

"It is. I certainly don't need all that money, so I could start helping repay our debt..."

"That would be wonderful...but are you _sure_ it's not a mistake?"

"No, I checked with the financial administrators, and even the headmaster agreed it's correct!" He smiled as he remembered Kirigiri's compliments, "...He says I'm worth the money and one of his favourites..." He said, feeling proud at having been recognised by someone as respected as Hope's Peak's headmaster.

"Hmm, that sounds like your grandfather..." How odd! Father never spoke about Grandfather in a complimentary way... "...He always used to tell everyone he worked with that they were his favourite as well."

Pride twisted into shame. How could be so foolish to have fallen for such an obvious managerial technique? He'd hardly interacted with the headmaster at all! Why on Earth _would_ he be one of the man’s favourites!?

"But if you're sure it's not a mistake, it'll certainly help me out. We might be able to get the electricity account out of arrears as well..." His father mused. "Did anything else go well at school?"

"Uh... Well..." He was having trouble thinking of anything through the sinking feeling in his gut. His gaze fell on the chocolate box resting on top of his bag. "Kirigiri-chan gave me a piece of dark chocolate! It's really nice! I can see why girls give it to men they want to like them now! Hahaha!" He laughed, trying to cover up the disappointment he was feeling.

"...What about your classes?"  

"Oh! Ah, they are progressing well! I've kept ahead in all of them, of course! And how is your work going?" He asked to change the subject, right now he didn't the desire or energy to talk himself, so he let his father fill the rest of the call with stories about various troublemakers and inter-office politics he'd dealt with. Then they organised how he'd send his father the payment and they said their goodbyes.

He hung up the phone, trying to push his shame aside. He was going to be able to help start clearing his family's name now. He could take pride in that at least.

He'd really have to make sure to thank the reserve course students though.

* * *

 

(Saturday, October 8th 2011)

Kyoko checked her appearance in the mirror. A plain looking reserve course student looked back at her. She had brown eyes, short brown hair, (contacts and a wig) slightly tanned skin and freckles (makeup). Her uniform didn’t quite fit her, her parents must have bought her a bigger one expecting her to grow into it. (She’d found it in the lost and found, she couldn’t wear a brand new uniform a month after school started.) She was also wearing a simple brown satchel (containing binoculas, a tape recorder, her notebook, pencil and evidence bags).

Most importantly, she looked absolutely nothing like Kyoko Kirigiri. This was particularly important today, thanks to her father’s interference. The last thing she needed while going incognito was Ishimaru yelling “Kirigiri-chan! My dear classmate! What are you also doing here in the reserve department, when you are actually a main school student!?”

Honestly! What had possessed her father to get _Ishimaru_ of all people involved…If he’d _had_ to choose someone from her class to bumble along into her work couldn’t have picked someone useful like Fujisaki? Even Naegi would have been better, he would have at least have a basic idea of subterfuge and be willing to follow instructions…

She could only hope Ishimaru would be so preoccupied with the amount of rubbish littering the paths to the reserve department that he never actually made it there…

* * *

 

Ishimaru sighed as he picked up another piece of rubbish from the floor and put it into one of the plastic bags he always carried around. The reserve department looked so…shabby compared to the main part of the school! The buildings were a new style, having only been built recently, but they were already looking worn and poorly maintained, and he’d even seen bits of graffiti on some of them! Not to mention the amount of litter everywhere! The school had a reputation to maintain! You’d think they’d keep the place tidy, especially given how much the reserve students paid to attend the school!

Ah. But that money was being given to “Ultimates” like himself, wasn’t it…He suddenly wondered if he should have drawn out the money and given it back to the reserve students. It wouldn’t be much split between them all but it would have been _something_? But when he’d told his father he’d help with the debts, he’d sounded so _relieved_! He couldn’t take that back now…

He looked around, nervously. He was suddenly very aware that his Hope’s Peak uniform was visibly different from the reserve course uniform, especially with the addition of his middle school prefect pin and disciplinary armband, and he was attracting attention. Did the students here resent the main course students? Of course, why wouldn’t they? He was getting a free ride through the best school in the country, because _they_ were paying for it!

What was he supposed to say to them? “Thank you for paying for _my_ education instead of your own”? And how had he thought he was going to thank them in the first place? Just walk up to everyone he saw and say hello? This had been a stupid idea! He should just leave before they got annoyed at him for intruding on their part of the school…

“Hey! You’re Kiyotaka Ishimaru, right?” A tall, slender, pale boy with black eyes and cropped black hair like his own was shouting at him as he approached with another boy and a girl. “What are you doing in _our_ part of the school!?”

“Err…” What could he say? This was probably going to result in him getting punched…

“Wait, Ishimaru?” One of the boy’s friends said, a lad with brown hair and eyes. They knew him? Did they know he was getting so much money from them? “You emailed him already!?”

“E-emailed me?” Why would they email him? To ask for it back?

“Ah, heh heh… No I…this is just a coincidence!” The first boy told him, then turned back to himself. “See…You might have noticed our part of the school’s pretty crappy looking…” He started.

“Ah… Well, yes…” Ishimaru replied guiltily.

“So… we were thinking we should form a reserve student council to try and get the staff to sort things out a bit!” Ishimaru stared, this wasn’t how he’d expected the conversation to go.

“Like, Ok, I know part of the problem is that us reserve students mess things up a ton” The blonde girl started “…but a lot of that’s because we feel like the staff just see us as cash cows! That’s why we want to organise a council and open a dialogue with them!”

What…what a wonderful idea! It was so _nice_ to see people so eager to change a poor situation! And especially through dialogue! But…he didn’t understand what this had to do with him taking money from them…

“Umm, I’m sorry, but why were you planning to email me?” He asked.

“Well, forming committees is kind of your thing, isn’t it?” The first boy to talk to him said, “You had that morality committee in your old school…We thought maybe you could help us out? Y’know, maybe give us some tips and stuff…We don’t really know what we’re doing…”

They wanted _his_ advice, him specifically? He felt his face flushing. “I… Of course I’d be more than happy to help!” He saluted, “But…you might find it more helpful to discuss this with the other student council…”

The black haired boy sighed, “Yeah…We tried that. They never got back to any of our emails…”

“What!? That’s disgraceful!” Ishimaru was appalled, “No wonder your fellow students are disillusioned if that’s the attitude of the council! In that case I assure you I’ll do everything I can to make the reserve student council a force to be reckoned with!”

“Haha! Awesome! We knew you were the right person to ask!” The black haired boy put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe we can discuss it at lunch? We were just going there now!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” He said, letting himself be led to the reserve cafeteria.

* * *

 

Kyoko walked along the path to the cafeteria, where her targets would usually eat lunch together. She knew they had planned for one of them to split and bag up his stash with the other two tomorrow evening. Her main goal this lunchtime was to make sure they hadn’t changed that plan at all.

She got to the food hall and bought herself an overpriced soup to eat at the table next to the one they usually occupied. At least she hadn’t seen Ishimaru anywhere. Hopefully she’d catch them making the trade and then the case would be closed and it wouldn’t have mattered that her father had interfered with it…

* * *

 

Ishimaru looked at the prices of the food worriedly. It was even more extortionate than the cafeteria on the main part of the school!”

“Hey, so what can we get you?” The black haired boy, who’d introduced himself as Ieyasu Asano, asked him.

“Oh…Uh…” His eyes scanned for the cheapest thing on the menu. “Tofu salad sounds good!”

The other boy, Keishi Haga, rolled his eyes. “Dude don’t just pick the cheapest thing on the menu…”

“Yeah! Like Ieyasu said, _we’re_ paying!” the girl, Shoko Nozara, started, grabbing playfully at his arm while doing so. “So get yourself something nice!”

“What? No I couldn’t possibly let you do that!” Ishimaru awkwardly pulled away from her grasp. “I mean… You’re already paying for my education, at least partly…”

“Aww, man! You’re not worrying about _that_ are you?” Asano asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing us a huge favour! It’s only fair we buy you lunch! And it’s not like it’s _your_ fault your family’s got money troubles at the moment!”

He cringed slightly at the mention of his family’s debts, but they all seemed so eager to treat him...”Umm, well, if you insist…” He’d just have to work harder to repay them. “But the Tofu still sounds good.”

“Sure thing, Ishimaru-sama!” Asano told him, making him blush at the over-respectfulness. He then turned to the woman manning the cafeteria. “2 beef ramens, make them large size!”

…He’d have to work very, very hard…

* * *

 

She carried on staring into her book as the sounds of her targets finally arriving at their table came to her ears. She wondered why they’d taken so long, she’d started to worry they might have brought their plan forward and she’d have missed it. Still they hadn’t been gone long enough to have done that so hopefully there would be no more complications to her plan…

“I must thank you all again for the lunch!” _What?_ No…No it couldn’t be!

“Aww, you don’t have to keep saying that! Like we _said_ you’re doing us a favour!” Well that was definitely Nozara…Kyoko took out a compact mirror, using it to get a look at the table behind her…Oh for goodness sake! Ishimaru was an idiot! _She’d_ had to wheedle and bargain to get him to accept a measly chocolate, and now here he was eagerly slurping up a lunch bought by a group of drug dealers! What was he _thinking_!?

“Yes… speaking of which! What do you know so far about setting up a council?” Ishimaru asked. Why did he think they wanted to set up a council? Had he overheard them talking and misunderstood something? Or perhaps they were lying to him?

“Uhh…Well…” Asano didn’t seem to know much about it, and he was the smart one. That didn’t really help her decide either way.

“Well, in that case, I’ll go over the process from the start!” Ishimaru didn’t notice, he was probably relishing the chance to lecture someone, he certainly went on long enough, explaining the rules regarding numbers of people, frequency of meetings, and the positions that needed filling…

“Hey! So I just had a thought! Can I ask you a question!?” Ishimaru was suddenly interrupted by a manic Haga, who come back from the bathroom. Presumably he’d taken a dose while he was there from his sudden change in personality.

“Uhh…Of course!” Ishimaru said, startled.

“Ok, ok! So you’re the Ultimate Moral Compass, right? So your opinion on stuff is always correct, right? What’s your view on our prison system?”

“Uhh… Well, my title doesn’t make me infallible…No one is! It’s important to research these things and form your own views!” Ishimaru said, sounding somewhat annoyed at the implication. “Although…it is something I’ve looked into…our system works reasonably well, but there’s certainly room for improvements!” He stated. He sounded as if he wanted to say a lot more but had decided against it.

“What sort of improvements?” Haga asked.

“Well…We do a good job of avoiding violence between prisoners, but some of the punishments dealt out by guards are excessive and have even been considered against human rights in other countries. There was one example where…” That was all it took for Ishimaru to start on a long winded, tedious “discussion” of the prison system and its various faults and how he’d consider fixing them but then also what the potential problems with his solutions were...

She was almost relieved when a girl came up to her with a clipboard and asked if she’d like to join an environmental club she was setting up. Of course she still had to be able to pay attention to the other table so she just nodded in agreement and gave a fake name and email to the girl.

“Thanks! It’s good to see others care about this!” The girl said cheerfully as she headed over to the table behind her, where Ishimaru had started discussing a _different_ country’s prison system for some reason.

“It’s quite incredible that Norway manages to have such a low recidivism rate despite some of it prisons being so nice to stay in! But their culture is _far_ more geared towards rehabilitation instead of…Ah, hello! Can I help you?”

“Oh, umm, hi! My name’s Juri Hirayama and I’m trying to start a group at school to focus on environmental issues, and find ways for the school to reduce…”

“Urg! Hirayama, not this _again_!” Asano moaned, “Can’t you tell this is the _Ultimate Mor…_ ”

“Asano-kun! Don’t you realise this is _exactly_ the sort of thing a student council should be concerned with! Councils are supposed to represent student views, and help convey them to the staff! Environmental concerns are a big part of that!”

“Umm…Student council?” Hirayama asked.

“Ahh, yes! Asano, Haga and Nozara are hoping to set up a student council to help students discuss grievances with the staff! You might find being a part of that would help you get the staff to listen to your environmental group!” Ishimaru told her. “In fact, we should probably plan a meeting time to discuss how we’re you’re going to advertise this to the other students… Would you be available tomorrow evening around 8pm?”

That was when the drug split was supposed to take place…But to Kyoko’s surprised the three others at the table readily agreed, agreeing to meet back at this cafeteria. She guessed that meant they would still go ahead with the swap, safe in the knowledge Ishimaru would be foolishly waiting in the cafeteria and wouldn’t bumble his way into it.

* * *

 

(Sunday, October 9th)

Kiyotaka finished putting his uniform back on, stretching contentedly. He'd just had his first sparring lesson with Oogami, which had gone well. She'd mostly just had him practise strikes while she blocked- probably to get him used to the sight of her holding a sword without panicking. It's was slightly embarrassing that it was necessary, but he was still glad that she was being considerate of him...

He checked his watch, he still had about 30 minutes before he needed to leave for the reserve department. What did he need to be doing? He scanned his room, oh yes! The book for Kirigiri would be best...

He continued reading where he left off, wondering if it was really possible to deduce such things about people so quickly. Perhaps if you had a particular talent for it maybe?

Was that why Kirigiri had had him read this book? She'd had him do this because he'd been so suspicious about her ability to analyse things... He'd have to apologise to her!

Ah! But first he had a meeting to get to!

* * *

 

_Where were they?_ It was 10 minutes after they’d agreed to meet, and Asano would usually be on time at least…Surely they couldn’t possibly have gone to Ishimaru’s meeting?

She waited another 10 minutes, then gave up and went to the cafeteria (still incognito).

They really _had_ gone to the meeting! She didn’t even have to enter the room to confirm it, she could hear Ishimaru’s voice prattling on from outside. Still, she should at least get visual confirmation that the three of them were all there. She went inside to buy a snack from the vending machine.

“So, we just email everyone and tell them all to come to the lecture hall on Sunday evening if they’ve got “grievances with the school”? Asano asked, sounding slightly bored.

“Yes! And try to mention it to people in passing as well! Unfortunately a lot of students are lax about reading mass emails!”

“Tell me about it!” Hirayama griped. “I’ve been trying to get people to sign up to the eco club for a month, but no one ever replies! That’s why I’m running around with a clipboard…I only need another 6 people though!” She finished cheerfully.

“Whatever, Hirayama…” Nozara rolled her eyes as she pushed her own snack around her plate. (Low appetite, another sign of cocaine use).

“Hey, so…Are we done here?” Haga asked.

“Yes! That should be all you need until next Sunday!” Ishimaru told them. Good, that meant she’d get an opportunity to eavesdrop on them in peace over the next week…”Umm…But…” Ishimaru’s eyes darted downwards, nervously. “It…It’s been quite nice talking to you all…Umm…I was wondering if I could maybe come have lunch with you all again tomorrow?”

The three drug dealers forced fixed smiled onto their faces as Asano slapped an arm around him and said “Sure! That’d be great!”

Ishimaru beamed happily, with no idea what he’d got himself into...Her father had made this case a lot more complicated than it should have been.

* * *

 

(Monday, October 10th 2011)

It was Monday morning, and he knew he really shouldn’t be reading right before class started, but he just _had_ to find out what was going to happen with this missing treasure…

There was a slight cough, followed by “Ishimaru?”

“Ah Kirigiri-chan!” He stood to attention, then remembered he owed her an apology. “Ah, about the book…”

“That doesn’t matter.” She told him curtly, “Where were you yesterday? I tried to find you but you weren’t in your room…”

“Oh, my apologies! I was at the reserve department! I’m helping a group of students there set up a council as a thank you for their support of my education!” He explained, “What was it you needed me for?”

“It’s sorted now, Oowada helped instead.” ARGH! Oowada would be smug about that for _weeks_! To think the one time anyone came to call on him happened when he was out! Just his luck! She continued: “But, the reserve department? I’ve heard rumours they’ve got a drugs problem over there at the moment…Did you see anything like that?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t tend to attract those types of people, so I didn’t see anything!” He explained.

She frowned. “Are you sure? Drugs users can be quite subtle, do you know any of the signs, like sudden changes in personality or…” What was she _saying!?_

“My new…mentees are _not_ drug addicts!” He snapped, hesitating when he’d almost used the word “friends” instead. “They are a group of upstanding young people who want to address the issues the reserve students have with the school, and frankly that elitist attitude the “ _Ultimates”_ have is one of their main complaints!”

She just stared at him, before clicking her tongue in annoyance and storming off to her seat. _Fine_ _then!_ She’d see how wrong she was when the reserve council was a success! He sat back down to his book. She was lucky it was so good or he might have considered not reading it for her…

* * *

 

(Friday, October 14th 2011)

It was Friday morning. This week had gone appallingly.

Ishimaru had spent most classes loudly telling everyone who would listen how pleased he was with the “Upstanding young people” who he was “helping to improve the reserve department.” It was almost as if he was doing it to spite her.

Even worse, when he wasn’t in class, Ishimaru had been stuck to the dealers like glue, and was even attracting a crowd of random students who kept asking him about various ethical topics every lunchtime. (Likely for an upcoming assignment they each had to do on a different topic, she’d discovered Haga’s had been about the prison system and suspected the other students had the same idea).

This had, of course completely stymied her attempts to discover information about Asano & Co’s plans. Although this seemed to be as annoying to them as it was to her, if their expressions during Ishimaru’s screeds was anything to go by. Perhaps she’d be lucky and they crack and admit to selling cocaine rather than have to listen to him anymore? She hoped something would happen soon at least…She was running out of disguises and fake names to give to Hirayama.

And here came the nuisance himself, marching into their homeroom class dragging Hagakure and Oowada behind him before standing at the front of the room.

“Uhh…Excuse me, everybody!” He shouted, far louder that needed to get their attention in the small room. “I have some important information for us all! I’m sure all of you are aware that of School Festival will be taking place on November 5th! Well, the responsibilities for each class has been announced and ours is to provide an entertainment area! I think it would be good if we held a class meeting to discuss our plans! How does lunchtime today sound?”

There was some tutting and griping, but the idea was generally accepted. This might be her chance, with Ishimaru staying here she’d be able to sneak to the reserve department and hear the dealers’ next plan at last!

“Very well then, please try and think of ideas for entertainment!” Ishimaru saluted and walking to his desk, rummaging through his bag for a book.

* * *

 

“Does anyone know where Kirigiri is?” He asked the class. They’d _all_ come to the meeting, even _Oowada_ , except for her! Still, he should have expected it, she’d been even colder towards him than usual this week, ever since their argument about his new ~~friends~~ _mentees_ in the reserve department. She was probably refusing to admit she was wrong.

Everyone shrugged, well never mind then. “Then I guess we’ll just have to start without her and assign her a role then…” He started, opening the pad he’d requisitioned specially for this. “I can take minutes for the meeting, unless someone else would rather do so?”

“Uuhhh…You’re gonna write down everything we say?” Hagakure asked.

“Yes! It’s common practise to make sure we have a record of what everyone has offered to do, or of points we need to discuss during later meetings!”

“Later meetings?” Kuwata asked, “You mean we’re gonna have to do this _again_?”

“W-well, not necessarily, but still…”

“Whatever, dude! Let’s just start this crap already!” Oowada moaned, putting his feet up on the table.

“Nnngh! Alright then…” He forced himself to ignore the biker's flagrant rule breaking. “We only have one item on today’s agenda, which is: Does anyone have any plans for our class festival stand?” He prayed someone did, he hadn’t had _any_ ideas…

“I was thinking I could sing some songs…” Maizano started.

“Yeah, and I can play guitar for peeps!” Kuwata added.

“I will do recitals as well, various instruments.” Togami told them all.

Ah! Right, so that was Maizano singing…Kuwata guitar, Togami various instruments…” He started scribbling it down furiously.

“I will play card games with the guests” Ludenburg announced.

“Yeah, and I was thinking I can do predictions? People say they’re entertaining sometimes?” Hagakure announced.

“And I will draw caricatures in my unique style!...” Yamada said.

Right…Ledenburg: card games, Hagakure: predicitons, Yamada: carac…

“…Although I’ll need some shelter in case weather gods decide to destroy my work!” Yamada added. Should he write that bit down? He guessed so: Weather gods might…

“I can organise a big tent for us to be under.” Ikusaba offered.

“And _I’ll_ help you put it up!” Enoshima added.

He crossed out the bit about weather gods and wrote Tent: Ikusaba and Eno…

“Ooh! Ooh! Sakura and I are gonna do a ball toss game! With prizes and stuff!” Asahina exclaimed.

Right. Asahina, Sakura: Ball game… WAIT! He couldn’t call her by her first name in the _minutes_! What was he _thinking_!

“I had a similar idea.” Oowada started. “Was thinking I’d build a dunk tank, but I’d need some help running it and taking money. Hey Naegi, Fujisaki…You two up for that?”

“Uhh, sure Oowada…” Naegi agreed.

“Umm, Ok…” Fujisaki said, right so that’s Dunk tank: Oodawa, Naegi, Fujisaki! “But won’t you also need someone…”

“We might need help with collecting money as well…” Oogami added.

“Uhh, yeah! Oh hey, Toko! Do you wanna help us!”

“W-well, unless I can help master…” Fukawa muttered…

“You _can’t_!” Togami snapped.

Ok, so that was Asahina ~~Sakura~~ Oogami and Fukawa: Ball game.

He panted slightly as he finished scribbling everything down. “Uhh…So is that everything settled?” That had seemed easy! Getting people involved in his old school festivals had been like pulling teeth, and he’d often ended up doing half the work himself…

“Well, there’s one thing.” Oowada smirked ominously. “A dunk tank kinda needs someone to, y’know, _dunk.”_

“Well… Wouldn’t we take it in turns to be the victim?” He asked, that seemed the fairest thing to do, then no one would have to be picked on…

“That would be completely impractical! It would result in half the attractions being closed at random times!” Togami snapped.

“Oh, I guess…” Ishimaru started before having an idea. “Ah! Kirigiri still needs an assignment, doesn’t she?” He started writing “Dunk tank victim: Kiri…”

“Tch! No one’s gonna wanna dunk the headmaster daughter, asshole!” Oowada snapped, “Besides _you_ ain’t offered to do anything yet! What’s _your_ job gonna be!?”

…GAAH! He’d been too busy writing everything down to offer to help, and now all the roles had been filled and he had no other ideas of what to do…

“Uhh…I…Ah…” He looked at his classmates, surely someone would say something? Surely they wouldn’t _all_ want to see him spend the whole festival day getting soaked over and over, one of them would volunteer to help him!

Nothing, not even from Oogami. She was just frowning at the table intensely… Had he upset her?

Oowada grinned triumphantly. “Need me to write it down for ya?” …Had they _planned_ this? Almost everyone had seemed to have a role in mind before they even started the meeting. That _never_ happened normally…

Oowada was reaching over to write his name in the minutes. Ishimaru wasn’t giving him the satisfaction. “I can write it perfectly well myself!” He snapped, before finishing. “…giri, Ishimaru.” “Now, if that’s over with…” He paused, it seemed it _was_ over with, “Does anyone have any other business?”

“Uhh…kinda?” Naegi started, “I was thinking we could organise a trip out Sunday evening? Like, to the arcade or something?”

“I’m sorry, Naegi-kun. I’ll be helping the reserve council then…” Although, to be honest, at the moment he was just glad to have an excuse to spend time with the students who _liked_ him rather than _this_ lot! “If that’s everything I’ll let you all discuss that while I type up the minutes…” He left, barely noticing Kirigiri as he did so…Maybe if he ran (outside only, obviously) he could at least say hello to Asano and the others before his next class…

* * *

 

Kyoko was almost jubilant. Saturday at 8:00pm! That was the planned meeting time for the split (which Ishimaru’s misinterpretation of their conversation had prevented last time, apparently). She headed to the room the class meeting was taking place in, but had apparently missed it as Ishimaru came speed walking out with a pad of messily written notes under his arm and the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Well, she could get a summary from the others at least.

“Umm, Naegi? Did you _really_ think he was going to go for that?” Fujisaki was asking as she entered the room.

“Well I didn’t know when his reserve council thing was…” Naegi replied.

“I don’t think he’d have said yes even if he’d been available, he hates arcades…” Fujisaki said, “Maybe you should try suggesting a study session or volunteer work?”

“Err… I guess…” Naegi sounded unsure, he probably didn’t want to spend time with Ishimaru _that_ badly…

“…Besides that, your timing was poor…” Oogami sighed. “He’s upset that we all just forced him to take the worst job possible, of course he doesn’t want to socialise with us.” She was glaring at Oowada as she said it.

“If _that’s_ what you think of it, why didn’t you _say_ anything?” Togami asked her,

“…I couldn’t think of anything to counter your argument about having to close other attractions.”

“Oh, well! Don’t be upset Sakura! Being in the dunk tank’s not _that_ bad!” Asahina would think that, she’s a swimmer…

“Yeah!” Naegi agreed, “He didn’t _seem_ that upset…”

“He was about to cry as he left.” Kyoko pointed out, more out of instinct than anything. Oogami sighed heavily.

“WELL, maybe he should quit being a wimp and man up! And we didn’t _force_ him to go in the dunk tank! He should’a volunteered for something better instead of tryin’a be a lazy asshole!” Oowada shouted.

“Umm…But he was too busy taking the minutes to speak…We were all talking so fast…” Fujisaki said.

“Well, we didn’t need those stupid notes! I remember what I’m doing!”

Fujisaki sighed. “Alright then, without anyone else telling you, who do you need to talk to, to make sure our dunk tank will actually fit inside the tent?”

“Err…”

“See! That’s why we need notes!”

Oowada growled and stood up, “Well, whatever! If the nerd doesn’t wanna be given shitty jobs he shouldn’t be such an annoying tightass!” He stormed out of the room. Leaving it in silence.

Kyoko had a thought. “By the way. Naegi?”

“Uhh, yes?”

“Ask Ishimaru about socialising again on Sunday morning. There’s a large chance his plans will have changed by then.”

* * *

 

Ishimaru ran up the path and checked his watch. It had taken him 10 minutes to run to the reserve department’s entrance. If he kept this pace up he’d have 10 minutes to get to the cafeteria, say hello and come back…

His paced slowed, there was no way he’d make it in time. And it was a daft idea anyway, what would be the point in just dropping by to say hello anyway? He’d have been better off just finding a quiet place to cry like he usually did…

“Ishimaru?” It was Asano! His head shot up and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Haha! Asano! Hello!” He laughed, this _had_ been a good idea after all!

“Hey, Ishimaru! What are you doing here? I thought you had a class meeting today?”

“O-oh…I did, but it finished and I thought if I ran I might get to say hello before my next class…”

“What? Seriously? Why would you bother running just to say hello?” Asano laughed, but then looked at him concerned. “Did something happen? You look like you’ve been crying?”

“I…I know it’s daft…But…But I just…I…” He didn’t know _what_ he’d come here for.

Asano did though. “You wanted to talk to a friend?” He smiled.

“…YES!!!” Ishimaru couldn’t help but hug him.

“Ggh!” Asano stiffened, and he jumped back immediately.

“I…I sorry! I shouldn’t have done that! It’s just I’ve never had a friend before and…”

“Uhh…No, no it’s fine! I just wasn’t expecting it!” Asano laughed. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Err…” Suddenly the class meeting didn’t seem like such an issue anymore, it had been enough to find out he _could_ talk…to a _friend_!

“Well, if you can’t think of anything, there was something I needed to ask you…”

“Of course! What I can do to help… _friend_?”

Asano chuckled at his happiness over the word, but then turned serious. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the reserve department has a bit of an issue with cocaine at the moment…”

“I’m afraid I have heard something about that.”

“Well, we think we know where they’ve been keeping their drugs…We found needles and bags and stuff in one of the rooms…But security won’t listen to us. They just seemed to stop caring about the whole problem a few weeks ago…” He explained, “Would you come have a look with us? The school will listen to _you!_ ”

“Of course! This needs to be stopped immediately!” He nodded. And once he’d caught the _actual_ drug addicts, he’d be able to show Kirigiri that his ~~mentees~~ _friends_ were trustworthy!

“Great! Thanks buddy!” Asano slapped a hand on his back. “Meet us outside the east block around 8:20pm tomorrow and we’ll show you where it is! Oh, but hey! Don’t you have to get back to classes?”

He checked his watch, he was right! He only had 12 minutes! “Ah! Umm! Goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow!” He started running, managing to set a faster pace with far less effort this time.

* * *

 

Ishimaru power-walked into class in a panic about 5 minutes early. “I’m sorry I’m late!” He announced to the empty room. “Err…” He checked his watch, “Oh! Seems I’m getting faster then!” He sat down, breathing heavily.

“Did you write the minutes up yet?” Kyoko asked him, no one had wanted to tell her what her role in the festival was.

“Ah! No, I apologise. I went to visit my…friend in the reserve department!” He smiled at the word.

_Friend!?_ Did he mean Asano? And he’d run there and back to spend, what? 5 minutes with him? How ridiculous… “If you like the reserve department so much, maybe you should transfer there.”

Ishimaru sighed, “I don’t have the money…” He said sadly.

_That_ was his main issue with it? Not the fact that he’d lose the reputation of being an Ultimate, not the fact that the reserve department was a poorly-run cash cow full of drug addicts but the lack of money!? “…Do you really think it’s a better place than _here?_ ”

“It’s got better people.” Ishimaru said primly, before standing to greet the teacher who had just walked into the room.

… _Idiot!_ Well, he’d soon see, after tomorrow evening.

* * *

 

(Saturday, October 15th 2011)

“Cocaine use: signs of.” He typed into Google. If he was going to be investigating a crime scene this evening, he ought to know what sort of evidence to look for! He clicked the first link that came up.

Oh, this wasn’t what he meant…It was just a list of warning signs to look for in people who might be addicted…still worth a read in case they found anyone in the area…

Let’s see, sudden bouts of excitability and lack of appetite? Haha! That sounded like Haga and Nozara!

… … …

No they _couldn’t_ be! They were his _friends!_ He shouldn’t even be considering this on such flimsy evidence! He should memorise the rest of the list and then find the information he’d actually been looking for…

So what else? Prone to nosebleeds and powder on the top lips… Again that sounded like…

_No! They were his friends!_ Nosebleeds weren’t unusual in someone as prone to excitement as Haga and Nozara was just bad at putting on her makeup! They weren’t drug addicts! _They were his friends!_

But… What if his friends _were_ addicted? Wouldn’t it be better to help them instead of denying it?

Urggh...Perhaps he should talk to Asano about it, he didn’t have any of the signs and knew them better than him...

In which case _he’d_ have realised his friends had a problem, and he’d not mentioned anything, so it was all fine! They _weren’t_ drug addicts! _They were his friends!_

He turned the computer off, this was just making him paranoid! He should go do something else…But he didn’t want to go back to his room. The other students in his class had been ringing his doorbell all morning and he still wasn’t the mood to deal with them after the meeting yesterday... Ah! He could finish the Sherlock Holmes book as he was here in the library, then he could drop it off for check-in! Perfect!

He read through the last few stories, glad that Sherlock had survived his apparent death to have them, but a little disappointed that this book apparently contained ALL of the stories. Where there any other mystery books as good as these?

Perhaps after he’d sorted this nasty drugs business out he could ask Kirigiri, at least she hadn’t been part of the plan at the class meeting...

* * *

 

Kyoko was waiting. She’d arrived an hour early of course, managing to seclude herself in a dusty corner of the rafters. She was certainly ready to be done with this case, and Ishimaru’s idiocy with it! How could he say the reserve students were better than them? How would he know? He’d hardly spoken to anyone except Oogami over the last month!

And now he seemed intent on cutting class 78 out of his life over this stupid dunk tank idea…or at least cutting _her_ out of it over her accusations about his “friends”… she’d seen him checking the Sherlock Holmes book back in. As if he could possibly have read it in a week with all his other duties and studying! Maybe she should quiz him on it, it might be funny watching him try to guess what the mystery of the Green Gables could possibly have been just from the title alone…

There was a noise of a door opening and Asano walked in carrying a bag. He peered around the room before placing it down carefully and opening it to reveal a huge bad of what was likely cocaine. Her father really _had_ underestimated the scale of this problem…he also brought out several scales and small bags and carefully placed them around the bigger bag. Then he stood and waited, checking his watch occasionally, getting more and more impatient. At 8:10 he tutted and stormed out the room muttering “fucking dumbasses better not have ODed!”

She waited a minute, but he seemed to have had to go a long way to find them, cautiously she dropped down to get a better look at the bag. She could quickly take photos for evidence and then return to the rafters… She approached the bag and reached into her pocket for her phone, but suddenly there was a loud bang.

Luckily she managed to get her eyes and mouth shut before a plume of powder hit her in the face. She started to breathe through her nose and felt it burn slightly. Urg! This powder was the cocaine! Had the bag exploded? Why would that happen? She wiped her face with her gloves, so she’d at least me able to see and breathe.

She could hear voices, “Hey, what was that noise?”

“It came from that room!”

The door opened.

“Hey, who’s that girl?” That was Haga.

“Oh my God! Is all that stuff the cocaine you guys were talking about?” That was Nozara, sounding as if she was overacting…

“It is! This must be the person dealing it all!” Asano answered. What was this? Who was this ridiculous ploy supposed to fool?

“Kirigiri-chan?” _Ah._ That was who it was supposed to fool. _Ishimaru._ She turned to look at him. He was stood still, looking back and forth over the room, probably too worried about the drugs to step further inside. “What is all this? What are _you_ doing here?” He asked.

“You know her, buddy?” Asano asked.

“I…Yes she’s in my class. She’s the headmaster daughter…” Ishimaru answered. Still looking everywhere but at her.

“Seriously? The headmaster daughter is taking coke?” Haga asked,

“Like, seriously! She looks like she’s snorting it off her gloves!” Nozara exclaimed.

“And that ain’t just _taking_! That’s a half kilo bag!” Asano muttered.

This was ridiculous! “You can’t snort cocaine off leather, it would…”

“How do you know that?” Ishimaru muttered, almost to himself.

_Ah._ She suddenly wished she’d been more forthcoming about her talent. From Ishimaru’s point of view she was the suspicious member of his class who’d been rude about his new friends for no apparent reason and had now been “caught” doing the exact thing she’d been accusing others of. She could hardly say “I’m a detective. I’m here because I’m investigating the influx of drugs into the school” to him now, could she? It would seem like a blatant lie…

He walked forward, eyes still looking around in dismay, even peeking behind her at the items on the table. What would happen now? Obviously the school officials would take her side-especially if there was evidence of the mechanism they’d used to explode the bag on her still in it. But that would likely be _after_ Ishimaru dragged her through the school and loudly told everyone he saw that he’d caught the Headmaster’s daughter preparing to deal cocaine… The students, especially the reserve students, would want to see her punished after that, and an innocent verdict would be seen as her father covering for her.

Ishimaru was right in front of her now, looking at her clothes and appearance with his brows furrowed. What would he say “This is a citizen’s arrest” most likely. Or maybe if he was being particularly foolish “DETENTION!”

He grabbed her hand by the wrist, _here it comes_ , then pulled it up to his face to inspect it and…

“ _SNIFF!”_ …Had…Had Ishimaru just snorted cocaine off of her glove? _Why had Ishimaru just snorted cocaine off of her glove!?_

He grimaced and his went glazed for a bit, before focusing again. “This is flour.” He stated. _What!?_

“What!? N-no it can’t be!” Asano stammered.

Ishimaru matter-of-factly scraped more of it off her gloves with his finger and then tasted it, grimacing again. “No, it is. It’s definitely flour.” He said again.

That couldn’t be true, could it? Flour wouldn’t have burnt her nose like that, and it didn’t _smell_ like flour…

“What the fuck! Haga you fucking asshole! What’d you do with the fucking _coke!”_ Nozara yelled. Ishimaru stiffened.

“I didn’t do fuck all with it! I just rigged it to explode like you two said!” Haga shouted back. Ishimaru looked back at her and let go of her hand, she used it to reach into her pocket for her phone.

“Then why the fuck is it full of _flour_ asshole!” Asano growled, “You have any idea how much that shit _cost me!?_ ” Ishimaru’s head dropped. Kyoko took the phone and started filming the dealers.

“Urg! Maybe ‘cos you dunno what the _fuck_ you’re buying?” Nozara snapped.

“Yeah, why the fuck are we letting you buy this shit? You don’t even _use_ it!” Haga asked.

“That’s _why_ I’m the one buying and keeping it all! Because if you two did it then you stupid fuckers would end up taking it all and we wouldn’t get any profit!” Asano told them.

She glanced over to Ishimaru, he’d been staring at her, but dropped his gaze when she looked at him, cringing as he did so.

“Well we’re not gonna get any fucking profit selling fucking _flour_!” Haga yelled.

“It’s not fucking flour!” Asano yelled. “I purified it my-fucking-self!”

“What!?” Nozara asked, “You said you were buying it! Why the fuck did we need to give you so much money for it?”

“Were you fucking conning us!?” Haga grabbed Asano’s collar. “I’ll have your fucking _teeth_ asshole!”

That spurred Ishimaru into action, he wheeled around and pointed dramatically. “Enough! Detention! All of you!”

They froze, staring at him and then at the phone in her hand…

“…They’re going to get a bit more than a detention for this.” Kyoko told him.

* * *

 

“I don’t think it needs to be said that you three are facing immediate expulsion.” Headmaster Kirigiri started, as soon as his daughter finished her report.

_Expulsion? His friends were going to be…expelled from the school?_

Ishimaru knew taking drugs was against the school rules, let alone _dealing_ drugs, and that cocaine was the worst of the lot! But…but _they were his friends!_

And _ok,_ they’d lied to him and tried to frame Kirigiri for their own crimes…But they needed help with their addiction…And Asano must have a reason, a _good_ reason, because _they were his friends!_

“We will also be taking this matter to the police. With the evidence we have against you it’s likely you’re facing jail time.” The headmaster continued.

_JAIL TIME?_ His friends could be going to _jail?_ NO! No! He _couldn’t_ let that happen! “WAIT! PLEASE!” He shouted. Everyone turned to stare at him, what was he going to say? “Please, give them another chance!” He said, desperately trying to think of something he could say to help his friends…

Kirigiri tutted and the Headmaster sighed, “Ishimaru-kun, dealing drugs isn’t something that people just do the once on a whim…This has been a sustained operation for at least a month, possibly more…”

“I…I know that!” He cringed, had his friends really been doing this that long? “But…but…What if I supervised them! I…could rehabilitate them! I’m the Ultimate Moral Compass! Surely if I spend all my time with them I can…”

“Oh _hell fucking no!”_ Nozara suddenly shouted. _What!? Why would she say that!?_

“Yeah! I’d sooner go to jail than have to listen to your _fucking_ _blather_ 24/7!” Haga agreed… _What?_ But…but they’d been so eager to talk to him before…Why were they saying this _now,_ when he was trying to _help_ them?”

_Ah!_ _They’d_ never actually said they were his friends, had they? It was just Asano he should be worrying about! _HE_ was the one who’d said it! _HE_ was his _friend!”_

“Err, well OK… But Asano…” He went to grab his friends arm protectively…

“Get the _fuck_ off of me, you _fucking faggot!”_ Asano shoved him to the floor. “…Been wanting to say that all fucking week!” He added, as two security members moved to restrain him.

_What!? WHAT!? Why_ would he say that? Why would he say _that!?_ “I…I’m not…”

“Oh, the _hell_ you aren’t!” Asano snapped, “You didn’t think I’d notice you yank your arm away when Nozara so much as brushes it but you wanna hang off my shoulder for hours!”

“Y-you’re my friend…Isn’t that what friends…?”

“You were never my fucking friend, dumbass! Only reason we spoke to you was because we needed someone to screw with _her…”_ he jerked his head towards Kirigiri, “and we thought a stupid friendless loser like you would be easy to dupe!”

They’d never been friends…?

(“What do you mean, screw with _me?_ How did you know I…”)

They’d _never_ been friends…?

(“What, security stop giving a fuck about drugs and we suddenly start getting tailed by six different girls all wearing the same pair of gloves? How fucking stupid do you think we are?”)

_Why did he keep falling for this trick?_ It wasn’t the first time someone had pretended to like him just to use or hurt him, so why did it feel worse every single time? Why did he keep letting his hopes get higher and higher each time someone smiled at him or invited him to get-togethers? Why was he such an _idiot_?

“I see.” He breathed deeply as he stood up, trying to hide his bitter disappointment. He didn’t want to worry either of the Kirigiris. “In that case I rescind my previous offer! I apologise for the interruption!” He saluted the headmaster, and then sat back down on his chair, ignoring the rest of the conversation as he tried to order his thoughts and hold back tears...

 

“Dismissed…” Headmaster Kirigiri finally said, and ~~his friends~~ _the drug dealers_ were escorted out by security. He got up to leave as well. “Ah, Ishimaru. I’d like to speak with you before you leave.” The headmaster gestured to a chair in front of his desk.

Ishimaru sat down, and to his surprise the younger Kirigiri left the office, leaving him alone with the headmaster. “Err, how can I help, Kirigiri-sensei?” He asked.

“How are you?” He asked in reply.

_Miserable, disappointed, I feel like an idiot, I want to go back to my room to cry…_ “I’m fine, sensei.” He said, realising how stiff and untrue it sounded as soon as he said it. “This…isn’t the first time something like that’s happened, I’m used to it.” He added, hoping it would make Kirigiri less worried about him.

Judging from the headmaster’s reaction, it seemed to have the opposite effect. But at least it made him change the subject. “Hmm Ok... It’s just…about what Asano said…”

What had Asano said? _Oh gods! THAT!_ “I’m not gay, sensei!” He made sure to clarify, quickly.

“Err…” Kirigiri looked concerned…Ah that had probably sounded like he was homophobic…

“Err, I mean…Not that I think there’s anything _wrong_ with it…I just wanted to clarify…It’s the sort thing where rumours spread and…”

Kirigiri smiled reassuringly at him. “Ishimaru, no one’s concerned about your sexuality…I was…”

“B-but they might be…one day! I’m planning to go into politics after all…”

Kirigiri sighed, “Well, times are changing. I’d like to think by the time you’re in politics people will be more concerned with other things… Maybe even your _actual policies!_ ” He laughed

“Hahaha!” Despite everything, Ishimaru couldn’t help laughing, it was so rare he found people who would make jokes about subjects he was familiar with…

“But, what I wanted to ask about was him calling you friendless…” Kirigiri switched back to the original topic. “Is that true? Does it bother you?”

_Yes it’s true and I hate it…_ ”It’s fine…I’m busy with my studies and don’t really have the time for socialising…”

“Hmm…Kyoko’s the same way, always busy with something or other…It would be nice if she had someone she could think of as a friend though…” The headmaster was staring at him…Was that a request? “But, as long as you’re fine, I’ll let you get to bed, this must have been tiring on you!”

“Thank you, sensei.” Ishimaru walked to the door.

“Oh! And please, come and talk to me if you have any problems! Anything at all! And say hello to Kyoko for me!” The headmaster added as he put his hand on the door. He nodded as he opened the door. 

* * *

 

After a short while Ishimaru came out of the door to her father’s office, seeming a little less upset than before. He looked surprised to see her waiting for him. “Ah! Hello, Kyoko!” He saluted.

Wait, _Kyoko?_ Did he think they were on first name basis now?

“Err! I mean! That was what your father asked me to say!” He panicked as his brain caught up with his mouth. “I realise we’re not that close…Not that I wouldn’t _want_ to be close with you…Err, but I mean that in a friendly way not…”

Her father couldn’t have given him a better shovel for the hole he was digging himself into, could he? Still, she had to admit that lying about the drugs had been clever of him, and despite how suspicious he’d been, he’d kept his mind open enough to at least consider the idea she was innocent…

“It’s fine, Kiyotaka.” She interrupted him.

There was a pause as his brain registered what she’d said and he smiled…“Err…Well, Ok then…Kyoko?” He said, testing the name to make sure he’d understood. She nodded back at him. “So… does that mean we are friends now?”

“Would you actually believe me if I said yes?” He frowned as he considered the question, perhaps best not to push it. “I’m considering the possibility.” She told him.

He smiled, briefly. “Then, may I ask what you were doing in the room earlier?”

“My father asked me to investigate the drugs issue. I’d actually been tailing them all at lunchtimes for the last two weeks…”

“What? Why would your father ask _you_ to do that? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“It is, but I’m the Ultimate Detective, I’m used to danger.”

"Yes, but still, you're his daughter... Asking you to do all that by yourself..."

"He didn't want me working by myself; he just gave me authority over the security team looking into it. It was my decision to tell them to leave it to me." She told him, "And when he found out about that, he convinced one of the more reliable members of my class to get involved as well." She grinned at Kiyotaka.

"Oh? Who was that? I didn't see anyone else from our class..."

Hmm. Reliable, but still an idiot... "...It was _you_ , Kiyotaka."

"What!? He didn't get me involved, I only went to the reserve department because I wanted to thank them about the relief fund."

"And whose suggestion was that?"

"The headmast...oh." He finally caught on. "But, still, how would he know that...the dealers would want to start a student council... Or tell me that at least..." He muttered the last part, apparently having trouble figuring out which parts, if any, of what Asano had told him over the last week was true.

"I don't think he did, he probably just wanted someone with a tendency to rush in and help people in the general area. Or he hoped you'd recognise me and insist on helping." She explained, "But speaking of the council, I suppose you'll be available for Naegi's arcade trip now?"

"What? No!" Kiyotaka exclaimed.

_What?_ "But...the people who asked you to do it..."

"Hirayama was still interested, even though she'll be busy with eco club now she has enough student signatures to form it.” ( _...Did that include the seven fake names she’d given the girl?_ ) “And I spoke to other people who seemed interested... Just because the idea was originally made to trick me, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. After all, I told them all I’d give advice on the matter, so that’s what I’ll do!”

“Oh really? I hope that goes well for you then...” She replied, hoping for Kiyotaka’s sake that it wouldn’t just end up with himself and Hirayama in a room by themselves… “But you do remember you also told _me_ you’d read Sherlock Holmes?” She said, reproachfully.

“Ah, yes! I did!” He smiled, “What did you want me to read next?”

“You really expect me to believe you read all of that in a week?”

“Err…Yes?” He seemed confused. “It’s not that much is it? And I was ahead on homework…”

Was he really going to insist on lying? “So what happened in the Adventure of the Green Gables?” She asked.

“Err, is that the one where someone wants to buy the woman’s house and belongings?” He asked.

“Yes…” He really had read it!?

“Ah, good! It starts when Holmes and Watson…”

She put up a hand to interrupt him. “I don’t need the details. I think you’ve read enough, at least you seem to have picked up on what I was hoping you would. I don’t think I need to give you anymore required reading.”

“Oh…” His head dropped.

“…But if you want some recommendations then Agatha Christie might be a good place to start…” He perked up a little.

* * *

 

(Sunday, October 16th 2011)

Ishimaru’s alarm went off and he switched it off wearily. As nice as his conversations with the Kirigiris had been, they hadn’t stopped his mind from spending the night obsessively considering why everyone but himself seemed to be able to make friends and why he was letting it bother him so much and whether there was something wrong with him and maybe that was why he couldn’t make friends even though everyone else could and…

He shook his head. He didn’t have time to be thinking in circles all day! He should focus on what needed doing instead…Distract himself with minute details until the stabbing pain in his gut subsided and his brain stopped flashing up images of himself surrounded by his “friends”…

No, stop it. _Shower!_ That was the first thing. Then his uniform, breakfast and morning study time- He’d probably use it to get his presentation to the potential _reserve council_ …

( _Don’t cry, crying isn’t on the schedule!)_

…Then would be lunch, followed by more study (he needed to get back ahead with his homework) then he’d change for sparring with Oogami (…Unless she _was_ upset with him?) then another shower and more study time before dinner and the trip to the… the…meeting he’d organised before coming back to his room for the night.

He finished pulling on his uniform, and headed to the door, hoping he wouldn't have to have an awkward encounter with any of his classmates...only to find four of them right outside once he opened it.

"Err..." Oogami, Asahina, Fujisaki and Naegi had all smiled when they saw him, why had they all congregated outside his room? And why just stand there instead of ringing the doorbell?

"Oh! Hey you're awake! We thought you might have a lie-in after last night!" Asahina explained.

"Kirigiri told us what happened with those reserve students you'd been talking to...are you ok?" Fujisaki asked.

"Err...I...I'm fine." Why were they suddenly being so nice, hadn't they all conspired to force him in the dunk tank two days ago?

"...If you're sure..." Oogami said in a voice that showed she didn't believe him, "then we were hoping to discuss the school festival plans with you."

"What about them?" He asked.

"Uhh, well... We realised after the meeting that our..." Naegi gestured to the four of them "...jobs could be swapped out pretty easily, so the five of us could take it in turns being in the tank!"

_After_ the meeting? So...they'd only not said anything because they couldn't think of what to say? "I...thank you..." He felt awful, to think he'd been suspecting them all of a conspiracy! He could hardly let them take his place after that... "I appreciate the offer, but it's not necessary! There's no point us all getting wet and being cold for the rest of the day, and I suspect Oowada would mock me for months if he thought I was letting you do my work for me!" He grimaced at the thought.

They all seemed surprised, "You're sure?" Oogami asked.

"Yes, absolutely!" He replied.  There was an awkward silence. “Err…Was that everything? Only I haven’t had breakfast yet…”

“Umm… we haven’t either. Maybe we could all eat together?” Fujisaki suggested.

“YES!” Naegi agreed rather forcefully, before Asahina started pulling him down the hallway…Had they been waiting for him long?

Well, he might not have friends, but at least he was getting on better with his classmates…

* * *

 

(Saturday, November 5th 2011)

So far, Kyoko had done very little to help with the school festival. She’d been put down as a dunk tank victim, but…

“I wanna dunk Ishimaru!” said about the 50th student in a row.

Oowada had suggested they let each student chose who they dunked, and Kiyotaka had stupidly agreed, which was why he was now sat shivering in a soaked uniform on a hard chair, whereas she was stood to the side, perfectly dry, watching him fall into a tub of water constantly (Oowada had made the target unnecessarily big).

“Hahaha! Hey can I have another go!” Student #50 laughed as Kiyotaka fell into the water.

“Uhh…You could dunk Kirigiri…But we’re only letting each customer dunk each victim once…” Makoto explained, as he pointed to the sign they’d made stating as such.

“Yeah, otherwise we’d never get to leave!” Oowada laughed. “Speakin’ a ‘which, quit stallin’ and get out Ishimaru, we’ve got a queue!”

He’d said this because Kiyotaka was struggling to get out of the tank this time…The cold was obviously starting to get to him, although she was sure he’d never admit it.

“M-my ap-pologies!” He said through chattering teeth. As he clambered out awkwardly…he could have at least worn lighter shoes for this…

Maybe a warm drink would help him? “I’m going to get some tea…” She said, as student #51 said he wanted to dunk the prefect.

“Hey, you can’t go anywhere! The next student might wanna dunk _you_!” Oowada smirked at her. They both knew that was implausible.

“Perhaps we could take a break then?” She suggested.

“Why would _you_ need a break? You’ve not done anything…Unless you’re worried about poor widdle Ishymawu getting cold?” He smirked. “Hey, how about it Ishimaru? You need a break yet?”

“N-not at all!” Ishimaru shivered, “Tha-that m-mechanism you’re h-having to reset l-looks heavy though… W-we can st-stop if y-your arms are ti…aaahhh!” Kiyotaka’s stubborn bravado was cut off as the student hit the target and he fell into the cold water again.

Five more students came, and it took Kiyotaka longer to get out each time. “Just admit you need a break, jackass!” Oowada snapped.

“N-n-n-no!” Kiyotaka replied, despite looking _very_ tempted…

The next student in the queue was a girl she vaguely recognised. “H-h-h-ello, H-h-hir-r-rayam-m-ma…” Kiytoaka stuttered out, “H-h-ow’s the c-council?”

“Oh, it’s going great! We’ve set up a cleaning rota and I managed to get the school to install recycling bins!” She smiled. “Next we’re hoping to…”

“Hey, are you a customer or are you just here to waste time chatting?” Oowada interrupted her.

“Umm…Is he the only person I could dunk?” Hirayama asked, looking concerned as Kiyotaka drew ragged breaths.

“I’m an option as well.” Kyoko waved as she said it.

Hirayama’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her. “Alright…I’ll dunk you. What’s your name?”

“Kyoko Kirigiri.”

“Right! I’ll dunk Kirigiri then!” She put her money on the counter.

Kyoko could hear Oowada mutter something along the lines of “fucking bitch, pickin’ a girl…” as she climbed into the chair.

The first throw missed, but the second was right on target and her body tensed over as it hit the cold water. She gasped as she made her way to the edge of the tank, where both Kiyotaka and, to her surprise, Oowada helped pull her out of the water…

She breathed deep gasps as she pushed her soaking hair out of her eyes…How had Ishimaru done that so many times?

“Alright, next!” Oowada snapped as he went to reset the mechanism.

“Actually, I’d like to dunk a different victim…!” Hirayama exclaimed. Kyoko scowled as she heard Kiyotaka whimper next to her. Honestly…after he’d gone to the trouble to help the reserve students you’d think they’d at least be grateful enough…

“I’d like to dunk Saito Nawabe!” She finished.

“Umm…Who?” Naegi asked her. Kyoko shared the sentiment, the name sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn’t think why…

“F-fake n-name?” Kiyotaka stammered. “F-from the s-sign up?”

“ _Yes.”_ Hirayama glared at her. Or, more specifically, her gloves.

“ _Ah._ ” She guessed those seven names must have been the difference between hitting the required club members and not… “I guess you’ll also want to dunk Arima Ori, Morine Kumiko, Iseri Akane, Kaneshiro Yukika, Sunada Izumi and Hirano Mayo as well?”

“ _Hell yes.”_ Hirayama smiled manically. Just what had Kiyotaka got the reserve students into…?

“What? No! You can’t just make up some shitty fake names and say…” Oowada tried to argue.

“It’s fine. I’ll explain later.” She told him, and went to take her place on the chair again. “Kiyotaka, could you get me some tea for when I’m finished please? This will probably take long enough…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! This chapter ended up being longer and angsty-er than I originally intended! Next chapter will be Celestia and will be a lot less depressing! I promise!
> 
> Also Ishimaru is describing the Japanese prison system, not the American one. (Hooray for my bizarre fusion world!)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. A Good Start (Celestia Ludenberg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter was going to be short, then I started writing it and it exploded. I hope it's not too much...
> 
> I'm sort of basing Celestia on the manga adaptation. My headcannon is that her normal, calmer personality is the "Celestia" front, but that tends to get dropped and "Taeko" ends up speaking when she's particularly emotional (Most often when she'd pissed off). I hope this makes sense when reading, and apologies if it comes across as completely out of character. (I've not read many fics with Celestia in, so I'm not sure how people usually portray her.)
> 
> Also, regarding the darts rules, I wanted the game to work the way Taka says it does in school mode (where he says it's about knowing when to give up or when to score more points) but I couldn't find an actual set of darts rules that worked that way so I had Celestia mix one with blackjack.

(Wednesday, November 23rd 2011)

Days like today made Taeko Yasuhiro love being Celestia Ludenberg.

No one but her parents had ever bothered to throw Taeko Yasuhiro a birthday party, let alone make the effort to surprise her with it. Even in a school filled with boring, ordinary people, Taeko had been too boring and ordinary to notice. Taeko had spent most of her birthdays sat on the swing in the playground, being ignored.

Celestia Ludenberg, on the other hand, was enjoying her surprise birthday party immensely, as she sat on a luxurious chair lapping up the attention being given by her world-class classmates, several of whom gave her a variety of little gifts. This included a flattering hand drawn portrait of herself from Yamada, a little computer program that could play poker (badly) from Fujisaki, a pack of cards with a gothic design on the back from Naegi and the same box of chocolates that Togami had given Oogami and Kirigiri on their birthdays.

"Why, thank you, Togami!" She smiled, "…and thank you for bringing this lovely chair!"

"Hmm..." Togami just glowered at her. They both knew Togami had brought the fancy chair for himself, it had been obvious from his glare when Ishimaru had led her over to it while telling her to "Look at the special chair Togami's bought for you to sit on!"

Celestia couldn't blame the heir for being annoyed though...it was a wonderful chair! The antique wooden frame was sturdy without being an eyesore, the plush cushions moulded themselves to her physique perfectly and were lined in a smooth silk that was gentle on the skin...Taeko had never had such a nice chair. Celestia decided she must find a way to make it hers... 

* * *

 

Ishimaru took a quick peek out from the kitchen, to the party where Celestia was talking to Togami happily. He was so glad Naegi and Asahina had suggested it during their study session! It hadn’t even been that much work to organise… Asahina had organised food and decorations (with Oogami’s help), which had left himself and Naegi the job of convincing their classmates to actually come.

Naegi had offed to organise the girls, leaving Ishimaru to convince the boys. It had been surprisingly little hassle. Yamada had instantly agreed and offered to help make sure the food was to Celestia’s liking. Yasuhiro had also agreed to come readily, although he’d needed a reminder about it this afternoon as he’d almost gone back to his room after classes.

Kuwata had made fun of the idea at first, but then had actively asked for an invite when he’d found out that Maizono was going to attend. Togami had also been reluctant but changed his mind after he’d given the heir a short explanation as to why building class bonds _via_ social events was important to their journey as students.

That had left Oowada. The biker had been impossible! Every attempt to get him to attend had resulted in Ishimaru being sworn at, shoved into the nearest wall, or both. Even after being told he was the only one left he still refused, almost acting as if it was a source of pride that he was ruining an attempt at class camaraderie. In the end, he’d been forced to give up and come to the dining hall without him.

Surprisingly, Fujisaki had not only offered to go and convince the biker herself, but she’d actually succeeded! (Although her subsequent attempts to get Oowada to apologise for being late had almost made him storm back out again.) He wondered how she’d done it…Perhaps the biker had developed a crush on her? He’d been spending quite a lot of time with her over the last month, and Ishimaru had heard stories of otherwise irredeemable men cleaning up their act because of a woman, although they’d always seemed so ridiculous to him… The idea of changing himself to suit someone else made him uncomfortable…

But at least it meant that all their classmates had come and Celestia seemed happy. He just hoped everything was going to be to her liking, she could get quite…upset when it wasn’t, as Yamada was stressing to him now as he taught Ishimaru how to make the Royal tea Celestia was so fond of.

“Now, Mistress likes her tea made with two heaped teaspoons of the Darjeeling and then just a _pinch_ of the Assam tea…” Yamada explained, “The extra pinch is important! Mistress has very refined tastes and will notice if you don’t get the amounts right!”

He wasn't quite sure why Yamada was teaching him to make the tea rather than just making it himself as he usually would, but at least it would be another recipe he'd know how to cook! He was up to four now! Not bad for an evening he'd scheduled as unproductive socialising.

“Now, once the water is boiling you need to add the tea leaves and then simmer them for 1 minute and 45 seconds…Mistress is _very_ precise about the timing!”

Honestly, all this effort for a single cup of tea seemed very inefficient! Much like everything the gambler made others do for her. He supposed it was to be expected of someone who managed to win everything so easily not to understand the importance of effort, but at the rate she was going she could easily find herself in a similar position to his grandfather...

"Now you need to simmer the milk slowly so it doesn't burn, and then preheat the cup with hot water while the tea is simmering, Mistress hates her tea going cold too quickly..." Yamada was continuing.

He'd have to make sure to try to warn her, again, that it just wasn't possible to get everyone else to provide everything for her forever. That one day her luck, charm and coercion would all run out and everything would come crashing down around her unless she learnt to make an effort for herself.

“Right! Now just before it boils empty the cup and strain the tea into it!” Yamada finished.

But he wouldn't do it today. Today was her birthday and he had a cup of tea and a present to deliver to "mistress" Celestia... 

* * *

 

Celestia sighed impatiently as she waited for her tea, she'd made a bet with herself that it would be worth waiting the extra time for Yamada to teach Ishimaru how she liked it...but she hadn't been expecting it to take quite _this_ long.

Of course Taeko was lucky anyone wanted to make her tea at all, let alone go to the trouble of making _Royal_ tea...

Celestia mentally chided herself for that thought. She wasn't Taeko Yasuhiro anymore, she was Celestia Ludenberg! And Celestia was an exotic European beauty who, of course, could take it for granted when the men around her wanted to fall at her feet for the chance to make her tea... She was getting bored, she needed someone to distract her while she waiting. Togami would do.

“So, why _did_ you come, Togami?” Celestia asked the heir, “I must admit, I didn’t see you as the type to want to waste time socialising with the likes of us…”

“It’ll take less time than Ishimaru’s hectoring would have.” Togami griped, "Honestly! I've never met anyone so undeservedly convinced that everyone should follow his lead!"

In other words the heir had never met anyone else more stubborn than himself before... But he was so sure of his opinion of Ishimaru, perhaps this would be an opportunity to bait him into betting the chair...

"Oh, he's not so bad...you just need to know how to deal with people..." If there was anything that would make Togami rise to a challenge, it was an insinuation that there was something he wasn't good at...

"What!? You think you can deal with him better than myself?" Togami snapped, "Prove it! And if you can't I get your Shogi set!"

Ah...the Shogi set. It was a gaudy gold and platinum set that she'd won the one time she'd actually played Shogi. She’d never particularly cared for it. It clashed terribly with the red and black decor of her room, so it made the perfect thing to put up as collateral when trying to get something from Togami. Not that the heir played either, he just wanted it because Asahina had seen it and called it "the fricken’ fanciest thing in this whole darn school!"

"Very well." She smiled, trying to think of something probable that _sounded_ ridiculous. Hmm... Ishimaru had spent quite a while with Yamada... "When Ishimaru comes out with my tea, he will call me "mistress"."

"That's ridiculous! He'd never agree to do anything that demeaning!"

The good thing about this plan was that Togami was correct. Ishimaru wouldn't consciously intend to do it. He just had an awkward habit of repeating what other people said without thinking at times, and Celestia was relying on her luck to make this one of those times... "So you'd be willing to bet this chair that he won't call me mistress, then?"

"Yes, obviously." Togami sneered, probably thinking Celestia was an idiot for risking her Shogi set on such a remote possibility.

"Well, let us see then." She smiled as Ishimaru walked over, nervously balancing a tray on one hand with his other behind his back (probably hiding his present from her). He _almost_ looked like a decent butler...

As he reached her, Ishimaru nodded and stooped awkwardly to place the tray next to her. It almost looked like a bow. "Your tea, Mistress..." He muttered as he put it down.

Celestia smiled brightly, Togami glowered and Ishimaru's face froze simultaneously. "Err! I mean Miss Ludenberg!" Ishimaru cringed loudly as his face turned red. Togami went from glowering at him to glaring at Celestia, probably realising how he'd just been suckered out of his chair. She ignored him.

"Thank you, Ishimaru. And I don't mind if you want to call me mistress..." She smiled.

"What? Err...no I... Err... Happy Birthday!" He stammered in a panic as he bought his other hand out from behind him and presented her with a small envelope.

 _Finally!_ Taeko would have snatched it out of his hand instantly, but Celestia took a sip of the tea, which turned out to be quite well made for a first attempt, before graciously accepting it from the awkward hall monitor.

She made a show of opening it, acting surprised at the sight of the voucher booklet, despite knowing what it was before Ishimaru had even handed her the envelope. She’d heard the others discussing how far he’d gone to fulfil Oogami’s request, and now it was finally _her_ turn to demand the prefect’s attention, and she certainly wasn’t going to waste the opportunity on a silly book report like Kirigiri had…

“Why, thank you, Ishimaru.” She smiled again, daintily ripping out the Personal Favour voucher. “There _is_ actually a little favour I would like, and as you’ve been so kind to offer I will allow you the honour of performing it. You’ll need to come to my room on Saturday morning and be prepared to spend the whole day there.”

Ishimaru grimaced, to her annoyance, “A…a whole day? At such short notice? M-my apologies but I have other duties…”

 _What the fuck!?_ He didn’t give Oogami or Kirigiri crap about when he did _their_ shitty favours! “Well then reschedule them!” Taeko yelled, “You’re spending Saturday in my room, or else! You got that, _you little bitch!?”_  

* * *

 

Tch! Honestly! This woman was incorrigible at times! There was no way he should perform a favour that had been asked for in such a rude way!

...But it _was_ her birthday…and everyone was staring at them. He certainly didn’t want to ruin the party by engaging in a shouting match with the spoilt gambler…At least this way he could get the favour done with…And it _would_ be possible to reschedule the things he’d had planned...

“I…fine! Very well. Saturday morning at your room then…Do I need to bring anything with me?”

Celestia switched back to her usual serene self with frightening speed. “Hmm…No. Although it will help if you give me your clothes sizes.”

What? What on Earth did she have planned, to require _that_ information? “Err… very well!” Ishimaru stammered and wrote out the info on slip of paper from his notebook, not wanting to incur Celestia’s wrath again. “Err…If that’s all, I’ll let you enjoy the party then!” He bowed and scurried of in relief once she’d nodded her approval. 

* * *

 

Ishimaru scurried off, leaving Celestia with Togami again, at least until Yamada appeared and fretted over her as he usually did. The attention was nice, but Taeko wanted _everyone’s_ attention again… she wanted to remember her world-famous classmates looking at her forever! Unfortunately most of them had wandered off into groups and were having conversations amongst themselves. How annoying…

“You’re looking particularly radiant today Mistress! Perhaps I can take a picture with my new camera?” Yamada was babbling on… Celestia put on a regal, bored countenance for the sake of the picture, wanting Yamada to always think of her as a cold unattainable beauty for him to chase after eternally. She eyed the camera, perhaps she could use it herself...

“Yamada, would you mind if I borrowed that?” She asked, Yamada was all too ready to comply. “She coughed firmly to get everyone’s attention. “Excuse me? I wonder if I could possibly have a photo of you all to remember this day?” 

* * *

 

Celestia wanted to take a photo of them all? What a nice idea! But if _she_ took it she wouldn’t be _in_ it! “That’s a splendid idea! Do you want me to go find someone to hold the camera?” Ishimaru offered.

“No, this will be fine. Everyone line up and look at me!” She smiled at the last three words.

“Well, if you’re sure, Celestia…?” Naegi muttered, as they all lined up. Being an average height, Ishimaru choose a spot at the edge of in the middle row. Next to Kyoko and behind Fujisaki. He pulled a smile and looked at the camera as Celestia lined up the shot…

Suddenly there was a rough shove on his shoulder and he stumbled to the side as Oowada squeezed into the gap he’d been occupying previously. Why was the biker insisting on standing _there_? Ishimaru turned to glare at him, then noticed the biker had his hand on Fujisaki’s shoulder. Was that why he’d barged into his space like that? Honestly...perhaps he’d best check that Oowada wasn’t making the programmer uncomfortable…

He couldn’t do it now without raising a scene though. He turned back to the camera, trying to put on the smile again…

Unfortunately he didn’t get the time, the camera clicked while he was still scowling. Urgh! That hoodlum had made him ruin the shot! Still, at least it was a digital camera. It wouldn’t cost anything to retake the picture…

“How’s it look, Celestia?” Naegi asked.

Celestia checked the picture. “This will be fine.” She said, smiling.

It would? Perhaps he’d not looked too bad then?

Celestia passed the camera back to Yamada. "I'll want a large copy of that printed." She told him.

“Ooohh! Can I have a copy as well? My Mom keeps asking me to send her some photos…” Asahina asked.

“But you’ve taken _loads_ of photos!” Hagakure pointed out.

“Yeah…But she wants more with _me_ in them!” Asahina told him.

“Oh yeah, mine’s the same! Can I have a copy?” Naegi asked.

Ishimaru wondered if his father would be interested in seeing photos of himself. Obviously he wouldn’t want to spend the money to _send_ them home, but it might be nice to have a few to take back at the end of the year…

“Umm, if you want more photographs with of yourselves, I can swap mine for yours…” Fujisaki suggested to the pair.

Swapping photos sounded fun…If only he had a camera! It might have been nice to construct a record of what he’d done over the year to take home and show his father… But he could hardly ask for photographs when he had none to give in return.

“Maybe someone should start a class photo album.” Kyoko suggested, “It’ll help when we make yearbooks later.”

“I’d be happy to take on that responsibility!” He offered instantly. “If anyone has any photographs they’d be willing to include, please give them to me and I will sort them all into an album!” And then over the summer holidays he’d be able to take it home and show his father…

The rest of the party passed without incident, until they got close to the curfew time and Celestia flounced off to her room while the rest of them tidied up.

He noticed Togami looking at his chair. “Do you need help taking that back to your room, Togami?” He asked the heir.

“It’s going to Celestia’s room. It’s hers now.” He said shortly.

“Ah!” Goodness! How generous of him to give such a nice chair as a birthday present! He hadn’t realised Togami got on so well with Celestia… “Then do you need help taking it to Celestia’s room for her?” He asked.

“Yes.” The heir glared at him. “ _You_ can take it!” he stalked out of the dining room, followed closely by Fukawa.

Had…had he upset Togami somehow? 

* * *

 

(Thursday, November 24th 2011)

Celestia sipped her tea thoughtfully as she waited for her homeroom class to begin. Yamada was asking her if there was anything he could do for her, but she waved him away dismissively. She was trying to decide which of the two suits the school had in stock she would make Ishimaru wear on Saturday.

One was a basic black suit, dull but practical. The other was much nicer, lined with silk and hemmed with attractive white lace frills and ruffles that matched her own dress. Taeko thought Ishimaru would probably prefer the first, but Celestia didn’t care about _that_. But she wasn’t sure if the additional attractiveness would be worth putting up with extra complaints about the ruffles from the hall monitor…

Speaking of which, here he came now, marshalling Hagakure and Kuwata into the room. He’d barely let the pair go before Asahina bounced up to him with an envelope in her hands.

“Photos!” She exclaimed, “For the class album!”

“Already!? Thank you very much!” Ishimaru smiled, taking the photographs eagerly.

"Oh, yeah. I've got some to..." Naegi dug a similar envelope out of his pocket.

"Ah! Wonderful! Thank you!"

"Umm, I have some as well..." Fujisaki added, reaching under her desk.

"Thank you!" Ishimaru walked over to accept them, then went to bend down to talk to the programmer.

"I have the photo from yesterday as well." Celestia told him.

"Uh…thank you." Ishimaru muttered and turned back to Fujisaki.

 _What the fuck?_ Why hadn't he come over to her? What was so interesting about that mumbley little programmer?

"Are you not going to come and get it from me?" She asked, sweetly.

"...You _could_ come and hand it over yourself!" He said, curtly.

"I'm enjoying my tea." She said, pointedly.

"Which Yamada made for you, I expect!" He snapped, "You could stand to do more things for yourself!"

 _What...the...FUCK!?_   Who did he think he _was_ , telling her shit like that!? That was the sort of shit people said to _Taeko_! She was _Celestia Ludenberg goddammit_! _She_ didn't _have_ to do shit for herself!

"Errrr... I can take it over for you, Mistress!" At least Yamada had the right idea! He quickly picked up the photograph and took it to Ishimaru, who had the _nerve_ to glare at him several seconds before begrudgingly accepting it.

"Thank you, Yamada." Celestia smiled. But inside, Taeko was seething...

"The fucks goin' on here?" Oowada asked, as he'd just entered the room to see Ishimaru glaring at Yamada.

"I...I was just accepting some photographs for the class album." Ishimaru told him. Oh! So apparently _defying_ her wasn't worth bringing up!

"Oh yeah, I got you some to!" Oowada smirked, handing him a thick envelope.

"OH!? Thank you!" Ishimaru was genuinely surprised, he obviously hadn't realised whatever was in that envelope was probably meant to piss him off. _Well i_ f he hadn't been so _rude_ to her she might have warned him but _nooo_....

"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" Fujisaki asked him.

"Err... Well it was a bit of private question..." Ishimaru squirmed, glancing at Oowada.

Oowada's eyes narrowed, "Why the fuck d'ya need to ask Chihiro a " _private question_ "?"

"...That's a private matter!" Ishimaru said, although it was pretty obvious now that he'd probably wanted to badmouth the biker.

"What? Were you gonna ask Chihiro on a fuckin' _date_ or summat!?" Oowada shoved him hard, although Ishimaru barely budged. "Well don't bother 'cause the kid ain't gonna be interested!"

"Mondo!" Fujisaki snapped at him, just before Ishimaru began his retort.

"That was not my intention at all! It was just I thought Fujisaki-chan might not want to discuss the matter in front of...people." Hah! So definitely intending to badmouth Oowada...was that why he'd been annoyed when she'd interrupted?

"Then maybe don't discuss it in a classroom full of _people_ , dumbass!"

"I would have done it quietly! Seeing as when I first asked there wasn't _someone_ stood right next to us..."

"Umm, whatever is you want to ask, you can ask it in front of Mondo..." Fujisaki told him, before smiling brightly, "I trust him!"

Ishimaru's eyebrows rose in surprise as he looked between the programmer and the biker. "Err...it...it probably isn't that important then..." He muttered, and headed over to his desk. Where he picked up an envelope Kirigiri had left for him.

 _What the fuck?_ So whatever it he'd ignored her for wasn't even important enough to actually _ask_?

Well, that decided it! Celestia would buy him the frilly suit to wear.

And Taeko might even sew on extra frills… 

* * *

 

Ishimaru finally finished his homework. What a terrible day... He'd completely misread the situation reagrding Oowada and Fujisaki. Although to be fair, what _on Earth_ did she see in _him_? How did someone like _Oowada_ get a nice girlfriend? And why did he find it so irritating? Was it just wounded pride at Oowada's suggestion that Fujisaki wouldn't have been interested in him? It wasn't as if he was interested in the programmer, he'd just been worried about one of his...classmates.

And it had been another classmate who'd help make today terrible: After his annoyed attempt to convince Celestia to do something for herself for once, she'd spent the entire day attempting to coerce, trick and charm him into doing her small favours. Honestly, was she so spoilt that she'd never had anyone say "No" to her before? He wondered what her home was like, he'd never actually asked her. Europe had a lot of castles, didn't it? Maybe she lived in one? Growing up with an army of butlers to carry out her every whim. It might explain why she could be such a spoilt brat at times...

Still, it wasn't worth worrying about her right before he went to bed. Hopefully she'd be in a better mood with him tomorrow after she'd slept. He should try to do something nice before turning in for the night, to end the day on a high note at least...

Ah! That was it! He could sort the photographs out and start constructing the class album! He'd already picked up a photo album from the school store (one with pages that could be removed and put back in easily, for when his classmates inevitably gave him pictures taken earlier than the ones he'd already put in) so it was mostly just a case of sorting the photographs out by time... That would put him in a good mood!

Ishimaru cleared his table and brought out the piles of photographs he’d been given to sort. He was looking forward to showing his father them already! He decided to look at the class photo Celestia had taken first, she’d said it came out well so hopefully he’d look pretty good in it... 

 _Urrgghh..._ He looked _appalling_! His face was twisted into some weird cross between a scowl and a grimace! And he wasn't even stood up straight! Why had Celestia thought that was OK?

Because it was such a good picture of the rest of them, perhaps? Most of the class had pleasant smiles, even Kirigiri, who had apparently needed to be caught by Naegi after Oowada shoved her, had managed to hold a lovely smile, one of the happiest looking he ever seen on her…  Oowada, on the other hand was glaring like he'd have rather been anywhere else at the time, but regardless he still looked...striking, in a photogenic way.

He sighed and placed Celestia’s photo on the far right side of the table, as it was most likely the most recent one out of the piles several of his classmates had given him.

Next he checked Asahina's photographs. They were mostly from their P.E. classes. He flicked through them, checking the order matched up with what he remembered... He really didn't look good while exercising. Most of these photographs showed him either straining with concentration or a dishevelled mess. 

Next were Kyoko's photographs. They mostly showed students misbehaving- perhaps Kyoko had taken them for evidence? Unfortunately it meant all the times he was in them he was shouting and scowling angrily. He was starting to wonder if there'd be a single good photograph of him in all of this...

Naegi's were next, mostly taken at the class get-togethers that he didn't tend to go to, so of course there were no phototgraphs of him...ah, no! There was one! It was one of him standing next to the whiteboard when he'd been tutoring. He remembered Naegi taking it now. What he hadn't remembered was pulling such a horrible expression! He thought he’d just been resting his face normally, but the photograph showed him pursing his lips and scrunching his eyebrows as his horrible red eyes glared at the camera…Just… _Urg!_ He shoved it into the timeline so he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore.

At least there was Fujisaki’s pile left! She always took pictures in class and warned them before doing so, so there was bound to be a nice picture of him in there! Let’s see...His smile was crooked in that one, and that one…His eyes were half shut there…another weird twisted smile…now his eyes were open _too_ much, he looked insane!...he’d sneezed in this one…

…And so on until reached the bottom of the pile. Not a _single_ good photograph of himself! Was he really that un-photogenic? How was he supposed to go into politics if every picture of him made him look either angry or weird? He’d have to practise much harder at it…

He reached for Oowada’s pile. He was surprised the biker had even bothered, he didn’t usually get involved in class events unless it was to be annoying or because Ishimaru had managed to drag him there. Perhaps Fujisaki was being a good influence on him? Still, at least there probably wouldn’t be any of himself in these pictures, he’d never seen the biker even holding a camera, let alone pointing it at him.

Ok, so there was _one_ picture of himself in here. Oowada had found a photograph of him sat on the dunk tank chair, it must have been the first time, because he wasn’t wet yet, just pulling the same angry expression as he had in Naegi’s photo. The next one was of him falling into the water in the tank…and then there was one of him dragging himself out of the tank…and then another picture of him sat in the chair, soaking wet…then him falling again…

How many of these were going to be himself getting soaked? He quickly flipped through the pile…

All of them… _All of them!_ Every _single_ photo was a humiliating shot of himself getting increasingly wet and bedraggled…his pallid face contorting into increasingly ugly grimaces as the cold water had hurt more and more each and every time he’d hit it…

… _Fricking…Ice-hole!_ He contracted his arm with the angry intention of throwing the horrible photos across the room, but remembered he should treat other’s property with respect, even if it was _Oowada’s_. He settled for slamming them onto the table instead. He’d put the first three in the album, then hand the rest back to Oowada and tell him that they didn’t need forty photos of the same event, thank you very much.

And he’d do it in front of Fujisaki so the programmer would hopefully give him an earful for it to. Oowada might actually listen to her, he’d already been getting into trouble a lot less since he’d started spending time with her.

Of course, Oowada’s photographs were still highlighting something he wasn’t good at- looking good in photographs. Or even looking like a normal person in photographs. Still! He’d just have to do what he always did when he was upset at not being good at something…practise!

He stood in front of his mirror and flashed a smile…It looked twisted again. He tried to move his lips to compensate but nothing looked right…And his eyes looked strained to, one of them was twitching…This wasn’t helping.

Maybe he was just ugly? That’s what Katsushika had always told him in middle school, wasn’t it? He looked at himself in the mirror again. He had freakish red eyes, ghostly pale skin and deep frown marks in his forehead, even though he was only 16… How could he fix _that_?

Well, he supposed there were coloured contacts- that would help with his eye colour. And make-up could hide his complexion, and hadn’t Enoshima mentioned some toxin that reduced wrinkles?

His stomach lurched, doing all that every day sounded horrible…Still if he needed to do it…He shook his head, he could worry about that when it came to it. For now he’d have to distract himself building the photo album. So much for this putting him in a good mood… Hopefully tomorrow would be better. 

* * *

 

(Friday, November 25th 2011) 

Celestia had woken up in a poor mood. She was still irritated by Ishimaru’s defiance yesterday morning. She’d given him plenty of chances to make up for it, but he’d stubbornly refused every one of them. Togami was certainly right about him being convinced of his own righteousness.

Still, it wouldn’t do for a refined lady such as Celestia Ludenberg to be holding petty grudges. That was the sort of silly thing Taeko would do. Celestia was just going to go about her day in her usual refined manner, and look forward to the lovely day she had planned tomorrow. And the first step of that was picking up the suit she’d ordered.

It _was_ a lovely suit! Hopefully Ishimaru would be able to pull off the look…

“Did you know there’s a matching pair of shoes for this, miss?” The girl behind the counter asked her.

“Is there? May I see them?” She suspected Ishimaru would prefer to wear his boots, but it wouldn’t hurt to see them.

The girl brought them out. They were made of patterned white leather, with holes shaped to look like the frilly lace ruffles lining the suit, and a two inch heel. Not Ishimaru’s style at all.

“Would you like them?” The girl asked.

“I’ll think about it.” Celestia told her. 

* * *

 

Ishimaru entered the homeroom classroom with the album and Mondo’s surplus photographs in hand. He’d not run into any of his classmates shirking in the halls for once so had managed to arrive before everyone else. He pulled out a book to read while his classmates arrived one by one. Once they had all arrived he made his way to the front of the room and got their attention.

“Err…Excuse me everyone!” He said, “I just wanted to let you know I’ve ordered the photographs I’ve been given so far into this album.” He held it up.

“Could you bring it over here for me to see, please?” Celestia interrupted him to ask, with a perfect smile. So today was going to be the same as yesterday, was it? Well he certainly wasn’t going to cave into her _that_ easily! At the very least he could make her make an _effort_ to get him to do things for her.

“I’m putting it on this shelf here, so anyone can come and look at it at any time.” He carried on, as if he’d not heard her. “And as before, if any of you want to submit any photographs, please let me have them first, so I can put them in the correct order.” He bowed and put the album on the shelf. If Celestia wanted to see it she could stand up and walk over to it herself!

“Yamada dear, could you go fetch me the photograph album?”

“Yes, Lady Celestia!”

…Or she could just order Yamada to do it… He’d have to try and have a talk with the doujin artist at some point… However first he had a surplus of photos to get rid of, and as luck would have it Oowada was right in the middle of a conversation with Fujisaki…

“Excuse me, Oowada.”

“Whaddaya want?” Oowada snapped, “We were havin’ a “ _private”_ conversation!”

He took a deep breath, he wasn’t going to let Oowada get a rise out of him. “My apologies, I just wanted to inform you that I felt that having forty-six photographs of me falling into the dunk tank was a little excessive and return these to you.” He handed the envelope to the biker and turned away.

“ _Really_ , Mondo?” Fujisaki was asking the biker. Good, maybe he’d stop pulling this sort of thing sometime soon…

Ishimaru noticed Maizono was coming towards him, which was unusual. He’d never really spoken to her. She was a model student and far too busy pursuing her music career, even while attending school, to waste time talking to him.

He saluted her. “Ah, Maizo…Ow!” Something had hit him on the back of the head. He turned and looked on the floor. It was the envelope he’d just given back to Oowada, he glared at the biker.

Oowada just sneered back at him. “What, you gonna ignore all my photos ‘cause they make you look like crap?”

“I included three of them.” He stated, calmly picking up the envelope. “And you’ll be pleased to find there are plenty of examples of my failure to be photogenic in the _other_ student’s pictures.” He put the envelope of the table in front of Oowada, noticing his eyebrows rising in surprise. At least his statement appeared to have shut the gangster up for once.

He turned back around to face Maizono, who was standing awkwardly with her hands behind her back, watching their exchange. “Ah, my apologies, Maizono-chan! How may I help you?” He asked.

“Oh…” She seemed hesitant, but then smiled at him. “I just wanted to say thank you for organising the album! You always seem to be the one doing that sort of thing for the rest of us, it’s really nice of you!”

His jaw almost dropped. No one had ever _thanked_ him for organising class activities…Usually they just called him an annoying busybody… “Err…Y-you’re welcome!” He said awkwardly throwing a salute out of nervousness. He wasn’t familiar with accepting thanks, let alone from Japan’s most famous pop idol…

She just nodded and smiled even more brightly, as if he wasn’t an awkward mess. “Will it be ok if I give you some photographs to add on Monday? If it’s not too much trouble?”

“Of course! That’s no problem whatsoever!” He laughed.

“But, like, why don’t you just give him the ones you’re holding behind you, Maizono-chan?” Enoshima asked.

“Oh…These are for Makoto!” Maizano told her, “We’re swapping photographs!” She walked over to the small boy to hand them to him.

“Uhh…” Naegi looked like a deer caught in headlights as he took the envelope. “Yeeeahhh…I kinda… forgot?” He laughed nervously, “I’ll print them later?” Honestly, the boy really ought to get himself a diary!

“Thanks, Makoto!” She smiled brightly again, before doing a neat pirouette and going to sit near Kuwata.

Ishimaru returned to his desk, watching Maizono thoughtfully. She always had such a perfect smile, he wondered if she’d have the time to give him some advice? Probably not… 

* * *

 

Celestia flicked through the album idly. Ishimaru hadn’t been joking about being unphotogenic, had he? Even at the end of the album, in her photograph, he was only barely looking at the camera. At the time she hadn’t been bothered about him, but now it felt like yet another defiance…

And now he was sat mooning over Maizono, completely oblivious to the fact that she’d obviously only been bothering to speak to him to hand over her photographs for the album and had probably just decided to take out all the ones of Ishimaru after his comment to Oowada, hence that ridiculous act with Naegi.

Taeko was _so_ going to make him pay for this tomorrow…

“Ishimaru?” Celestia asked daintily, “What shoe size are you?”

“I take a six…Why do you need to know?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.” She smiled. Ishimaru just frowned and started sorting all the photographs into his bag.

“Uhh…Miss Ludenberg?” Yamada was whispering to her. “This favour tomorrow, is Ishimaru going to be sufficient? I, uhh, I have time tomorrow! Could I help?”

“No, you can’t.” She said, and his eyes dropped sadly. “It needs someone wearing a certain style of suit, and it wouldn’t fit you.”

“I…I see.” Yamada said. “So…so does that make Ishimaru more useful to you than me?”

“You both have your uses…” This was true, Yamada was useful, he made a great cup of tea. But he would look terrible in a butler’s suit, whereas Ishimaru.... “Although, if someone plays his card right, he might find himself at C rank soon.” Celestia told him, smiling. 

* * *

 

(Saturday, 26th November 2011)

At 7am precisely, Ishimaru was stood glaring at Celestia’s door. Even looking at her picture on the nameplate was irritating him. She’d been no less lazy at any point during yesterday than she had during the homeroom class, and his attempts to get Yamada to stop enabling her had fallen on deaf ears, the artist had hardly been willing to speak to him all day.

And now here he was about to do gods-know-what for her! Still, best get this over with. He hit the doorbell.

“The door is propped open…” Came her voice from inside the room. Honestly, could she not even be bothered to come open her own door for people?

He pushed his way inside, dislodging the door as he did so it would actually close. “There are some clothes for you to change into out there. Come through once you’ve done so…”

He looked around the hallway, there was indeed a suit in his size there. It was ridiculous! The black silk might have been alright, but it was lined with silly little white frilly bits all over! How impractical!

But he’d promised the gambler a favour. At least she hadn’t made him buy the daft thing himself. Making sure Celestia couldn’t see him, he quickly changed clothes, leaving his own folded neatly by the door, next to a white pair of what he assumed were Celestia’s summer shoes. Then he went further into the room.

He’d seen it briefly when he’d brought the chair in for her, but only now took the time to take it in. Everything the school provided had been covered or repainted black and adorned with large red roses. She’d also brought in several different pieces of her own furniture, including the chair Togami gave her, an ornate shogi set and a storage trunk that looked like a coffin (at least he hoped it was for storage).

Celestia was sitting stretch out on her bed, despite being fully dressed. She slowly looked over his suit, frowning when her eyes reached his knees. “There was a pair of shoes out there as well.” She told him.

Was there? “Err…I didn’t see them, the only pair I noticed were your white ones with the holes…”

“Those are the ones I mean. They were made specifically to match the suit.”

“ _What!?_ But they’re little white sandals with a _heel_!” He exclaimed.

“They match the lace frills.” She said, smiling ever so slightly, “And heeled shoes for men are popular in Europe- it helps make you look taller.”

“Five foot nine is a perfectly respectable height! I will be fine with my boots.” He told her, “Now, what exactly is the favour you want me to do?” 

* * *

 

Ah, this was the moment. The moment Celestia got a taste of her dream, she’d been planning this out in her head for weeks! “You are going to do everything I tell you to today, and you’re going to answer my all requests with the words “Yes, Mistress”. Understand?”

“What!? That’s not a _favour_ that’s…”

“What did I just tell you, _bitch!?_ ” Taeko yelled at him, “You didn’t put fuck all on that voucher saying what did and didn’t count as a personal favour, so shut the _fuck_ up and do what I tell you!”

He glared at her silently, for almost half a minute. But at least he was _looking_ at her…

“…Yes, Mistress.” He eventually said, venomously.

 _Hah!_ He’d actually done it! Admittedly he’d said it in the angriest voice possible, not the respectful doting lilt she’d imagined, but it was a good start. Not that she was going to put up with that defiance though…

“You should say it _nicely_.” Celestia told him.

He took a deep breath, trying to dispel his anger from the look of it. “…Yes. Mistress.” He said, in a flat monotone.

“Well. It’s a start.” She conceded, “Now go change into the shoes I bought you.” Celestia smiled happily.

“Nggh…! Yes, Mistress…” His head dropped as he walked into the hall. A minute later he returned, stumbling slightly in the unfamiliar heels.

She looked at him, the shoes really did match the suit far better than the boots did, and watching him stumble in them was putting her in a much better mood!

“You look wonderful…” She told him, “Now. I would like some breakfast. I want toast with jam, some fruit and a cup of Royal tea. Oh, and pick up my post while you’re out there.”

“What... _Outside?_ Dressed like _this_!?” Taeko just glared at him, “…Yes, Mistress…” He sighed, and stumbled out the door. 

* * *

 

Honestly! He should never have promised this woman a favour! What kind of person thought “be my slave for a day” counted as a favour? Especially while dressed in this humiliating outfit…Urg, he’d have to get to the kitchen, make Celestia’s breakfast and get back to the room as quickly as possible before anyone saw him…

At least that was the plan…he’d barely managed two steps before his foot twisted out from under him and he had to grab onto the wall to stop himself falling over. How did women walk in these things?

“Ishimaru?” Maizono’s came from behind him. So much for not being seen, but at least it wasn’t someone like Kuwata or Oowada. “Umm… That’s…uhh…a new look for you…”

“Celestia’s making me wear it.” He explained, “Speaking of which, I’m terribly sorry but I need to make her breakfast!” He saluted Maizono and started to speed off, only to trip into the wall again.

"Are you OK?" Maizono rushed over to help him stand up.

"I...I'm fine...it's just these shoes..." He muttered, embarrassed.

Maizono looked down at them. "Are those _heels_?" She asked with a slight twinge of laughter.

"Celestia made me wear them..." He groused, feeling his face turning red.

"Wow, she's really annoyed with you, huh?" Maizono commented, "Let me give you some advice...You can't speed walk in heels, you've got to take slow steps, and smaller ones than usual! Oh, and sometimes it helps to look forward and lean backwards slightly so you don't end up hunching forward too much."

"Err...thank you!" He stammered. It wasn't the advice he'd been wanting to get from Maizono, but her willingness to help him was appreciated. He straightened up and tried her advice, managing to take several annoyingly slow steps without problem.

"That's it! Once you've got the hang of it you can try walking a bit faster...it also helps to get into a rhythm so you're not thinking about it too much."

"Thank you again, Maizono-chan! I have no idea how I'd have managed without your advice!" He saluted.

"No problem!" She smiled, "Good luck, and I'll see you on Monday!"

" _What?_ Sayaka... Who's this asshole and why're you seeing him Monday?" Kuwata's voice suddenly came from behind him. He must have just come out of his room. So much for not being spotted.

"Good morning, Kuwata-kun!" He turned and bowed.

"What? _ISHIMARU_!?" He bent double laughing, "What the heck are you wearing?"

"Ask Celestia..." He said, bitterly. "Now if you'll excuse me..." He turned and started walking away, far slower than he wished he could.

"Leon! It's not _that_ funny..." Maizono sighed from behind him as he left.

"But..." He could hear Kuwata laughing again. "Hey wait! Lemme get a picture!"

Oh gods no! The last thing he needed was more awful pictures of him, especially wearing this of all things...

"Leon! Leave him alone!"

"Oh, but c'mon!"

"I _said_ leave him alone!" Maizono said, warningly.

"Urg... _fiiine_!" He could just about hear Leon pouting as he finally moved far enough away to stop hearing the pair. He could hope they'd be the last of his class to see him today...

 

Ishimaru was certainly taking his time getting her breakfast. It shouldn't take _this_ long to get toast and tea ready, even for him, should it? She'd purposely chosen something he'd actually know how to make after all... She'd give him five more minutes and then if she had to get up out of bed to go find his stupid ass then she'd _really_ let him have it!

At four and a half minutes, the door opened and Ishimaru awkwardly came through holding a tray in his hands. She had to stifle a laugh as he came into the room, eyes filled with nerves and fixated on a spot about her head. Was he really finding those little heels _that_ difficult to walk in?

“Where would you like your breakfast?”

“I’ll eat it here.” Celestia told him calmly. This was gonna be great! Taeko couldn’t remember the last time someone had brought her breakfast in bed, or even if anyone ever had. She’d always been jealous when women on the television would get given breakfast in bed by their husbands. Would Ishimaru have included the little vase with a rose they always had?

“Here.” Ishimaru slowly lowered the tray to her level. _Urg!_ This was _not_ what she’d been imagining. He’d shoved the letters in a messy pile one side, the slices of toast were cut into rectangles and only had a tiniest smear of jam on them and most unforgivably he hadn’t put her teacup in a saucer.

Celestia picked up her letters…And then Taeko threw the tray off the side of the bed.

“AAH! What did you do _that_ for!?” Ishimaru cried.

“Toast tastes better when it's cut into triangles, and with far more jam on it than _that_.” Celestia told him. “Also, you didn’t put the cup in a saucer. I hate when people miss minor touches like that. Go and make it again.”

“What? No! That was a perfectly good…” Ishimaru started backchatting.

“Were you not listening earlier?” Taeko snapped, “I _own_ you today, you little _bitch!_ Now go make me breakfast and get it _right_ this time!”

He glared again, his hands clenched into fists. “ _Yes, Mistress…_ ” He hissed again as he turned and left the room. 

* * *

 

 _URG!_ The woman was _insane!_ Who _cares_ what shape their toast was cut into? She was lucky to have any at all! And to waste perfectly good food like that….not to mention the mess she’d made, which he suspected he was going to have to clean up himself…

He stormed into the kitchen, almost ramming into Yamada, who was carrying a glass of cola and a burger out.

“Ishimaru? Did Celestia buy you that suit?” He asked.

“Yes! Ridiculous, isn’t it? And she’s being completely unreasonable to boot! I made her breakfast and she had the nerve to throw it on the floor because I forgot to put her cup in a saucer! If I hadn’t promised her this favour I’d have given her detention for wilful destruction of school property!”

“Tch!...Unforgivable!” Yamada muttered and headed to a table. Yes, Celestia was being almost unforgivable, wasn’t she? (He could never go so far as to say anyone was beyond redemption ever.) Still, he’d better get on with making this stupid breakfast again. Hopefully without her wasting it this time…

Yamada was drawing in the dining room when he left with the tray. Ishimaru noticed it was a picture of himself the artist was drawing… But his smile was twisted, Yamada must have used one of the class photographs as a model. What a shame, it almost made him look evil! He really needed to get some advice from Maizono soon! 

* * *

 

Ishimaru returned just as she finished reading her letters. He’d been much quicker this time, he’d better not have done another half-assed job!

He walked across the room more confidently than he had before, and lowered the tray again. This was much better! The toast was cut into triangles and had a decent layer of jam spread neatly over each slice. The tea was in a matching cup and saucer and had a pleasant fragrance and he’d even put out cutlery and a napkin on the tray.

“Well?” He asked, not letting go of the tray.

“…It’s a good start.” Celestia told him, not actually being able to think of anything to criticise. “You can clean up the room now. There are supplies in the storage chest.” She nodded over to the gothic, vampire coffin themed chest.

“Yes, Mistress.” Ishimaru let go of the tray and headed over to the chest, digging through the various products she’d assembled and picking out ones he thought he needed. He then headed over to where the tray had landed and started picking up the tray, eying the poorly-made food sadly. It almost sounded like his stomach just growled…Had he forgot to make his own breakfast? It was the sort of stupid thing he’d do…

She grinned meanly, and made a show of biting into her toast, with a loud “Mmmm!”. Ishimaru looked up from scrubbing the stains off the carpet and stared enviously at her. It would appear he had indeed forgot to eat breakfast. It made the jam taste even sweeter knowing he was shooting jealous stares her way...

Eventually he’d scrubbed the stains to his satisfaction, and picked up the tray he’d put the discarded food onto. He picked up the discarded envelopes from her letters and went to put the entire lot into the waste bin.

“The envelopes can go into the recycling bin.” She told him.

“You have a recycling bin?” Ishimaru asked, incredulously.

“Yes, it’s there.” She pointed to the bin, which, of course, had been painted black and adorned with red roses.

“…I must admit, I had thought you wouldn’t be the type to worry about recycling! My apologies.”

 “…Why would I not recycle?” She asked, “Do you not?”

“Of course I do!” He snapped, “It’s just…When I think of affluent people such as yourself or Togami, I don’t imagine them sorting out their own recycling…”

 _Crap!_ He was _right_! There was no way Togami bothered recycling, was there? It must have been Taeko’s idea to get a recycling bin! But she could hardly let Ishimaru know that…

“Well, if we can’t adapt to our planet’s decreasing resources, we will die. Recycling is part of that.” Celestia said, coming out with a suitably dark and broody reason for bothering with it.

“Err…yes, of course!” The hall monitor was appropriately spooked. Good. He carried on cleaning the room as she sipped her tea. 

* * *

 

Ishimaru looked around. He was pretty sure he’d cleaned every inch of this room now, and Celestia hadn’t even got off the bed yet! Honestly, how could she stand to just _sit_ there? Didn’t she get restless? He turned to face her.

“I’ve finished cleaning the room.” He told her. Maybe now she’d let him leave and he could go eat…

“Already?” She seemed genuinely surprised at how efficient he’d been. “Hmm, what next then…”

No such luck, it seemed she’d just come up with extra things to do instead. He’d just have to ignore his empty stomach until she wanted him to go back out again…

“Hmm…You can give me a manicure. The items for it are on the table with the makeup…”

A manicure? That was when women shaped and painted their nails, right? How was he supposed to do that when he’d only ever clipped his nails before?

“What are you supposed to be saying?” Celestia reminded him of their deal, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Yes, Mistress.” He said quickly, despite wanting to say the opposite. He’d have to give it his best shot and hope not to elicit her anger again… He walked over to the table and looked at the sea of random bottles and tubs, trying to remember what kind of thing his mother had used on her nails… There was an emery board, and a bottle that was the same shape as the bottle of varnish she saved for special occasions…That should be everything, right?

Celestia’s eyes narrowed as he brought the two items over. “Why are you only bringing those over?”

“Err…this is all my mother used on her nails…” What else could you need other than something to shape and something to paint them?

“Well, _I’m_ not your mother…” Celestia smirked, as if she was _better_ than her. _How dare she_? She couldn’t possibly _hope_ to be anything like his mother! _She_ had been kind, hardworking and mature! Always with a warm gentle smile regardless of what life threw at her, not all like this childish, selfish brat in front of him!

“ _Yes_ , Mistress!” He snapped back at the gambler, hoping she could tell what he’d been thinking from the sarcastic use of her request.

Celestia narrowed her eyes again, then continued. “Those items should have been on a tray. Bring that over.” She told him.

“Yes, Mistress.” He replied tersely. Heading over to fetch the tray. It had a tub of cream, some oil and several more bottles of varnish and a few wooden sticks. What on Earth was all this for? He put the tray down on the bedside table and pulled up a chair so he could sit down while he did it. These shoes were starting to make his ankles ache.

Celestia wordlessly lifted her hand in front of him. He took it in one hand and paused, his other hand hovering over the selection of cosmetics. What was he supposed to do first, exactly?

“Start with the hand moisturiser.” Celestia told him. …Which one was that? “The tub of white cream!” She snapped. He quickly picked it out and let go of her hand in order to twist the lid off and place it on the table, using his finger to scoop out a blob of the cream.

“You’ll need enough for my whole hand.” Celestia said. He thought he’d taken more than enough, but didn’t say anything as he reached for more cream and daubed it onto the back of her hand, using both of his to spread it around and work it into the skin, squeezing her fingers between his as he worked the cream into them in turn.

Once he finished, he let go of her hand. While he’d been working she turned her body around to face him, and was now just looking at her hand with a small smile.

“Err…shall I do your other hand?” He asked, after a few awkward seconds.

“Ah! Yes.” She stopped looking at the hand with a start and held out the other one. He worked on that one in the same way, then let go.

Again there were a few awkward seconds where she just looked at her hand, was she inspecting his work? “…What do I do now?” He asked.

“Hmm…I think my left hand needs more cream.” She said, holding it back out again.

Really!? Weren’t these types of creams expensive? You’d think she’d use it sparingly…Still at least the task she was asking him to do wasn’t an onerous one. It was almost pleasant, even. It reminded him of the time he’d got upset after squeezing too much sun cream out of the tube, and his mother had had him rub the excess on her hands, so it wouldn’t go to waste…

“You’re enjoying this.” Celestia pointed out with a smirk.

“It…it reminded me of my mother.” He admitted, a smile pulling at his lips as he remembered how she’d rubbed their noses together to calm him down while he did it...

Celestia pulled he hand back. “That’s enough.” She said, scowling at it.

“Err…yes, Mistress?” He said, hadn’t she been the one who wanted more cream? “What do I need to do next?” He asked, looking at the assortment of bottles.

“You know, I don’t actually think I need a manicure after all.” She said, almost causing him to roll his eyes at her contrariness. “I think I need a pedicure instead.” She said, smirking.

He stared blankly at her. What was a pedicure? He realised a likely answer when Celestia swung her foot off the bed and rested it on his leg.

“Err…Is this like the manicure, but for feet?” He asked, just to check. He could hardly start touching her feet without being absolutely sure he had permission first, that was the sort of thing that started rumours...

“Yes, I _do_ hope that won’t be uncomfortable for you!” She exclaimed, showing uncharacteristic concern.

“No, this position’s fine.” He said, rubbing the excess cream onto the back of his hands so his fingers would be clean enough to undo her shoe. He examined it as he took it off…the heel must have been twice the size of the ones on his shoes! “…I see why you don’t like standing unless you have to…” He muttered without thinking.

“Does that mean you’ll be more cooperative in future?” She asked sweetly.

“No. It means you should get more practical shoes.” He told her, causing her to scowl. “Do I start with the cream again?” 

* * *

 

Hmm…This felt nice! She hadn’t expected Ishimaru to be good at massages… And she had to admit her shoes _did_ make her feet ache often. Taeko had always worn flats, and she probably wouldn’t be able to ask Yamada to do this without him making it weird, whereas Ishimaru was just treating it like a chore.

“He let go of her foot. “Is that enough cream now?” He asked. She’d told him both feet had needed more cream twice now. She was probably going to have to admit the massage was over.

“Hmm…” Celestia looked at her feet, critically. “Yes. Although, now I look at them, I don’t think my feet need a pedicure either.” She didn’t think it was a good idea to get a pedicure from someone who hadn’t even known what one was. “Put my shoes back on.”

“Yes, Mistress.” He sounded slightly relieved. He’d probably been worrying about messing her nails up.

But of course that led to the question of what to get him to do next. To her surprise, sitting in bed being waited on was getting a bit dull… Maybe a game would be more interesting.

“Carry me over to the chair.” She told him, pointing at the one she’d suckered Togami out of. He scowled as if he wanted to tell her off, but thought better of it.

“Yes, Mistress.” He said, resigned, as he hesitantly picked her up bridal style and carried her to the chair, stumbling in his heels a couple of times but luckily without dropping her. He then placed her in it carefully.

“What games do you know how to play?” She asked him, it would be far too easy to win unless she picked a game he was familiar with.

“Shogi.” He answered.

“And?”

“…That’s it.” He said curtly.

“Well then, Shogi it is. Bring the set over.” She nodded to gaudy set. Maybe this time she’d actually learn the rules…

Ishimaru carefully picked the table with the Shogi set up and brought it over, then moved the chair he had been sitting in and sat opposite her, looking at the pieces. “Are these really gold and silver?” He asked.

“Of course not.” She told him, and he sighed in relief. “The bottom part is platinum.”

He stared in terror at the set. “Are you sure we should play with this? Isn’t it expensive? What if I damage it? I wouldn’t be able to replace it…”

Celestia shrugged, “I don’t really care for it. It was just a little something I won in an underground Shogi tournament.” He gawped at her. “Now start setting up your pieces, you can go first.”

“Y-yes, Mistress…” He said, as he gingerly started placing the pieces. Celestia copied him until he finished and moved one piece a space. Celestia moved one of hers in response and they started the game, playing in silence.

Ishimaru was taking a while to take his turn, thinking hard about every move. On the other hand, Celestia was just moving whatever pieces she thought would be interesting. This was getting a little boring.

She decided to start some conversation. “Do you play Shogi oft…”

“AAH!” Ishimaru jumped out of the chair in shock. Celestia just titled her head in confusion at his antics. “Err…I’m sorry! I’m not used to my opponent talking to me…” He muttered as he sat back down in embarrassment. “What were you going to say?”

“I was asking if you play often.”

“Ah, no. I haven’t played in a few years…” It sounded like there was a story there. But Ishimaru’s stories were long and boring so she decided to change the subject.

“I don’t either. The underground tournament was the only time I’ve played.” She started, ignoring his incredulous look. “Would you like to make this interesting?”

“How so?” He asked,

“How about, if you win, I’ll let you leave half a day early. But if you lose, you have to come back for half a day next Saturday.” She suggested, thinking he’d probably be desperate enough to get out of the clothes to take her up on the deal.

“No thank you. I don’t gamble.” He said instead.

“Not even when you’re opponent has no idea what she’s doing? And you’re sure to win?” She tried to bait him.

“If I was sure to win, you wouldn’t be betting on yourself.” He pointed out. Well, he’d certainly learnt faster than any of their classmates…

They carried on playing in silence for a while, until Ishimaru suddenly put one of the pieces he’d captured from her back on the board as if it was his own.

“What are you doing?” Celestia asked.

He flinched, had he forgot she was there again? “I…I’m dropping a piece? So it’s one of mine now?” He answered after a short while.

“You can do that?”

“Err…Yes! It’s half the strategy of the game…” He told her, “How did you win a tournament and not know that?”

“Luck.” She told him, “So I can just do this?” She said, dropping a random piece she’d captured from him on the board.

“Well, yes you…you…” He trailed off as he looked at it, then started frowning in concentration and staring at various pieces on his side of the board. Eventually he sighed and extending a hand to her. “Congratulations! Good game.”

“Hmm? Why are you not taking your turn?” Was he back to defying her?

“You...you’ve won, no matter what I do you can capture my king next turn…”

“Oh, really?” Celestia laughed, shaking his hand graciously.

“And this is why I don’t gamble!” He smiled smugly.

“Because you’re bad at games?” Celestia asked.

“What? No! That…that was just a small oversight! Let’s play again and I’ll be more vigilant this time!” He started sorting the pieces back out again… 

* * *

 

Argh! How had he missed that lancer! She’d aimed it straight at his king! Could he get rid of it? ...No. Move the king?… no, she’d lined up threats everywhere again. Could he get rid of any of them? Or sacrifice something else? … … …

“Have I won again?” Celestia asked, smiling innocently. How did she keep winning when she didn’t even understand what she was  _doing!?_

“Yes. Good game.” He shook her hand again. “But…but this time…” He started putting the pieces back. Surely this luck of her would run out soon...

“No. I’m hungry.” She said. Actually, so was he! The games had distracted him from the hunger pains but it was already…1:30pm? How had the time passed so quickly? This day hadn’t been as terrible as he’d expected so far! Maybe Celestia wasn’t as bad as he’d thought…

“Shall we go get our lunch then?” He asked her.

She glared at him. “No, _you’ll_ go get _my_ lunch, remember?” She snapped.

“…Yes, Mistress.” He sighed. She was still being a brat then. “What would you like?”

“I have a bowl of soup in the fridge, you’ll need to microwave it for 3 minutes. Also bring me some white breadrolls to go with it.” Well that sounded easy enough, and he’d be able to cook himself some food as well… “Also I expect you back in no more than 10 minutes.”

...Well, he’d be able to grab himself some fruit to eat at least… “Yes, Mistress.” He said, and left the room.

He headed to the kitchen as quickly as he could in the awkward shoes and managed to locate the soup easily. Once it was in the microwave he set up a tray and some bread rolls, then grabbed a bowl of fruit and some bread for himself. Seeing that the microwave still had a minute left, he decided to eat a banana while he waited.

“Ishimaru? Hah, affluence doesn’t suit you!” Togami was laughing at him from the doorway. Was he slouching? He seemed slightly shorter than usual…

Ishimaru awkwardly swallowed the large bite he’d taken before answering, “Celestia made me wear it.” He explained the poor suit choice.

“Ah. You lost a bet with her.” The heir smirked…

“Hahaha! No, of _course_ not!” Ishimaru laughed, “You’d have to be an _idiot_ to bet against the Ultimate Gambler!”

“Tch!” Togami was glowering… Oh dear…Had Togami lost a bet with her? “Then _why_ are you wearing that suit?”

“I offered her a favour for her birthday, she seems to think being her slave for a day counts as a favour.” He griped.

“Wasn’t there anything in the terms and conditions preventing that?” Togami asked.

“Err…It was just a birthday voucher for a friend…I didn’t think it needed terms…”

The heir laughed. “Writing up such a vague contract with no conditions!? _That’s_ idiotic!”

“It…it’s not idiotic to trust my classmates! We’re on our journey as students together and we need to bond in order to max…” His speech was interrupted by the microwave finishing. “Ah…my apologies! I have to get this back to Celestia before my time’s up…”

“Well, enjoy your “class bonding” experience then.” Togami sneered.

“It’s not as bad as I was expecting! I think Celestia might be nicer than she lets on!”

“Hah! I wouldn’t bet on it!” Togami laughed again as Ishimaru shoved the last of the banana into his mouth and left for Celestia’s room. 

* * *

 

Celestia checked the clock. It had been exactly ten minutes since Ishimaru left. She’d have to think of a way to punish him…

She didn’t have long to think. Ishimaru was back maybe half a minute later than he should have been. Still, she’d told him ten minutes… “You’re late.” She snapped.

He checked his watch. “My apologies…but it is only 30 seconds…” He tried to plead with her as he brought the tray over to the table in front of her. At least he’d presented the food properly this time, except…

“I didn’t ask for any fruit.” She pointed at the bowl of extra food.

“Ah, those were for myself!” Ishimaru explained, going to pick up the bowl. “I haven’t eaten…”

“So _that’s_ why you were late!” Taeko got to it first, snatching it away from him. “I _told_ you to get _my_ lunch!” She tipped the fruit out onto the floor, “not worry about stuffing your own face!” She threw the bowl onto the fruits, smashing most of them. _That_ would be his punishment. “Now clean that up.” Celestia told him as she turned to eat her soup.

He was silent, and didn’t move. She turned to look at him…Oh, _fuck_ he looked pissed off… Had she gone too far?

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head slowly. “Yes, Mistress.” He said, sounding disappointed.

Hah! Why had she been worried? He was the Ultimate Moral Compass, right? It’s not like he’d hit a girl or anything… He silently moved to pick up the pieces of fruit and put as much as possible back into the bowl to throw away. Then he headed back to the storage chest for the cleaning supplies. Celestia, meanwhile, ate her soup and didn’t feel in the least bit bad about making him scrub his lunch off the floor while Taeko ate hers guiltily… 

* * *

 

He finished cleaning wasted food off the carpet for the second time today. Maybe he really should give Celestia detention for this, it might teach her not to waste the effort people put into growing and distributing food, especially not when there were people dying of hunger on the planet.

He didn’t bother to tell her he'd finished this time, she’d just make him some other nonsense, and this way he’d be able to rest for a moment… But so much for her being nice, no wonder Togami had laughed at him,

Unfortunately she noticed he;d stopped scrubbing. “Are you finished? Then you can get me the box of chocolates Togami gave me. They’re in the drawer.” She pointed to the chest of drawers.

“Yes, Mistress.” It was getting depressingly easy to form those words, he hoped it wouldn’t become a habit. What if this was how Yamada had started? He brought the chocolates over to Celestia, eying them hungrily. Especially the black one.

“Open them for me.” She ordered.

“Yes, Mistress.” The words came out again as he fumbled the box open and he felt a pang of pain in his stomach as the delicious smell of the chocolates overrode his senses.

“Hmm…” She looked over the chocolates, inspecting the booklet that explained what they all were. “Go bring the other chair over here.”

“Yes, Mistress…” He did as he was told. Should he really be doing this? He knew he’d made a promise but this was ridiculous, wasn’t it? But, then again, if he didn’t do it she’d probably overact and spend the rest of the year being a brat at him…

“Now sit down, and feed me that chocolate.” She pointed to one of the chocolates.

“Yes, Mistress.” _Urg!_ Now she couldn’t even be bothered to feed herself!? He picked up the chocolate and reluctantly pushed it past her open lips.

“Hmmm…” She hummed contentedly. He wondered what it tasted like…Urg, best not to think about it, it’d only make him hungrier…

Celestia repeated this for each chocolate in the box, making a bigger show of enjoying them each time…Was she really enjoying them that much, or was she just doing it to torture him? He _really_ hoped Togami would give him one of these boxes for his birthday…

Eventually the only one left was the black one Kirigiri had given him. “Leaving the best until last…” He muttered, unconsciously.

“Hmm…She picked it out the box herself and smelled it. He couldn’t help but stare longingly at it. He’d finished the one from Kirigiri a few weeks ago, but he could still remember how nice it tasted…

Suddenly her hand was moving towards his mouth and then… “Umpth-MMMMM!” There was an explosion of rich, bitter sweetness flooding through his mind. Celestia had shoved the entire chocolate into his mouth, why would she do that?

“Chocolate without milk is disgusting, it’s just bitter. It needs the milk to balance and draw out the flavour.” She was saying. “But seeing as you have no taste, I bet you that chocolate that you’ll be able to give me a milk chocolate after your birthday.”

He smiled and nodded. So much for not gambling… 

* * *

 

Honestly, Ishimaru was ridiculous. He’d been understandably furious with Celestia’s insane demands and tantrums, either looking away or glaring at her at every moment. But then one little chocolate had cheered him to the point where he was smiling and agreeing with her.

She started feeling a _little_ bad, maybe this was enough domination for a while. Perhaps another game? Something easy to teach…

“Have you ever played darts?” She asked.

“No.” Ishimaru muttered through his chocolate. How was he still eating that? Was he just letting it melt in his mouth instead of chewing? …Maybe she should have tried that.

“It’s simple enough, open up the cabinet there and bring us both back three darts each…” She told him, standing up and walking to a spot just under 8 feet from the board.

“Yeth, Mithreth.” He did as he was told. She gave him a quick explanation of how the scoring worked, with the double and triple bands affecting the score. She wasn’t expecting him to be very good on his first game, so she came up with a slightly easier version of the standard 501 rules.

“We’ll be aiming to score as close to 501 points without going over that amount, like in blackjack…”

“I don’t know that game either…” _Really?_ Hadn’t he ever seen a James Bond film or anything with a blackjack scene in it?

“…Well, basically, we can each stop throwing darts whenever we want, and whoever has the highest score below 502 wins.” She explained, “If you score 502 or higher then you “go bust” and lose instantly.”

“Err… Ok.” He said. “Ladies first?”

She threw her darts, and he watched closely, trying to study her technique. It didn’t help him much. Their first few games he took roughly twice as many shots as she did, and then ended up going bust instead of being able to judge when he should stop. Then he overcompensated and started stopping far too early to have a chance of winning.

Not that it deterred him, she sometimes wondered if his title should be “Ultimate Stubborn Preserver.” Eventually he was getting to the point where he consistently logging a decent score, although he was also starting to shift his feet awkwardly. He wasn’t used to standing in heels for so long…

Eventually he had a particularly good round and logged a score of 500, ending before her for once. She stood up and threw two of her darts, giving her a score of 474. “Hmm, I need to hit triple 9 to win then…”

“Good luck!” Ishimaru smiled, looking just the tiniest bit smug. He thought he’d won, didn’t he?

“Want to make this interesting?” Celestia asked.

“I’m still not gambling.” He caught on quickly.

“Not even a small bet? I’ll let you go change back into your boots if you win…”

His eyes darted back to the doorway he’d left them in. He was definitely tempted. “And if I lose?” He asked.

“I’ll make you stay until curfew, rather than letting you leave at Nine-thirty.” She told him, an extra half hour wouldn’t be that much for him to risk in exchange for the chance to wear comfortable shoes again…

He shook his head. “No, thank you.” He said, firmly.

“Very well.” She threw the dart without particularly looking at it.

“Congratulations.” He told her. “I obviously need much more practise at this!”

“Hmm…” She was getting a bit bored of winning when there was no gain in it for her, especially as they’d been playing for several hours. It was almost seven o’clock now... “I want my dinner soon.” She told him. I’ve got a cake and some tuna in the fridge, I want a baked potato- you can just microwave one for around 8 minutes, turning halfway through. Bring it here at 7:30.” That should give him some time to eat something himself as well…

“Ah! Yes, Mistress!” He nodded, and left quickly. 

* * *

 

Ishimaru headed to the dining room quickly. This should hopefully give him enough time to make a few rice balls for his own dinner before he started on Celestia’s. At least as long as he didn’t get into conversations with anyone…

“Ahahahaha! I thought Kuwata was fuckin’ with me!” Oh great! Oowada…The _last_ person he wanted to see! Or be seen _by_ at least. He was sat at one of the dining room tables with Fujisaki, who was working on her laptop.

Fujisaki sighed at the biker’s reaction, “Mondo… _Please_ tell me this isn’t why we skipped trai…”

“Aww c’mon! This was totally worth it!” Oowada stood up, although he must have been slouching because Ishimaru was able to look him dead in the eye.

“Urg… _Mondo…”_

“ _What_? How often do we get to see Ishimaru wearing anything other than his stupid uniform? It looks good on him!” Oowada sneered. Odd, the biker usually stood up straight when insulting people, why was he shorter than usual? In fact everyone he’d spoken to seemed shorter today…

Ah! It was the heels, they made them the same height! It was almost worth the pain of wearing them not to have to look _up_ at him right now…

“Mondo, that’s not…” Fujisaki was scowling at the biker.

“Hey! You’ve got your camera! Let’s take a picture!” He ignored her, putting an arm around Ishimaru’s shoulder mockingly.

“ _No_.” He firmly pushed the biker off him went to head towards the kitchen.

“Tch! Just ‘cause you don’t wanna put a reminder in the album that Celestia’s had you dressed up in that frilly girly shit all day!” Oh, as if _he_ could talk about Celestia bossing him around for a day when _he’d_ spent the last _month_ on his best behaviour for Fujisaki!

“Well, at least _I’m_ only doing it for a _day_!”

Oowada’s face froze and his lilac eyes seethed with rage as he brought his face right up to Ishimaru’s. “The _fuck_ does that mean!?”

“Hey, Mondo…”

“Well, _you’ve_ certainly been a lot more pleasant to deal with since you started dating Fujisaki!” It was a much smarmier answer that he’d usually give. But between the added confidence from not having to look up at the biker for once, his loss of patience from dealing with Celestia and his desire to end this conversation so he could go eat, he suddenly found himself not caring about it.

“ _What!?”_ Oowada’s rage turned to complete bemusement. Had he really not noticed the change himself?

“Umm, Ishimaru? You, you think that we…” Fujisaki started to talk.

“YEP! THAT’S RIGHT! _That’s_ why I’ve been hanging out with Chihiro!” Oowada suddenly shouted. “We’re dating! Pretty obvious right!? Hahaha!”

Fujisaki sighed, “Mondo, you don’t…”

“Don’t need to hide it now, ‘cause Ishimaru’s totally figured it out! No need to think about it or get any other ideas now!” Oowada carried on.

“It’s fine, Mondo…”

“Well, no point hanging around here! Let’s go to garden! On a date! ‘Cause that’s what we’re…”

“ _Mondo! Cut it out already!”_ Fujisaki snapped, startling the biker into silence. “It’s fine. I…I think I’m ready to start telling people now.”

“Ok…yeah…but… _him?_ ” Oowada gestured towards Ishimaru. “Wouldn’t you rather tell someone…quieter? Like Naegi? Or Kirigiri?”

“I think Kirigiri’s figured it out anyway…” Fujisaki told him. “And besides, I’m pretty sure Ishimaru wouldn’t spread a secret anyway.”

Fujisaki had a secret she wanted to confess? “I… I can assure you anything you tell me in confidence will stay that way!” He assured her.

Oowada glared at him. “I still think this is a fuckin’ terrible idea…” He muttered.

Fujisaki rolled her eyes before facing him. “Mondo and I aren’t dating. He’s just been helping me work out and get stronger.” She told him.

“Oh! My apologies!” He bowed. “I must say, I’m surprised you wouldn’t prefer to work out with Oogami or Asahina though!”

“Umm, well…That’s because I’m actually a boy.” She told him…Well that was fair enough…Wait, _what?_

“You…what? _Really!?”_ Ishimaru asked ~~her~~ …him. ~~She~~ , _He_ nodded. “But…but then why…?” He trailed off, gesturing at Fujisaki’s skirt.

“Well…I’ve always been weak…And I got tired of people picking on me for being too weak to be a boy…So…” He gestured at the skirt. “It was easier…but I know I’m a boy! And I want to get stronger so I can start dressing like one again!”

Ishimaru sighed, “That’s ridiculous…”

“HEY! Fuck _you_ , asshole!” Oowada snapped.

“I _mean_ people mocking your physical strength is ridiculous!” He explained, sitting down to talk to Fujisaki. “That sort of thing isn’t important! Your will and intellect are some of the strongest I’ve seen! You’ll likely be one of the most successful men in our class!”

“You…You really think so?” The programmer asked.

“Of course! Especially with your talent! So try not to be concerned with such petty people.” He tried to smile reassuringly. “Of course, I will still keep your secret if that’s what you want, Fujisaki-cha…err…” The boy probably didn’t appreciate being called cute, but if Ishimaru suddenly switched suffixes people would notice, wouldn’t they?

“You, umm, you can call me Chihiro.” The programmer told him. “At least, if that’s all right with you, Kiyotaka?”

He felt himself smiling at the sound of his given name. “That…Of course that’s alright, Chihiro!”

“Thank you Kiyotaka!” Chihiro grinned. “We’ll let you get on with Celestia’s demands now!”

Ishimaru sighed, “Indeed, I’ve got dinner to prepare.” He stood up to head to the kitchen, trying to ignore the odd glare Oowada was giving him. He checked his watch, unfortunately this conversation had taken up the time he’d intended to use to make his own food.

Still, it had been worth being hungry for a few more hours… 

* * *

 

Ishimaru returned just before half past seven, carrying the potato, cake and a cup of tea. He looked happier now, it would seem she had indeed given him enough time to eat this time.

Or at least, that’s what she thought before his stomach rumbled again. _Really?_ How could he be so slow? Maybe she should offer him some of her food…

Urg, no! That was the sort of thing Taeko would do, not Celestia. Celestia decided to eat her potato, slowly enjoying it while Ishimaru stood to the side watching jealously. Still, that left her with over an hour before he was due to finish, and the noises from his stomach were starting to get irritating. Was there anything she could do that would give her an excuse not to be in the same room as him?

“I think I’ll take a bath now.” She told him, “Go fill up the tub. I like it three quarters full with thirty eight degree Celsius water and two capfuls of bubble bath.” Taeko didn’t really care _that_ much, but it was the sort of thing Celestia ought to care about.

“Yes, Mistress.” He said flatly, as he headed into the bathroom and followed her demands to the letter. Once he was done she headed in and made sure the door was locked before removing her curly wigs and clothes and then sinking slowly into the bath, humming contentedly. If Ishimaru had any sense he’d probably run out for some food while she was in here… 

* * *

 

Ishimaru wondered if she’d be in there long enough for him to rush out and eat something… Probably not. He was usually only ever in the shower for around 7 minutes. Even if a bath was likely to take a bit longer. It was best not to risk it. If he did it would be just his luck that she’d call for him just as soon he did.

And so he waited, listening to Celestia humming gently as she washed herself. Apparently the bathrooms weren’t soundproof… She was taking a long time… He checked his watch, she’d been in there fifteen minutes. He could easily have got himself some food. Still, it was probably too late now…

What a wasted day… Perhaps Togami had been right? Should he start adding conditions to the voucher booklet? But that wouldn’t be fair on the others… He’d just have to have faith and hope that none of them would take advantage to this extreme again… But what if they did? Had he doomed himself to twelve more horrible days like this one?

He tried to clear his head and meditate for a while, although it was rather hard with the pangs from his stomach. His watch was showing that Celestia had been in there thirty minutes now. He could even have got food the last time he checked!

Celestia was so inconsiderate. Couldn’t she have given him some idea how long she was going to take in there, rather than have him stand pointlessly out here waiting? He wondered if there’d be any way for him to convince her to stop being so selfish all the time. The way she’d acted today had made it seem impossible. Still, perhaps if he put enough effort in… Or managed to convince Yamada…

At forty minutes he heard the sound of water draining. Well at least the long wait would mean that she wouldn’t be able to get him to do too much more before he left…

Another fifteen minutes passed. How long did it take to get dry and put some clothes on!? He was almost tempted to just leave regardless of how much longer she was going to take…

That thought was broken by the sound of the door opening, and Celestia came back out and sat on the bed. (At least she hadn’t made him carry her this time!)

“Hmm, I think there’s just enough time for you to brush my hair before you’re done.” Celestia told him as she sat down on the bed.

“Yes, Mistress!” His spirit leapt at the thought of finally getting to leave, eat some food and not have to put up with Celestia’s moodswings anymore. At least, brushing her hair shouldn’t be too troublesome. He picked up her hairbrush and headed over to the bed, quickly moving to pull it through one of her vertical spirals of hair.

“Ow! You’re supposed to hold it up at the top, you little bitch!” Celestia snapped, that wasn’t his main concern though. He was more worried about the fact that he’d just managed to rip out the entire spiral of hair from her head…

“AAHH! I’m so sorry!” He cried.

“Well, it didn’t hurt _that_ much…” Celestia had switched back to her usual calm self.

“But…but your _hair!_ I…I’ve…” He held the brush forward to show her.

“Tch!” She inhaled, and grabbed the hair off of the brush, hurriedly grabbing the part that had been closest to her head and putting it back up above her ear in what appeared to be a vain attempt to stick it back in…except that it actually worked.

“What…How?” Realisation dawned. “Those are _wigs_!?” He asked.

“If you tell _anyone_ about this I’ll fuck your life up so bad you’ll…” Celestia started ranting.

“Ok! I won’t tell anyone!” He told her, it wasn’t important enough to bother telling anyone anyway… “But…why? Don’t they make everything harder for you? You’d be able to do so much more for yourself if…”

“Hmm…You don’t understand, do you?” Celestia switched back to calm mode. “I’m not like you. My dream isn’t to do things for myself.”

“Your dream?” She’d never mentioned having a dream before...

“Yes. My dream is to live in a castle, surrounded by handsome servants who cater to my every little whim. That’s why I had you do this today, I wanted a taste of that dream. And it’s much more likely to happen if people view me as an elegant beauty, with killer heels, and extravagant hair, regardless of how inconvenient it makes doing things day-to-day for now. It will all be worth it once I get my dream!”

 _What!?_ How ridiculous! What a truly _selfish_ dream! Did she truly just want to spend her life being a drain on resources, a commandeering brat being spoilt for evermore in some hedonistic fantasy castle? How could she not have _any_ desire to help others? To…to build or help or improve and leave some positive legacy that people would look up to? How tragic, that someone with her skills and luck could only think of herself, rather than what wonderful things she could accomplish if she spent even a minute amount of her time helping others instead of herself. And most ridiculous of all…

“You think I’m handsome?”

…Was that his brain decided to focus on _that_ instead of the myriad of other things wrong with what she’d said!

Celestia’s eyebrows raised, probably not expecting him to have come out with such a _stupid_ response. She then smirked and slowly looked up and him, making him feel incredibly self-conscious.

“Hmm…It’s a good start.”

 _What did that mean!?_  

* * *

 

Celestia watched Ishimaru’s face turn red. She’s been expecting a lecture about how selfish her dream was, etc. Not for him to focus on the accidental implication that he was handsome. Was he still worried about how he looked in photographs?

Still, it was past half nine now, and the prefect's stomach was getting louder. Time to say goodbye to the taste of her dream life…

“It’s nine-thirty. You can go now, your favour has been performed.” Celestia told him. He nodded, approached the door and opened it, but then paused.

“Have you enjoyed today?” He asked.

“…It was a good start.” She admitted, but it certainly wasn’t anything near as good as fulfilling her dream would be… Surely with more people she wouldn’t have found any of it boring and would have been able to do everything she’d thought of.

The door closed and there was a click. “It’ll be a bad end.” Ishimaru said, with an unusual darkness in his voice.

What? Had he just locked the door? And what did he mean? Was he…Was he intending to make the day end badly, somehow? Why? …Celestia had been a bitch all day and not given him a chance to eat… Had she gone too far and made him snap? Then why wait until now, when she was about to let him leave?

Because he’d been doing the favour before? Was that the only reason he’d put up with her? And now she’d told him he’d finished…And he’d locked her in, and was stronger than her, and stood between her and the door…And none of Celestia’s tricks worked on him!

Taeko realised it was just the two of them, and he could probably do anything he wanted. She could already imagine him stood over her, smirking at her helplessness, pointing out that he’d face no consequences for his anything he did now. After all, who was going to believe the word of a manipulative gambler over the “Ultimate Moral Compass” other than maybe Yamada…?

“What…? What do you..?” Taeko stammered. What did he intend to _do_?

“It won’t go well for you.” He said, as he turned to glare at her.

Her blood ran cold. _Why_ hadn’t she let Hifumi help today? He’d asked! He’d even been upset when she’d told him no! And why had she done that? Because he wouldn’t fit in a stupid suit!? She was so stupid! Taeko had made a bet with herself that Ishimaru would put up with Celestia’s crap all day and now she was alone with no one to help her as he strode over to the bed and…

…and pulled up a chair and sat in it?

“If you keep up the way you are now, everything you gain will eventually fall apart around you!” He stated, still glaring with the same intense expression. She just stared blankly at him in return. “I know you don’t believe me, but I’ve seen it happen before!”

“Is…is this a lecture?” This was it? He was just gonna talk at her? _Goddammit!_ The asshole had actually _scared_ her with his fucking angry-looking face!

He scowled at the interruption. “It’s something you need to hear! I know you have a talent for getting other people to do things for you. But my grandfather was the same. He came to Hope’s Peak as the Ultimate Manager. He was a _genius_ at finding people with the right skills to perform tasks he needed doing and then convincing them to do so! He hardly ever had to do any work for himself! And do you know how that ended up? Who he was?”

 _Should_ she know? Ishimaru was a vaguely familiar name, but…

“His name was Toranosuke Ishimaru.” He told her. Wasn’t that an old Prime Minister? “He left this school and went on to form several companies…he started with consulting firms, helping other companies restructure themselves to be more efficient, but then moved into other lines of work and several of his companies grew and expanded overseas… But the unfavourable conditions of and lack of trade deals between ourselves and other countries were hampering his businesses growth, so he made use of his knowledge of international business to become Minister of Foreign Affairs and change things for his benefit.”

How long was this going to go on for? Still, after all the crap she’d had him do all day, it was only fair she listened…

“Then, there were ways our country was run internally that made his businesses less profitable than they could be, so he aimed higher! He managed to move from Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister in record time, and began making all the changes he wanted, all things that suited himself.”

That sounded like a pretty sweet deal! What was she supposed to be learning from this?

“But…He didn’t understand what he was doing. He’d never had to work hard in his life, so he had no idea what effects his changes were having on everyday workers and their families. Eventually they protested his changes in mass, and investigations were made into why he was making them. They discovered that he’d been referencing reports that had… _adjusted_ data to make it the changes he wanted appear to be for the best of the country, when the truth of the matter was different.”

Ishimaru sighed, “Whether he knew they’d been adjusted or not I don’t know, but popular opinion was that he did. The media howled that he was corrupt and called for him to be impeached, which he was in record time. The changes he’d made to help his businesses were reverted, and between that and public boycotts most of them failed. Then it came out that his international branches had been using various loopholes to avoid paying business taxes abroad. All perfectly legal, but it made his international customers boycott him as well, and that was the final nail in the coffin for the rest of them…”

“Their failures saddled him with a debt he couldn’t possibly hope to repay…I’ll be lucky if I manage not to pass any of it onto my children! Even after achieving all his dreams and getting everything he wanted, he still ended his life destitute and broken. He didn’t even speak for the last few years, it’s why I was so surprised when you spoke to me during our games of Shogi. I was used to playing against him in total silence.”

“I’ve gone off track!” He suddenly realised, shaking his head. “My point is, even though your talent makes it easy for you to get what you want from other people, you still need to put in the effort to get it yourself, or else it’ll be all too easy to lose it once you do…” He trailed off, looking at her questioningly. “Err…Do you understand?”

It… was a sad story. But she knew it wouldn’t necessarily apply to her. Her abilities weren’t based on fickle public opinion, and if she managed her finances carefully she’d be able to keep her lavish dream alive through investments. (Which, as a form of gambling, she was very good at) And besides, even if some calamity did befall her, at least she would have been able to live her dream first! And a huge public collapse like Toranosuke’s? No one would be able to say Taeko Yasuhiro had been too boring to look at after _that_!

But still…It did give an explanation for Ishimaru’s insistence on denying her help. He wasn’t doing it to upset her, he was worried about her. He didn’t want her to become like the sad, silent old man he’d played Shogi with… In his own way, he was paying her more attention than the people he _did_ do favours for, and she loved getting attention…

“I’ll keep it in mind.” She told him.

Ishimaru sighed at her glib response. “Well, it’s a good start, I suppose…” He got up to leave. “I’ll see you in class on Monday, “Mistress”.”

It was dripping with sarcasm, but still the nicest he’d said it all day. “Enjoy your day tomorrow, Ishimaru.” She said as he picked up his uniform and left. 

* * *

 

Ishimaru finally left Celestia’s room. He really hoped she’d take his warning seriously…

His stomach growled, of course! He’d only eaten a single banana and one piece of chocolate all day! He checked his watch. 15 minutes before curfew, he’d have to drop his clothes in his room, then grab some bread and fruit to eat from the kitchen before heading back to his room to change, else he’d run the risk of having to give himself a detention slip for breaking curfew…

He headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl full of bananas, apples and bread, then caught his reflection in a saucepan hanging from the shelf above…

What had Celestia said about his looks? “A good start?” Maybe he didn’t look so bad after all…He took it down and looked closely… An almost cartoonish angry face glared back, with thin pursed lips, a heavily creased forehead, thick angry eyebrows and antagonising red eyes. _Urg_. Celestia must had meant the _suit_ was a good start and that the rest of him needed fixing…

His shoulders dropped as he put the pan back and went to leave with his food, only to find Maizono stood behind him. How embarrassing! He couldn’t admit she’d just caught him being vain. “Ah! Maizono-chan! I was just…checking the pan is clean!”

“Ah, Ok…” She replied, probably thinking he was weird for checking pans… “Could you check that one?” She said pointing above and to the left of him. He lifted his head up to look…

Suddenly Maizono had dashed up close to his side, leaning her head on his shoulder and reaching around his back to his tickle his side…

“Hahaha! His eyes shut as he failed to suppress a laugh at the sensation, was that an accident, or had she known about the ticklish spot his father and he shared?

*Click* There was the noise of a camera shutter from slightly above him. He opened his eyes to see Maizono’s phone pointing straight at them. Oh no…he’d been laughing like an idiot! This was probably another terrible picture of him.

Maizono brought it down to check the shot and smiled. “It turned out really well! See?” She turned it to face him. Maizono, of course, looked perfectly lovely and next to her…

Was that actually _him_? Next to Maizono was a man with short cropped black hair and a perfectly shaped, honest, happy smile. His eyes were closed, smoothing his forehead and giving him a gentle countenance that was only barely marred by his silly eyebrows, which sat symmetrical to his hairline. “I…” He didn’t know what to say. It didn’t look like a photo of himself, it looked like a photo of someone he’d be willing to vote for…Or maybe even his mother, if he squinted...

“You have a nice smile! At least, when you’re not worrying about whether you have a nice smile…” Miazono told him, “Try relaxing and thinking of something happy when people take photographs, it’ll help you look better!”

How had she…? He hadn’t even needed to _ask_ for her advice… “Th-thank you very much, Maizono-chan!” He bowed.

She laughed, “Your welcome! I’ll include this one in with the others I bring on Monday.” She told him, as she headed back out of the room.

So, there’d be _one_ good photograph of him in the album, and armed with Maizono’s advice he’d soon make sure there were many more! 

* * *

 

Celestia couldn’t sleep. Being in her room all day had left her feeling restless, she should have asked Ishimaru to take her on a walk instead of playing darts. Perhaps she could go for a walk now to make up for it. It was 11pm, no one who cared about the 10pm curfew would be around now.

She got dressed and headed to the dining room, expecting it to be empty. There was one person though. Hifumi was sat at a table with a diet coke and some fries to one side, drawing furiously. What was he working on that had him so irritated?

She walked over and looked over his shoulder, only for the sight to make her blood run cold. It was titles “The Mastermind” and was obviously supposed to be Ishimaru, except wearing a uniform that was half black, half white. One eye was on fire and his face was contorted into the same dangerous smirk she’d imagined him with when he’d scared her back in the room...

She must has gasped without realising it, because Hifumi suddenly looked up from his drawing. “Ah! Miss Ludenberg! I didn’t hear your delicate approach!” He exclaimed.

“Well, you were busy drawing.” She nodded at the work, trying not to actually look at it again. “I think I prefer your drawings of me though. I’m bored, and feeling thirsty. If you get me a cup of tea I’ll model for you.” She offered. He’d been asking if she would for a while.

He nodded and rushed off to the kitchen, leaving her alone with the picture. In reality, it looked nothing like the hall monitor. She’d done Ishimaru a great disservice to believe he’d be capable of pulling an expression like that. She flipped the book over to a fresh page so she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore.

Hifumi returned, graciously handing her the tea and then excitedly sitting at his chair. Celestia moved to a comfortable position, holding the cup partway to her lips and smiling at the artist. “How’s this position?”

“As long as it’s comfortable for you!” He smiled, and started sketching. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, him sketching and her enjoying the fragrance of the tea.

“Umm…Did your day go as well as you’d planned?” Hifumi broke the silence.

“It was…adequate. I learnt some interesting things about Ishimaru.”

“Ah, so…Has he reached C rank then?” Hifumi asked her, doing a poor job of hiding his sadness.

Hah! The _hell_ he had! “No, Hifumi, It will take a _very_ long time for Ishimaru to reach C rank, the way he’s going.” She told him.

“Uhh…” The artist stared blankly at her. “Did you just…?”

Celestia looked at him quizzically. “Did I just, what?”

“Did you just…use my first name?” Hifumi asked nervously, as if expected her to yell in response.

Wait _had_ she? She had, hadn’t she? She’d been thinking of him as “Hifumi” the whole conversation. When had that started?

Ah, it was when Ishimaru had scared her, wasn’t it? Taeko had wished “Hifumi” had been there to help. How ridiculous! _Celestia_ wouldn’t decide she wanted someone like _Hifumi_ to come to her rescue!

But…perhaps Ishimaru was right? Perhaps Taeko needed to stop relying on other people quite so much, and do something for herself? Other people like _Celestia_ , for example…

“Well…I _did_ say if someone played his cards right, he might find himself at C rank…” She told the artist.

“You…you meant…?” He stammered. “Ah! Well! It is a great honour to be considered at all by a perfect woman like yourself, Mistress!” He started, back into his usual delusions over Celestia. But at least for a brief moment, she’d let him speak to Taeko, and he’d actually been paying attention.

It wasn’t much, but it was a good start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Next up will be Mukuro! (And Ishimaru will manage to give someone a birthday present without turning into a stammering mess...)
> 
> Also, I hope the part where Taeko gets scared by Ishimaru doesn't come off as too forced. My thinking is that as she's willing to accuse Ishida of abusing her in the main game, then she would probably, at some level, believe Ishimaru's capable of hurting her.
> 
> Also Yamada drawing Mastermind Ishimaru will come up later, sorry if it seems like an unresolved subplot for now.


	4. Christmas Shopping (Mukuro Ikusaba)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Apologies if this chapter comes off as a bit political! I just feel like an "Ultimate Moral Compass" is going to have political beliefs (Although, I'm not trying to imply Taka's views on anything are "correct" they're just what I think he would believe.)  
> -I also have no idea if I'm writing Mukuro correctly or not. I get the impression she's outwardly cold to people (except Junko and Makoto), but quite sensitive and emphatic on the inside? I worry she's a bit all over the place in this, but I don't want to be stuck on this chapter forever either, so sorry if that's the case.  
> -The online train ticket buying is based on the British ticket system. I don't know if advance tickets are a thing in the USA of not.

(Friday, 23rd December 2011)

Ishimaru scanned the dining room, hoping to find Chiriho. The programmer had showed him how to purchase cheaper train tickets home online, but now he had earned the money to purchase them he couldn't seem to find the ones Chihiro's search had brought up. Everything _he'd_ found had been too expensive...

To his relief, Chihiro was sat at one of the tables, although he cringed when he saw Oowada sat with his feet on the same table. It couldn't be helped though, he needed to sort out his travel arrangements before speaking to his father tonight.

"Err...Excuse me, Chihiro?"

"Hmm? What's up, Kiyotaka?" Chihiro asked, while Oowada scowled at him.

"I, err... I was trying to purchase train tickets home, like you showed me to, but I can't seem to find the cheaper ones you brought up before..."

"Umm... You left it until _now_? Aren’t you leaving _tomorrow_?" The programmer looked startled at his apparent lack of organisation

"I hadn’t earnt sufficient funds before." Ishimaru admitted, trying not to turn red.

"Oh, well...those tickets I showed you before are limited... So they're probably gone now... I'm sorry, I didn't realise you weren't going to buy them straight away!" Chihiro explained apologetically.

"Ah, no it's not your fault..." It was his own, wasn't it? He really should have started saving the money for this trip far sooner than he had done...

"Man! That sounds like a pain in the ass! Bet you wished you had a bike you could just get on and go!" Oowada said, smugly.

"It's not that bad if you're able to..."

"Nonsense! I'd rather stay in the school for the rest of my life than go anywhere on one of those metal death traps!" Ishimaru cut Chihiro off. He'd have to apologise for that later... “And you should keep you feet off the tables, people have to eat there!” He added, although after almost three months of saying it, it was starting to feel pointless.

"Tch! Fine asshole, guess I won't offer your broke ass a lift home then!" Mondo snapped, keeping his feet where they were.

What? Mondo had been considering offering him a lift? Why would the biker want to go out of his way to help him like that, didn’t they live on completely different sides of the school? But regardless…

"I am not "broke"." Ishimaru lied. "I will just need to request some money for the train from my father." Hopefully his father wouldn't have had to spend all of the relief money he'd sent back home yet... "Thank you for your help, Chihiro." He said, bowing to the programmer before leaving, trying not to imagine his father’s reaction to his poor organisation…

* * *

Mukuro was watching Makoto Naegi, as she often did. She wasn't sure what it was about the supposedly lucky boy that kept catching her attention. She didn't think it could be something as superficial as the way his fluffy hair loosely framed his face, or how well his eyes matched the browny-green of his hoodie. It certainly wouldn't have been his stature, he was short and lean, with no strength or experience in combat. He was the type to settle disputes with words, not weapons after all.

Perhaps that was what interested her? He had a skill for conversation that she lacked completely, effortlessly sparking interest from and drawing out secrets from those he chose to spend his time with, which had consisted of most of their classmates. Even the cold Kirigiri was starting to warm to him, much to Mukuro's dismay and their classmates surprise. It was hard to imagine the stoic and unfeeling girl so much as having a conversation with the most emphatic person in their class, let alone starting to smile whenever she saw him.

And yet, there she was, sipping her tea next to Makoto while he displayed said empathy. He was sat opposite Oogami and Asahina, watching something happening at the table next to him with increasing concern.

"Was Ishimaru just saying he'd had to _earn_ the money to buy tickets home?" Makoto suddenly asked, " _And_ buy them himself?" His brow was furrowed, ever so slightly, with concern for the loud hall monitor.

"Yes." Kirigiri replied. "You're surprised by that?"

"Uhh... My parents just sent me some in the post... Along with a breakdown of which bus I had to catch to get to the station on time… and a voucher for the coffee shop there… and some money for a taxi in case I missed the bus... Honestly, it was hard enough to convince them not to drive all the way here to pick me up..." Makoto admitted, brushing the back of his head with his hand.

"Wow, I thought _my_ parents were bad for buying my ticket and booking a taxi there for me!" Asahina chimed in, "But at least they expect me to buy my own _drinks_!"

"Really!?" Kirigiri sighed at them, "Why do you let them coddle you so much?"

"Aww, they're just worried about me..." Makoto and Asahina said simultaneously. Makoto closed his eyes and smiled when he said it.

"But if you took the initiative more often, like Kiyotaka, they wouldn't worry about you..." Kirigiri suggested.

"Hmm...No, I think they'd worry more if I was spending my time trying to earn money..." Makoto mused, putting the knuckle of his finger to his lips.

"Yeah, what does he even do? There's no jobs for students here..." Asahina asked.

"He's been cleaning other students' rooms, mostly Togami and that princess in the year above us, but recently he's been taking on a lot of one-off jobs." Kirigiri explained, "He does Togami's laundry to."

"Why do know that?" Makoto asked, one eyebrow raised as his mouth twisted with worry.

“The way Togami’s trousers are creased changed to the same style as Kiyotaka’s about two weeks after we started here.” Kirigiri explained.

“Are train tickets that expensive?” Oogami asked. “I usually just run…It’s faster”

“Not really?” Asahina replied, “I’d have thought doing Togami’s chores for a few weeks would cover it…”

“He sends a lot of it back home.” Kirigiri told them.

“Oh! His Dad does all his banking for him as well!” Makoto’s eyes lit up brightly and he smiled with the dawning realisation.

“No…He sends it home to help pay back his family’s debts…” Kirigiri said, “And shouldn’t you be old enough to…”

“Wait, what debts?” Makoto cut her off, the smile gone and his brow furrowing again.

“Haven’t you heard of Toranosuke Ishimaru?” She asked.

“Umm…Sort of…?” Makoto smiled weakly in embarrassment.

“Business genius…Came to this school…Went into business, then politics, then became Prime Minister in record time with no effort… had no idea what he was doing because he’d never had to make an effort… messed everything up…got impeached… all his businesses failed… his family’s still in debt.” Kirigiri summarised. “He’s Kiyotaka’s grandfather.” She added, in response to Makoto’s look of confusion.

“That’s…unfortunate.” Oogami commented.

“Well, I guess he’ll really appreciate my Christmas present then!” Asahina said. “I thought just giving cash was lazy, but it sounds like he needs it!”

“Hmm…He’ll probably insist on giving it back. Or buying you something that costs the same price.” Kirigiri said, “He doesn’t like being “in debt” to people…”

“Well… maybe if we convince him it’s not being in debt… it’s just thanks for helping us out all the time?” Makoto suggested, pinching his chin lightly.

“Believe me, he won’t listen.” Kirigiri said. “I’ve tried…”

“Well, I’ll _make_ him listen!” Makoto insisted, laying his hand flat against his chest. “Umm…Right after I see what money I’ve got left in my room…” He stood up and left the room.

Mukuro watching him leave, maybe she could go after him...?

“Y’know, I’ve been here for, like, 10 minutes…” An incredibly familiar voice said from her side.

“Ah, Junko!” Mukuro jumped.

“It’s really upsetting you know…You would have just gone off to stalk him again if I hadn’t said anything… He’s taking you away from me…Do you have any idea how despair-inducing that is?” Junko said

“He’s not taking me away from you!” Mukuro told her, she knew her sister needed her, needed the one person who understood her. “And I’m not stalking him either!”

“Oh please, you spend aaaalllll your free time watching him and you’ve only spoken, like, once?” Junko smirked, “Trust me sis, I’ve had enough stalkers to recognise one!”

“That’s just because I never know what to say…I don’t want to say something wrong and make him dislike me…”

“Geez, Mukuro! You’re waaaay too sensitive! You’re a soldier, you’re not supposed to worry about whether people like you!” Junko rolled her eyes over dramatically, “Besides, talking to people is easy. Just ask something boring like what his plans for the week are and then just carry on talking about whatever comes up naturally from there without saying anything weird!”

Hmm… that didn’t sound too hard! And Makoto always managed to talk to people easily, so it would be even easier with him, right? She’d have to try and find him later before he left for the holidays…

* * *

Ishimaru arrived at the phone booth and checked his watch. 7:56pm. His stomach churned, he wasn’t looking forward to telling his father about the train tickets…He’d never had to ask his father for money before, and it felt humiliating… Even if it had technically been his money in the first place…

He spotted Naegi waving at him and waved back as the boy continued to talk about how well his grades had improved recently. This was becoming a weekly occurrence, as the luckster also seemed to ring his family on Friday nights. But at least his younger sister was apparently so loud that Naegi never heard any of his own conversations. He wouldn’t be likely to overhear the embarrassing conversation he was about to have.

The second hand on his watch ticked away agonisingly slow, until it finally reached 8:00pm. He took a deep breath and dialled his father’s extension. It was picked up quickly, his father was very diligent about his work, after all.

"Good evening, Father! I hope you had a good week!" He started the call as always.

"Ah, Kiyotaka! Good evening! How are you?" At least his father sounded in a good mood. That might make things easier... "My weeks gone well, although it's busy! We've been inundated with people "celebrating" even earlier than usual this year!"

Ishimaru procrastinated on his awkward task for a while by letting his father discuss work, but after a while he realised he was starting to run the risk of their time being up before he got the chance to discuss it.

"Err...I'm sorry, Father." He interrupted "But I'm afraid I've had an issue with my travel arrangements..."

"Travel arrangements? Where are you going?"

"Err...I mean to come home over winter break..." Ishimaru wondered if his father would know how hard he was cringing at this moment...

"...You're coming home? You didn't tell me that..." What? Wasn't it obvious?

"...I told you the dates for my holiday...I assumed it was a given that I'd visit to spend Christmas and New Year's with you..."

"Ahh... I just thought you were making conversation... It seemed silly for you to come that way back just for ten days so I assumed you'd make good use of the time studying in that big library you've got there!"

"But... Don't you want to see me?"

"Well, of course I do! ...But I've ended up taking extra shifts because of the holidays. I'm working most of the day on both Christmas and New Years Eve- it's double pay!" His father sounded like he was smiling.

"Well...but still, shouldn't I...?"

"Really, Kiyotaka! It's not worth your time!" His father insisted. "You've not already bought a ticket, have you?"

"Err...no! I saved up some money towards it but..."

"Well then! Why not use that money to buy yourself something nice! Get yourself in the Christmas spirit!" He laughed. "Oh, but speaking of which, we won't be able to talk next week because of all the shifts changing for the holidays."

"Err... Ok?" So...not only was he failing to visit his father over the holidays, they wouldn't even speak to each other? "I...I guess I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year then?"

"Ah, yes! You to! I hope you have a productive holiday! Oh, time for me to go! I'll speak in a fortnight!"

There was a click and the phone went dead.

Ishimaru put the phone back on its receiver and looked at it. Well... At least his father hadn't been upset? He guessed? Unless he’d just been putting on brave face for his sake?

"Umm...Ishimaru?"

"Ah! Naegi!" The other boy’s phone call had finished roughly the same time as his own, so he'd come over to chat. This was becoming another weekly occurrence. "I, err, I mean good evening!"

"Good evening to you to!" He said, "Umm...Did you get you travel sorted out with your father?"

"Err...actually I won't be travelling home over the holidays..." That felt odd to admit. Especially at this short notice. Wasn’t he supposed to let the school administration know he’d be staying? And the office would be shut now, he’d have to post a letter through the door and apologise for the late notice…

"Is that because of the train tickets being more expensive then you expected?" Naegi asked, reaching into his shirt pocket. "Because if it is, I could give you my present early?" He held out an envelope.

Ishimaru took it without thinking, Naegi’s words only registering in his mind when he realised that there were some coins in there.

“Ah! No! It’s not because of the money! My father’s just too busy!” He explained, “And I can’t accept this!” He held the envelope back out.

“Why not?” Naegi asked, making no move to take it back.

Ishimaru cringed. “I haven’t got a present to give you back…” He admitted.

Naegi just laughed. “Yeah, I figured that’d be the case! It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“What? No I can’t just…”

“Consider it payment for all the tutoring you’ve given me then!” Naegi suggested. “I’m not taking it back!” He crossed his arms, stubbornly.

“No, tutoring was a duty as a classmate! I insist you let me return this!” Ishimaru moved to put it in the overly large pockets of the luckster’s signature hoodie.

“And I insist you keep it!” Naegi replied with a grin, quickly shoving his hands in his pockets to block him.

Urg! Why was he making this so difficult? It was embarrassing… Maybe he could slip it into the hood instead…

“Haha! Nope!” Naegi laughed, dodging his attempt gleefully and dashing partway down the hall.

“Why are you being so stubborn about this!?” Ishimaru snapped at him.

“Why are _you_!?” Naegi retorted.

“I…I just don’t like profiteering from my classmate’s generosity!”

“Geez, it’s not even that much…” Naegi sighed. “And you’ve spent so much time doing stuff for the rest of us! Like remembering birthdays and reminding us about upcoming exams and school events we have to go to and the class photo album and medical log! It’s like _we_ profit from _you_! Can’t we at least give you a little gift to say thanks for once?”

“That…” That was ridiculous! Those things hardly took any time at all and were the bare minimum he should be accomplishing in his position as Moral Compass! …But Makoto looked so concerned about it…

Ishimaru’s words caught in his throat, trying to give back a present was rude, wasn’t it? “I guess…I apologise…I’m being stubborn…I should have just thanked you…” He bowed, “So, uhh…Thanks!”

Naegi blinked, then grinned. “You’re welcome! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, in case I don’t see you tomorrow!”

“Ah! Yes, I’m sure I will! And the same to you as well! I hope you have a wonderful time with your family!”

“I will!” Naegi waved as he left to head back to his room. Ishimaru shook the envelope. There were obviously quite a few coins in there. He wondered how much it was…hopefully not _too_ much…

But he couldn’t be standing around idly obsessing with his very first Christmas present. He had a letter to write and submit. Hopefully the late notice wouldn’t cause the staff too much trouble…

* * *

Mukuro quickly dodged around a corner as she saw Makoto turn in her direction. She’d been enjoying watching him laugh at the hall monitor’s clumsy attempts at giving him back the envelope. He had a nice laugh.

Still, he’d left Ishimaru back by the phones, which meant he’d be walking back to his room alone for once this week. This would be the perfect time to try talking to him. She waited for him to pass by.

“Umm… Hi, Makoto!” That was a normal start, right?

“Oh, uhh… Hi, Ikusaba!” Makoto replied in a startled voice as he spun slightly on the spot to face her.

Right, time to use Junko’s advice! “What are you doing next week?”

“Uhh… Why’d you ask?” Makoto leaned back worriedly.

That… wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. “…Isn’t it a normal question to ask someone?”

“Err… I guess?” Makoto shrugged, “I just didn’t think you were the type for small talk…” He scratched his head nervously. “I’m just going home to spend the holidays with my family… What about you?”

“I’m staying here at the school.” She told him.

“Really? That’s a shame, won’t your family miss you?” He asked, looking concerned.

“Umm, not really? I spent the last few years with Fenrir anyway…”

“Well won’t _they_ miss you? Or you miss them?” Makoto asked.

“Ehh… They’re not the kinds of guys to get worked up about that kind of thing… And besides, by the time I’d have gone to Iraq and back I’d hardly have any time to see them…”

“They’re in Iraq?” Makoto asked, surprised. “Is that because of the war? So they’ll be leaving soon…” He put a finger to his lips in thought.

“Leaving? They only just got there…”

“But isn’t the war over now?” Makoto asked.

“Ehh, It’s true that the Military has left. But the new Prime Minister’s already upsetting Sunni Muslims… It won’t be long before Fenrir get hired for some reason or another…” Mukuro explained, “There’s always chaos right after a sudden big change in leadership.”

“What do you mean by “chaos”?” Makoto asked, his eyebrows scrunched with concern.

“Well, things like rioting, fighting between different factions, children being separated from their parents…”

Makoto was looking at her with a horrified expression. “That’s terrible! What are people doing to stop it?”

“Uhh... There’s not really much anyone can do… It’s just how people behave. There’s not much to do except wait for the dust to settle and hope it’s not too bad afterwards…”

The look of despair that came into Makoto’s eyes was one Mukuro knew well, it was a common sight for anyone who spent time with Junko. Mukuro should have known better than to think Junko’s advice would work so easily. She shouldn’t have tried to talk to Makoto, this was just dragging him into despair. She’d just had to be stupid enough to talk about Fenrir and upset him like this. Now he was going to feel completely hopeless…

Except…

“No! I don’t believe that!” Makoto put his left hand on his chest and swung his right one across his body for emphasis. “That _can’t_ be all there is to it! There _has_ to be some way to help, and I’ll find it and show you!” He pointed straight at Mukuro, eyes brimming with determination, before striding away on a mission.

That… was not a look she was used to seeing. She’d made him anything but hopeless.

But… He probably disliked her now, didn’t he?

 

(Saturday, 24th December 2011)

“Sooooo… How’d the chat with Makoto go?” Junko asked her cheerfully the next morning.

“…I think I said something weird and made him dislike me.” Mukuro said, truthfully. She couldn’t bear to lie to her sister.

“Aww! Don’t give up just like that!” Junko said in her most overly-cute voice, “You just need more practise! Why don’t you try starting with this dork?” She titled her head backwards.

Mukuro turned around to see Ishimaru doing his usual awkward speed-walk towards the pair of them. “Ah, excuse me! Enoshima-chan, Ikusaba-chan!”

This was odd. The hall monitor had little reason to speak to either of them, especially not both at the same time. Sure, he’d pestered Junko over her additions to the school uniform a couple of times, and he’d insisted that Mukuro show him that her guns were stored safely and that she had all the correct licenses for them. But other than that, neither of them had been caught breaking rules or had asked for help with schoolwork, so what would their academically-obsessed, rules monitor classmate have to discuss with them _both_? He was usually too busy shouting at Oowada or Kuwata, or loudly explaining things to Makoto or Asahina…

“Uhh, Hi Ishima…” Mukuro started.

“Yo! Kiyo-kat, my maaaan! How’s it hanging, Mofo!?” Junko’s overly bombastic stance interrupted her, taking advantage of the fact that Ishimaru didn’t know what “Mofo” was short for.

"Err…I’m fine, thank you?” Ishimaru guessed at a reasonable response as he shook off his confusion, “I just wanted to say, I hope you both have a Happy Birthday today, and enjoy the rest of the winter holiday!" He told them, holding out two envelopes.

Oh yeah… his obsession with making sure everyone’s birthday was celebrated… Although most of the class had been too busy leaving for the holidays to consider her’s and Junko’s.

"Awesome! Thanks Shorty!" Junko told him as she took them both and handed Mukuro her one, and they opened them.

“You’re welcome, although…I’m taller than you?” Ishimaru looked confused.

“It’s slang, Kiyo! You really gotta check out Urban Dictionary sometime…”

There wasn’t a single slang meaning of “Shorty” that Ishimaru wouldn’t be offended by, was there? Maybe Mukuro should try to change the subject? "Vouchers again!" She drew attention to the presents.

"Err...well..." Ishimaru looked a little embarrassed.

"Mukuro! That was kinda mean... Like I keep telling everyone, it's not his fault he can't afford _actual_ presents..." Junko scolded her.

"Ah...!" Ishimaru went from looking embarrassed to looking horrified. Junko's eyes lit up gleefully.

Ok, bad subject… "So...what are you doing next week?" She changed it again before Junko could make him feel any worse.

"Err... I'll be staying here... Father will be extra busy at work so it's not worth the travel time to go home... So I'll take the opportunity to study hard, in peace!"

"Awesome! Mukuro couldn't afford to go home either, you guys can hang out!"

Ishimaru flinched as Junko hit on his real reason for staying. "Err... Yes that would be nice..." It would? Or was he just being polite? "But...you're going home without your sister? Won't that disappoint your parents?"

"I'm not going home either, I've got work..."

"Even over the holidays?"

"Like, especially over the holidays! I've been booked on a ton of those cheesy Christmas and New Year chat shows... You know the ones, right?"

"Err...no I'm afraid I don't..." Ishimaru admitted, looking slightly guilty about it. He was too honest, he could have just smiled and nodded if he didn't want to tell her he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Hmm..." Junko switched into her teacher personality, "To put it simply, they book a group of celebrities and a host, who gives them topics to talk about for a few hours..."

"You mean, things like political opinions or issues with the world?" Wow, Ishimaru must watch less TV than she did, if he thought anyone would have a show like _that_ on...

"No... It's more casual topics, like celebrity gossip or funny anecdotes- and often the celebrities have something they're trying to sell. I'm promoting my new clothing line, for instance."

"And you do this for multiple hours!?" Ishimaru was shocked, "But...why would anyone watch that?" 

"Well, people like to hear others talk over the holidays..." Junko switched to her depressed form. "I think most of the viewers are on their own... Sitting on the couch with a microwave dinner...listening to us talk because no one came to visit over the holidays..." Suddenly she cheered up. "Like your Dad! Hey, what's his name? I can say Hi to him at some point!"

 "...We don't have a television..." Ishimaru looked like he wanted to cry for a moment, but then shook his head, "And besides, my father will be far too busy at work to waste time with pointless conversations!"

"Well, if you say so..." Junko told him, her favourite way of telling someone they knew they were wrong. "See you after the holidays!" She waved cheerfully and walked off.

Poor Ishimaru, he looked distraught, despite his attempts to hide it. She was tempted to say something to cheer him up...but what? She never knew what to say to anyone, and it was her attempts to talk to him that had caused his distress in the first place...

She shouldn't worry about it. She should just go help Junko get ready to leave...

Junko was stood in the doorway of her room, idly flicking through the vouchers Ishimaru had given her. “Oh hey, Sis! Got any ideas for what you’re gonna do with these?”

“Huh? These? I don’t really need help, I probably won’t bother…” Mukuro told her.

“Wow, that’s cold, Sis. He, like, put his heart and soul into these… Imagine the despair he’d feel if you didn’t use it...” Junko said “sadly”. “Unless you at least get him to carry your shopping around when you go to the mall on Tuesday? Then you can practise talking to him!”

“Hmm… That might work, thanks Junko!” Junko could be a good sister sometimes! “Can you think of anything I _shouldn’t_ talk to him about?”

Junko rolled her eyes at her… “No, he’s even weirder than you are, you won’t freak him out so easily. Just don’t ask him for advice on getting people to like you!”

Well, that made sense. Outside of their class, there were many who hated the overbearing rules-monitor. “Thanks again. So what are you going to do with them?”

“Hmm… I dunno yet. There’s just too many possibilities… Maybe I’ll hang onto it until I can use it for something _really_ despair-inducing! Upupupu!”

Mukuro would not want to be Ishimaru when that happened…

* * *

…His poor father! They weren’t even going to get to _speak_ over Christmas!

Maybe he could try ringing his father’s office during work times? But then he had no way of knowing when he was on shift, and if one of his colleagues picked up his father might get in trouble for using the phone for personal use…

But his poor father! They weren’t even going to get to _speak_ over Christmas!

Maybe he could…

“Ah! Ishimaru! There you are!” The voice of the headmaster knocked him out of his circular thought process.

“Ah! Good Morning, Headmaster!” He bowed. “How can I help you?”

"Good Morning, Ishimaru. I just found this letter...You're staying over the holidays now?"

"I...Yes, sir! I apologise for the late notice!"

The headmaster look concerned. "Did something happen? Between you and your father?"

Why would he think that? "No, sir. I...I wasn't able to organise travel soon enough, and he thought I wasn't coming back and took extra shifts at work. He said it wouldn't be worth the trouble to go home to see him."

The headmaster gave him an odd look for a brief moment, but it was soon replaced with a warm smile. "Well, that's good then! In that case, I'm organising a Christmas dinner tomorrow for all the students who are still here! It'll start at 1pm in the dining hall. Will you be coming?"

A dinner party with the headmaster? This was probably the sort of important networking event he should get used to attending, and a chance to practise socialising with some other students as well! "Yes, sir! Thank you for the invitation!" He saluted. But then a thought occurred to him. "Err... But doesn't Kyoko mind having a group of other students around when your celebrating Christmas with her?"

"Kyoko? Kyoko's gone home for the holidays! She's visiting her grandfather." The headmaster laughed.

"Err...Oh! ...you don't seem too upset?" He commented. Didn't parents usually want to see their children at this time of year? His father had wanted to...

"Well, I've seen her all term! It's only fair my father gets to as well..."

Ah, of course. It wasn't like his situation at all...

"And most parents understand that their children can't always make the time to see them, once they start growing up." He carried on, patting Ishimaru on the shoulder. "Your father will be fine..." He smiled, reassuringly.

"Err..." Oh, how embarrassing! The headmaster must have better things to do than worry about him! He really needed to start keeping his emotions hidden better. "Thank you, sir!"

"Your welcome, I'll see you tomorrow!" Kirigiri gave him another pat on the arm and walked off. “At least I know you won’t be spending _all_ of Christmas day studying alone!”

What!? What would be wrong with _that_?

 

(Sunday, December 25th 2011)

Ishimaru awoke to the sound of his alarm going off, got up, did his usual morning exercises and stretches and was halfway through his shower when he suddenly remembered that it was Christmas morning. That was…odd. Not that his father and he celebrated it particularly, but they were usually around to say “Merry Christmas” to each other. And they’d always try to make breaded chicken for dinner together... It was odd to think he was going to a dinner party while his father worked instead.

Still, the headmaster had said he would be fine, and his father had told him to get into the Christmas spirit. Maybe he could do something else to make the day special? But what?

( _“At least I know you won’t be spending all of Christmas day studying alone!”_ ) He remembered headmasters parting words from yesterday. If the headmaster was concerned about him spending the whole day studying, then perhaps he could _not_ study today at all! That would be a novelty!

So… what to do instead? Ishimaru looked around his room for something to do… Ah! That was right, he had Christmas cards to open! He’d been surprised to find such a large pile of them in his pigeonhole yesterday evening. Perhaps everyone had decided to sneak them in before they left so he wouldn’t be able to return them as he’d tried to with Makoto...

He looked through the pile, judging from the handwriting the new cards were from Kyoko, Oogami, Asahina, Chihiro and Togami (although that was probably just his payslip for cleaning and laundry). Amongst them was a plain piece of paper folded in half. He unfolded it first.

"I didn't write you a card. Mondo" was scrawled on it. What on Earth was _that_ for!? Why not just... _not_ write a card, like he had? Was it supposed to upset him? As if he hadn't had people write worse in middle school...

It had been especially in his second year, when the teacher had made them all make cards for everyone else in the class. Every one of his classmates had handed him a bright envelope and he’d excitedly opened them all... only to end up failing to hold back tears when everyone single one was filled with a plain piece of paper adorned with complaints and insults about how annoying and irritating and awful he was...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Chihiro, Kyoko, Naegi, Asahina and Oogami wouldn’t have done _that_! They’d been getting on pretty well, considering how irritating he could get at times...

Letting himself get a little excited, Ishimaru opened the envelope Makoto had given him, only for his heart to sink when it revealed a scrappy piece of paper, folded in half... No... Surely Makoto wouldn’t have done _that_! Not after putting money in and being so insistent on him talking it in the first place... Right?

He nervously took the piece of paper out and looked over it. On the other side of the fold was a hastily scribbled picture of... a Christmas tree with presents under it, maybe? Inside the fold simply read: “Merry Christmas! Sorry, the shop ran out of cards. From Makoto.”

...What!? _Honestly!_ Makoto _really_ needed to get more organised! Perhaps it would be something Ishimaru could help him with next term, to thank him for the odd assortment of coins in the envelope, which added up to… _1037_ yen? Was that some lucky number or something?

The next envelope contained an actual card from Kyoko, which had a picture of a house in the snow at night. The inside of the card contained five 100 yen coins and read “Dear Kiyotaka, Merry Christmas. Enjoy the peace and quiet and have a Happy New Year. From Kyoko. PS: How many people do you think are in the house?”

What? How should he know that? He checked the front of the card. There were a few sets of footprints going into the house but knowing Kyoko it wouldn’t be that simple…

Oogami’s card was next, a simple card with a picture of a lit candle in a wreath on it. Inside was another 500 yen and a message wishing him a Merry Christmas, along with a suggestion that he buy himself something with some protein in it. He laughed at that, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t been bulking up from their sparring, but she was still so insistent that he eat more…

Asahina’s card had a picture of some penguins in scarfs and Santa hats carrying a pine tree across the snow… He scowled at it. That was completely geographically inaccurate!

…Which was something Asahina realised, given that the inside of the card read. “Merry Christmas, Ishimaru! Yes, I know there aren’t pine trees in the Antarctic but it’s a cute picture, right?  And I even remembered that without Google! Thanks for that and all the other help with schoolwork this term. Hope you have a great New Year! Maybe I can help you with swimming? Asahina.”

Ishimaru felt his cheeks flushing slightly as he put the 500 yen Asahina had given him with the rest of the money so far. It was nice to be appreciated.

The next envelope contained a card with a picture of the class that Ishimaru remembered Chihiro asking the class to take in front of the Christmas tree in the dining hall. It was probably one of the nicest photographs he'd seen of the class so far! He couldn't wait to show his father...

Urg... He hoped his father was ok...

Inside the card was 1000 yen and a message from Chihiro... And _Oowada_ , allegedly. Well, that note made sense now. The biker did have a strong sense of honesty, if not tact. He obviously just didn’t want to receive any undue credit from Chihiro’s larger than average gift.

Ishimaru felt slightly guilty at having instantly assumed Oowada had intended to upset him. Perhaps he should stop judging him so harshly all the time? He had been getting better about behaving in classes recently and might even have offered him a lift home, if Ishimaru hadn’t insulted his mode of transport first. Perhaps his new year’s resolution should be to give the biker the benefit of the doubt more often?

Finally he checked the envelope from Togami. It was, as he’d expected, the standard payslip that the heir insisted on giving him each week, although this time it was accompanied by a note explaining that it included a standard annual bonus at all Togami employees received… good grief that was about a month’s extra pay! No wonder so many people wanted to work for the Togami Corporation!

If only he’d got this _last_ month… He’d have been able to book those tickets home…

He shook his head. That was rude, and he had no one to blame for his poor planning but himself. At least now perhaps he could try to make up for the lonely Christmas his father was having with some extra money towards the debts...

And he even had some money to spend on himself: a total of 3500 yen! He was lucky to have such generous classmates! And it was nice to have the pretty row of cards on the table... Each from a classmate who actually liked him! Perhaps he wasn't as awful as his old classmates had said he was... Or maybe he’d just become better at initial impressions… Either way, it would be no end of help to his future political career!

It would have been nice to be able to say thanks to them all in person, but he had neglected to exchange phone numbers with them as he’d expected to be at home without a phone.

In fact, it would be nice to have someone to talk to before the headmaster’s dinner party. Especially since he’d resolved not to study today. He was already regretting it somewhat, there were several hours left until he needed to get ready and he was already at a loss of what to do…

Ah! Ikusaba was still in the school, wasn’t she? Perhaps he could take Enoshima’s suggestion and go “hang out” with her. She wasn’t exactly the most talkative person in class, but she was respectful to those around her and obviously trained hard to hone combat skills, which was something he could respect, even if he wasn't comfortable with them. Perhaps this was a chance to get to know her better…

* * *

Mukuro had woken up and done her usual training as normal. It being Christmas didn’t really affect her. No one other than Junko had got her anything, probably because she rarely talked to anyone, so she didn’t have any cards or presents to open. If it weren’t for Junko being away working, then it would have been just another Sunday morning.

Thinking of Junko and her work, Mukuro checked the schedule her sister had left her. It was a list of all the shows she was appearing on, so Mukuro would be able to see her when she began to miss her sister, as she had yesterday evening. Junko was so considerate! There was a show starting in a few minutes… She turned on the small television she had bought for her room and flicked to the right channel in preparation.

The television adverts were interrupted by the room’s doorbell sounding. Who would be visiting her today? There was no one in their class left in the school except…

She opened the door. It was Ishimaru, as expected, wearing his usual school uniform. “Good morning! And Merry Christmas Ikusaba-chan!” He saluted.

“Uhh…Hello, Ishimaru.” Mukuro replied. It was odd to be able to finish saying that now Junko wasn’t here.

“Err…” Ishimaru hesitated for a moment. “I was wondering if you wanted to, well, “hang out”, as your sister put it…?”

Ishimaru? Wanting to “hang out”? Not study, tidy or patrol the school for rule-breakers?

“I was just going to watch Junko on the TV… You can join me if you want?” She offered, remembering Junko's suggestion that she practise talking to the hall monitor.

“Ah! Thank you!” He smiled, and entered the room, almost barging his way in. He quickly surveyed the room and moved a spare chair in front of the TV for himself to sit on. They both sat down, Mukuro with her usual combat-ready alertness and Ishimaru with his ramrod-straight back, fists closed over his thighs and intense focus on the show’s opening sequence. They probably made an odd-looking pair…

“Merry Christmas, Everyone! For this year’s Christmas Chat we’ve got the Ultimate Fashionista herself, Junko Enoshima! Thanks for joining us today!” Said whichever Z-list celebrity was hosting _this_ particular show…

“Hey, I should be thanking you! I get to spend Christmas having fun and talking with people!” Junko was smiling at the camera. “After all, that’s what Christmas is all about, right? Spending time with people?”

“Yes! Absolutely!” The host agreed.

On the chair next to her, Ishimaru’s fists clenched a little tighter and the look of despair began creeping slowly into his eyes. A look Mukuro suspected a lot of lonely people across the country were mimicking.

“Sooo… Which special person are _you_ spending the afternoon with?” Junko asked the Z-lister. “At least, I’m _assuming_ you’ve been sensible enough to make plans and organise seeing people around your work and stuff!” She giggled.

Ishimaru swallowed heavily and screwed his eyes shut. Was he about to cry?

“Haha! Of course! I’m going to…” Mukuro switch off the TV midway through the host’s response. She couldn’t stand watching people cry…

Ishimaru was so preoccupied with composing himself that he didn’t notice it was off until after she’d put the remote back down. “Oh! Did something happen to the…”

“I turned it off. I watched her shows yesterday evening and she said the exact same things then. It’d get boring listing to her say it all again. Maybe we could talk to each other instead?” Mukuro suggested, after all she needed the practise…

“Ah! Of course!” Ishimaru agreed, smiling slightly. Then he just looked at her.

Was he waiting for her to talk? She hadn’t thought of anything to actually talk to him about… Although there was that favour… “… Are you free on Tuesday? I was wondering if you’d be able to do my birthday favour for me then.” She asked.

“That will be fine, I don’t have any plans for this week. What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to the mall and could use some help carrying things. It’ll save me going twice…”

“Ah, yes… Actually I have a little Christmas money to spend now as well…” He mused.

“Ok, I’ll probably spend some time in the gun range so you can pick up some things then.” She told him.

“Ok.” He nodded.

…

Silence reigned again, and Ishimaru was glancing around her room awkwardly. Did she need to think of another thing to talk about?

“So… Err…” Ishimaru seemed like he was trying to instead. “So… You’re a soldier…?”

“Yes.” Mukuro confirmed, wondering what he was intending to say.

“Err…” Ishimaru looked slightly panicked. Had he been hoping she’d elaborate? _Should_ she have elaborated? “So… How did you… get into that then?” He finally asked.

“Well, I won a survival game in elementary school, wrote some magazine articles about it when I was in middle school and learned about Fenrir. Then I joined them while I was on holiday a few years ago.” Mukuro told him.

“Ah…Ok then!” He nodded. Then there was more silence.

“Umm… So how did you get into… Moral compassing?” Mukuro asked his question back at him.

“Err… Well. I was usually the only one who volunteered for things like the school beautification group, and disciplinary committee and class representative. In middle school it just became easier to combine them all into one committee focusing on morals in general….”

“Oh.” That was pretty much what she’d expected. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d asked, other than the hope that he’d talk about it for a long while, like he usually did, so she wouldn’t have to think of anything else to talk about. Except he hadn’t and now the awkward silence was back…

Ishimaru was back to glancing around the room, hoping to find something of hers to discuss? She was just starting at him, racking her brain for _something_ about him that she could remember that might get him talking. But, no. Nothing came to mind. This was getting unbearable… Maybe she should apologise and suggest they watch the TV again?

“I’m not very…” She started

“My apologies this always…” Ishimaru started saying at the same time. “Err, sorry! You first!” He offered.

“I was just going to say I’m not very good at talking. I’m better at communicating through combat.” Mukuro finished.

“Ah, no! I’m sure some of it’s because of me! This always happens whenever I try to have a personal conversation with people!” Ishimaru insisted. “Err… Although if you prefer combat, perhaps I can get my sword and we could spar instead?” He checked his watch, “We should have time before the headmaster’s dinner party…”

Anything to avoid more awkward silence. “Ok.” She smiled. He left the room, looking relieved.

* * *

Ishimaru returned to his room, sword in hand and wincing as he clutched his ribs. Ikusaba’s fighting style was dirty, with a mixture of daggers, punches and kicks all aimed to take an opponent out in one hit. She hadn’t been familiar with the idea of “light sparring” at all, and even with her combat daggers sheathed, her initial hits had still been strong enough to bruise heavily. Good thing she hadn’t aimed at his face!

Still, at least he hadn’t had any embarrassing flashbacks. And it had been useful in the end. Once Ikusaba had realised he wasn’t as hardy as Oogami, or her fellow members of Fenrir, she’d switched to showing him some unarmed combat moves, including a few techniques for disarming a knife-wielder that might come in handy one day.

So, now he had to shower again and get ready for the headmasters dinner party…He changed into his smartest uniform set, the one that he only wore for special occasions and still looked immaculately white, he needed to make a good impression on the headmaster and other students going, if he wanted a shot at student council next year!

He checked himself in the mirror, polishing a few of his buttons with a handkerchief and trimming a few errant hairs to ensure that he was looking as good as he possibly could… Once he was finally satisfied, he headed out towards the dining room.

He’d already seen the Christmas tree in the dining room, but now the room was festooned with blinking coloured lights and fake snow. He’d arrived early enough to be the first there, as usual, so he had a good chance to appreciate the decorations before everyone else arrived.

The long table in the middle was set up for ten people, with a polished silver plate, several knives, forks and spoons and a paper name tag at each place. He walked around the table to check where he was sitting. He recognised the Ultimate Skateboarder and Rapper from writing detention slips for smoking, but fortunately most of the students were ones he had no reason to know.

He found his own nametag in the centre of the table, in between Ikusaba and a male name he didn’t recognise. He leaned over the table to see who was sat opposite. He wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or nervous when he saw that it was the headmaster himself. On one hand, the headmaster was usually friendly and this was an opportunity to practise making a good impression. But on the other hand, there was the chance he’d end up being a complete bore or just completely unable to hold a conversation and just irritate Kirigiri all dinner instead.

“Oooh! Look at all the snow!” His thoughts were interrupted by a woman’s voice entering the hall. He quickly straightened up to greet them, but ended up just staring instead. The woman was wearing an extravagant red ball gown, with a wide pleated skirt that had silvery-white detail trailing up, as if it was lined with snowflakes. The sleeveless bodice of the dress was lined with a similar pattern, and a thick white fur was draped around her shoulders. She also wore matching long red gloves and a silver necklace, and her long brown hair was twisted into a series of interconnecting plaits, each adorned silvery accessories.

Ishimaru wondered if he was going to be woefully underdressed for this party…

“Hey, you gonna stare at my girl for much longer?” Snapped a male voice to her right.

“Err! I’m sorry, I was just wondering if I should have made more of an effort for this myself!” Ishimaru hurriedly explained as he turned his attention to the male next to her. He looked completely different from “his girl”. His hair was dyed green and slicked back with gel and his lanky form was dressed in a red t-shirt and an incredibly tight pair of patterned jeans that left almost nothing to the imagination…

“What!? You got a problem with my clothes?” He snapped. Ishimaru realised he’d been staring again.

“Err… No! They’re very stylish!” He said, quickly drawing his eyes back upwards.

“Tch… like you’d know style if it bit you in the ass…” Was the man’s reaction.

“Language!” Ishimaru instinctively scolded him.

“Whatever, dickhead, it’s the holidays. You don’t get to give us detentions this week.”

Wait, _what_!? Was that true!? What stopped the school descending into anarchy then? “…Regardless, dinner with the headmaster is a chance to practise networking in a professional situation and…”

“Urg, whatever _Dad!_ I suppose you think I should have worn a suit as well, cause “no one spends 200,000 yen on jeans and a T-shirt!”!” He suddenly snapped, “I’m not making the same boring shit the rest of my family has for generations so I don’t give a crap about that career building _bullshit_! Hell, I stayed here so I wouldn’t have to put up with that crap all holiday!”

“Err…” It hadn’t occurred to Ishimaru that some of the other students here might have stayed out of choice. “I’m sorry…? I didn’t meant to insult your work…” The other man was still glaring at him. What a mess, maybe he could try a conversational do-over? “Ah… maybe we’ve got off on the wrong foot? I’m Kiyo…”

“Yeah, we know who you are, Ultimate Hardass!” He snapped and rolled his eyes dismissively, “This place was so much cooler before you turned up…”

“Oh!” People recognised him? “My apologies, but I can’t say the same about you two…” Perhaps he needed to study the student roster more, to avoid awkward situations like this one.

The man just rolled his eyes again, luckily the woman with him was more forthcoming, “I’m Mari Omori, the Ultimate Actress.” she smiled apologetically. “And this is Roku Niwaki, the Ultimate Seamster, he made this dress!” She spun gracefully to show it off.

That was the name next to his own. “Ah! In that case, we’re sat next to each other!” Ishimaru gestured to the seat next to him.

“Are you serious!? No way am I sitting next to _you_!” Niwaki grabbed his own nametag and switched it with the one at the end of the table next to him, then sat down in _that_ chair. Omori did the same, keeping her place opposite her boyfriend, although she gave him another apologetic smile as she did it.

So much for socialising with other students, he’d already offended one person and the dinner hadn’t even started yet! He checked the new label next to him. It was Haruhi Hinai, he recognised the Ultimate Columnist’s name from reading the school paper. Perhaps he’d have better luck talking to her…

* * *

Mukuro entered the dining room in her normal school uniform, just before 1pm. There were several students sat around the table already, several looked as if they’d dressed up especially for the occasion. One girl was wearing a huge red ballgown and even Ishimaru’s uniform looked…. brighter than it had that morning, mostly because his boots and buttons had been polished. For someone who complained about their classmates wasting time so much, he sure did some pointless stuff in the name of looking presentable.

He was sat opposite the headmaster, discussing aspects of the school’s curriculum for the next term, at least until she walked closer to the table…

“Ah, Ikusaba-chan!” Ishimaru waved to her. “You’re place is next to mine!” He pointed to the empty chair on his left. She was sat opposite a girl in a pink tutu and white tights. The Ultimate Ballerina, presumably. She was talking to the two guys on the other side of her about rap artists. Mukuro ignored them, instead looking at the space in front of her chair. Why did it have three of each piece of cutlery on it?

Eventually another boy and girl turned up, and went to take the chairs next to the headmaster and Ishimaru, respectively. The girl was wearing a short skirt and a fuzzy Christmas jumper. The boy hadn’t bothered to wash up from the look of it, he was wearing a dirt-stained pair of jeans and brown t-shirt, and even had a twig in his hair, which Ishimaru was glaring at.

Kirigiri looked puzzled as the pair sat down. “Ah… I thought I was sitting next to Omori…”

“Huh? Me!?” The girl in the red ballgown, who was sat at the other end of the table, looked surprised. “My name was on this tag here…” She said, obviously confused as to why the headmaster would think her name had been put next to his.

Ishimaru looked completely startled at her reaction, as is he’d been expecting a different response. He started staring at the tag for the girl next to him in confusion. What did he think was so odd? Was he really that upset that the headmaster had made a mistake?

“Oh really? My mistake then!” Kirigiri said jovially, then leaned forward towards Ishimaru, quietly whispering something about sitting near “his favourite” that made the hall monitor turn bright red. Was that why Junko kept humming Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” whenever she saw them talking together? “Anyway, now that we’re all here, how’s about we start dinner!” He smiled and waved a hand towards the kitchen.

Several members of staff came out, the ones in front were holding trays of drinks and behind them were others with platters of food that they put at several positions across the table. Mukuro grabbed a pitched of water for herself off the first waiter who came past.

“Would you anyone like to share some wine?” Kirigiri asked, pointing to a bottle being held out to him by a waiter.

“Err… are any of us old enough…?” Ishimaru asked him, worriedly.

“Oh, it’s all non-alcoholic, of course!” Kirigiri laughed, “I think the school board would have something to say if I got my students drunk!”

“Ah, well in that case I wouldn’t mind trying some…” Ishimaru offered nervously.

Once drinks were all sorted, Mukuro paid attention to the food. It was rather light fare, there were fresh baked bread rolls, some salad, a couple of tureens of soup, some pâté, breaded mushrooms, smoked salmon and tempura prawns.

This was disappointing. Wasn’t Christmas dinner usually fried chicken or roast meats? She’d been looking forward to a big hearty meal, not this fancy stuff. Still, no point wasting what was available… She grabbed some of the smoked salmon and prawns from the plates in front of her before the ballerina could get them all.

“Uhh… help yourselves!” Kirigiri offered. It was at that point that Mukuro realised that everyone else had been waiting. Well, what was the point of that? Waiting around in the real world meant you got no food… It served the ballerina right if she’d wanted more smoked salmon or prawns.

Mukuro needn’t have worried though. The girl opposite her just took nothing but salad. That suited Mukuro fine, as it meant she could also fill up on the soup and pâté and bread.

Ishimaru seemed to have a similar approach, he’d started by taking a small amount of everything available, and was going back for more now his plate was empty. Mukuro followed suit, grabbing the remainder of the meatier dishes from the space between her and the ballet dancer.

“Err… you two do realise this is just the _first_ course?” Kirigiri quietly leant towards her and Ishimaru.

“Err… of course? There’s three sets of cutlery…” Ishimaru pointed out as he loaded up a slice of bread with a thick layer of pâté.

Wait, did that mean there was going to be three sets of food? Mukuro looked at the other people at the table. Aside from herself and Ishimaru, no one was really eating much. But wouldn’t that mean most of the food didn’t get eaten? What was going to happen to it afterwards? Was this sort of thing why so many trashcans in the city she’d been homeless in had perfectly good food thrown in them? What a waste…

Mukuro stopped eating after her second plate, deciding she’d wait to see what came out next. Meanwhile, Ishimaru went back for a third, oblivious to the incredulous stares from the rest of the table while he ate…

* * *

Ishimaru finished off the last bite of his pate and licked his lips. He wondered if he'd have enough room for a fourth plate before the main course...

He looked up and noticed that not only had everyone else finished eating, but the staff were even starting to take away the food. He settled for having another drink of his wine instead.

"That was all delicious! I particularly liked the pâté!" He told the headmaster. He was slightly surprised when no one else chimed in. Had they already complimented the food while he was still eating it? He hadn’t really been paying attention.

After the food was cleared away, the skater and rapper started discussing something quietly, but otherwise the table was just full of the sounds of people shuffling awkwardly. It would be nice to talk, but what could he discuss with the headmaster?

"Has anything interesting happened in the news? I've not had a chance to check recently..." Kirigiri asked. Why hadn't _he_ thought of that?

The scruffy boy and the ballerina next to the headmaster both pulled a face at the question though. It looked like he'd have to come up with something. Were there any recent events that would be interesting but not divisive...?

"Kepler found a couple of Earth-sized planets orbiting a star a few days ago..." He remembered.

"Who's Kepler?" The ballerina asked.

"It's a space telescope NASA sent to try and look for inhabitable planets like ours..." Kirigiri explained.

"Wait, so do these new planets have alien plants on them?" The muddy guy suddenly perked up.

"No, unfortunately they're too close to the star to have water on them..." Ishimaru told him.

"Typical, that one they found in habitable zone was too big, wasn't it?" Kirigiri mused.

"So? Wouldn't that just mean more space for the plants?" The boy was confused.

"Ah, no. Once planets get past a certain size they tend to be gaseous, rather than rocky..." Ishimaru explained, although the boy still looked confused. "...There wouldn't be any soil for the plants to grow on." He tried putting it in practical terms.

"They could grow aeroponically!" He suggested.

Ishimaru blinked, he hadn’t been expecting such a long word out of this guy’s mouth, let alone one he’d not heard before. “Aeroponically?” He asked.

“Yeah, in the air with water vapour over the roots…” He explained. “People think it might make mass producing food easier, but all the setups I’ve seen look ugly as all get out…” He complained. “Landscape gardening’s much nicer…”

“Hmm… Well, there _are_ some gas giants with water clouds…” Ishimaru considered the possibility.

“Yes, but then you have the issue of whether life could evolve there in the first place…” Kirigiri pointed out. That led into an interesting discussion on how life first started and whether a similar process could happen in gaseous environment rather than a liquid one.

He’d been worried that they might be going on a bit too much, as the gardener had stopped talking to them, but Omari was nodding along with the conversation so he couldn’t have been _too_ much of a bore...

The discussion was ended by the arrival of the main course, and what a main course it was! There were trays loaded up with thick slices of turkey, ham and beef, with huge jugs of thick gravy. There was cooked salmon and tuna steaks, a mass of roasted and mashed potatoes and huge colourful bowls of cooked vegetables.

“ _This_ is more like it!” Ikusaba muttered as she stabbed her fork into the nearest tray to her. She’d started before the staff had even finished putting the food down, again. This time the other students around him followed suit as well.

He looked at the headmaster, wondering if it would be ok to start himself. The man just shrugged back with a wry smile and started doling out some vegetables for himself. Ishimaru took that as permission and helped himself to some potatoes and ham… and turkey and beef and stuffing and the vegetables and were those sausages wrapped in _bacon_!?

After his second plate (it would be rude not to try the fish…) he noticed Ikusaba still had quite a lot of meat left on the trays in front of her, maybe she needed help finishing…

A fork suddenly stabbed its way through the entire stack and was lifted onto Ikusaba’s plate. Uhh… guess Ikusaba didn’t need help finishing her food then! Then again the pair on his right seemed to have stopped eating and they still had a lot of meat left as well, it would be a shame to waste it…

“Err… Are you going to eat those?” He asked them. They both shrugged and pushed their plates over to him. He loaded up his plate with more meats…

“Ah, to be a teenager again…” Kirigiri muttered, looking between himself and Ikusaba, who had reached over to the new plates for more vegetables…

* * *

Ishimaru didn't react when Mukuro stole half his newly acquired vegetables. He was too busy slavering his plate of meat with gravy to notice. She did the same with her vegetables, to the apparent disgust of the picky ballerina opposite her. All _she'd_ eaten was both of their share of the vegetables (plain) and some pieces of fish, leaving Mukuro to feast on a mountain of meat and potatoes.

Still after the vegetables she was pretty much full up... There wasn't seriously going to be a third lot of food was there?

If there was Ishimaru would probably be able to eat it all, he was still making his way through his plate with gusto, once again oblivious to everyone else’s annoyed stares at him. He even looked a little disappointed when the staff came out and took the excess vegetables away before he'd quite finished. Not that Mukuro didn't find the waste annoying either...

Once the food was cleared there was yet again another awkward silence, broken only by the couple to her left discussing their plans for the evening. Mukuro wondered if Kirigiri and Ishimaru were going to start talking about planets again. It had been kind of interesting, if a little hard to follow.

Instead, Kirigiri was just looking at her thoughtfully. Eventually he seemed to decide to say what was on his mind. "Say, Ikusaba. Fenrir are based in the Middle East, aren't they? What's your view on Iraq?"

"Uhh..." She remembered the conversation she'd had with Makoto a couple of days ago. She'd rather not repeat that. "All the troops have left, war's over... hooray?" She tried to look cheerful.

The headmaster frowned at her, surprised by her reply. Had he known what she actually thought, or did he just not agree with her statement?

"Amen to that!" The girl on Ishimaru's right agreed with her, "I was getting so sick of all the news being Iraq, Iraq, Iraq all the time!"

"Yeah, now it's all over everything will be great, right?" The ballerina chimed in.

"You don't _really_ think it'll be that easy, do you?" Ishimaru asked, incredulously. "There's still damaged infrastructure and doubts about the new political leaders and a myriad of other problems to fix like..."

"Well, yes... But we've left now. We couldn't have stayed there forever!" The woman in the ballgown told him, sadly. "It's unfortunate, but the Iraqi's will have to start solving problems without our being in the country. So there's no point _us_ worrying about it..."

"Urg, yes it's true we couldn't keep a military presence there forever. But given our role in the problems, we've a duty to help. And there are differences we can make outside of the military, such as aid or charity work for example!" Ishimaru told her, "Personally I'd start with sorting out their water infrastructure by..."

He went on for quite a while, with Kirigiri nodding along and the woman in the ballgown listening intently to him. He had some good ideas, although impossible to implement without government size assistance. The rest of the table was getting restless listening to him though, and there was a palatable sense of relief when the wait staff came back out with coffee and sweet dishes and he stared at them all in silent awe.

Mukuro tried to figure out what they were all supposed to be… There was an obvious chocolate cake, which Ishimaru was staring at intently. Then there were a few different fruit pies. She was less sure about the rest, there was a fruit pudding with white sauce on it and some small closed top pies dusted with icing sugar and then something that just looked like a bowl of cream with chocolate powder on top.

“Bon appetite!” Kirigiri said, reaching for a pot of coffee.

Mukuro blinked and one of the chocolate cakes was suddenly on Ishimaru’s plate. Mukuro decided to play it safe with an apple pie. She wondered if the picky girl across from her would actually eat dessert or just sit there…

The girl picked up the weird cream thing and started eating it. She noticed Mukuro’s surprise soon after.

“What? Have you never seen someone eat Tiramasu?”

“No.” Mukuro answered.

“Really?” The girl was surprised. “It’s Italian, sponge cake dipped in coffee with mascarpone, cream and chocolate. Italy has the best desserts!” She grinned.

“A shame you can’t say the same for its economy!” The headmaster laughed… was that a joke? If it was it fell completely flat, although that didn’t stop Ishimaru having something to say about it…

“Well, at least Berlusconi’s gone…?” He started, causing most of the table to flinch with the expectation of another discussion.

“Yes but the voters there aren’t…” Kirigiri started, then stopped and pulled out his staff ID and frowned at it. “Ah, I’m sorry! I’ve got to go, feel free to stay and enjoy the food for as long as you like… And I hope you’re all having a Merry Christmas…” He excused himself.

“And Merry Christmas to you as well, sensei!” Ishimaru saluted with a smile before the headmaster left.

Ishimaru’s smile turned into a frown soon after that though. "Hmm… It's _all_ a bit chaotic in Europe at the moment, with the economy I mean...” He mused, “Greece need help as well, and the European parliament set out some austerity measures for them to follow before giving them any relief funds, but then their Prime Minister was saying he'd let the country vote on whether they actually..."

"You know, the headmaster's gone now?" The Ultimate Ballerina suddenly interrupted.

"Yeah, dude you can quit with the Ultimate Suck-up routine now..." The gardener added.

Ishimaru glared at them both. "Just because _you_ aren't interested in what’s going on around the world, doesn't mean nobody else is!" He turned to the girl on his right. "Right Hinai-chan? You're the Ultimate Columnist after..."

"I’m a _celebrity_  columnist!" She snapped, "Like I've told my Mom a million times, I don't CARE about that boring political stuff!"

Ishimaru looked gobsmacked. "What? But it's important! These are the sorts of things that effect everyone _lives_! How can you just choose to ignore it..."

"Dumbass, we're _Ultimates_! We're set for life regardless..." The green haired guy snapped at him.

"That's not necessarily true! Not if you don't put any effort into your work!" Ishimaru insisted. "And regardless, Omori-chan was interested as well..."

"Oh, no dear... That was acting!" Omori said so sweetly it was hard to tell if she actually meant it as an insult.

"Oh! Well, in that case I..." Ishimaru's initial reaction was to be mollified by the positive sounding response, only to look confused when the meaning of the words filtered through to his brain. "Wait... W-What do you...?"

"I mean, I just didn't want to upset the Headmaster's pet right in front of him!" She said jovially. "That's probably true for everyone else here as well. But now he's gone, we'd all like it if you shut up!"

"Oh, ok then!" Ishimaru smiled back at her, falling for her expression completely as he turned back to his dessert. _Wow_ , Junko would have a field day with this girl...

His joviality didn't last though, he was just about to take a spoonful of the cake when he suddenly froze and looked around the table, trembling slightly as the reality of Omori's words sank in.

He clutched his stomach and stood up quickly. "Ex-excuse me..." He muttered and power-walked from the room.

“Is he gone?” Asked the guy sat to Mukuro’s left.

“Hah, looks like it! Nice one, babe!” The green haired guy grinned at the woman in red.

“He might just have gone to throw up all that food he scarfed…” The ballerina suggested.

“Whatever! I’m dying for a smoke!” The girl sat diagonally to her left said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and handing one to the guy opposite her. “Why’s that pain in the ass even gotta _be_ here?” She asked as she lit up.

“He couldn’t afford train tickets.” Mukuro answered, in between spoonfuls of her pie.

“Tch! Next year I’ll _buy_ him some!” The green hair guy grumbled. Mukuro didn’t bother to tell him that Ishimaru would never accept them.

“Well, at least _we’ve_ only had to put up with him for dinner…” The columnist shrugged, turning to Mukuro, “ _You’re_ in his class, right? What’s _that_ like?”

Mukuro considered it, “Noisy.” Was her answer. Especially when Oowada was around…

“…Is that all?” The columnist probed for more details.

“He’s helpful?” She added, remembering the number of times he'd helped Mokoto and Asahina with their work, and he was going to be lugging things around for her in a couple of days.

“Yeah but… doesn’t he get you all into trouble for shit?” The guy to her left asked.

“Only if you’re stupid enough to get caught breaking school rules.”

“You sayin’ I’m stupid?” He tried to get in Mukuro’s face. She shrugged and carried on eating her pie calmly. He backed off, obviously not _too_ stupid then.

Silence reigned over the table once again. Mukuro finished her pie and looked at the cake Ishimaru had left on his place, with his fork still stuck in it. She hated seeing food go to waste...

* * *

Ishimaru returned to his room and made sure the door was properly shut before letting his legs fold and sliding to the floor. His one chance to practise socialising with people outside of his class and he’d gone off on his usual screeds and bored all his fellow students to the point of hating him!

Why couldn’t they have said anything earlier? For all they knew the headmaster might have been as annoyed with him as they were!

…Was _that_ why the headmaster had left so suddenly? Had he made up an excuse to escape him? He _never_ get a place on the student council now! And even if he did, how was he supposed to represent students who hated him? How was he supposed to get _elected_ as a _politician_ if he couldn’t even have a single dinner with people without them all turning against him?

And he’d been so upset he hadn’t even though to bring back that lovely looking cake… What a waste. Why was _he_ the one feeling terrible about this!? _They’d_ been the ones being deceptive for the entire meal! It wasn’t as if there was any way for him to have known he was boring them, was there?

Maybe he should study to take his mind off things… Except he’d decided not to study today, hadn’t he?

He sat at his desk, restlessly… Still, just because he’d said he’d not study didn’t mean he couldn’t do _anything_ productive today… He should clean the room instead! That might distract him…

He was partway through dusting the top of the window frame when the doorbell rang. He dropped down to the floor to answer it. It was Ikusaba, holding the _chocolate cake_!

“Ah, Ikusaba! Hello! How can I help you?” He said, trying not to obviously stare at the cake...

“You shouldn’t waste food.” She said, reproachfully as she handed it out to him.

“Ah! Thank you!” He felt his smile coming back as he took it. “And I apologise for leaving it… and if I bored you?” He asked apologetically.

She looked at him quizzically, “ _I_ wasn’t bored… couldn’t you tell?”

“Well… no one _else_ said they were bored so…” He started to explain.

“But… they _looked_ bored, you really couldn’t tell?” She asked, disbelievingly. “Aside from Omori they were all really obvious about it…”

He hadn’t had any idea… How had Ikusaba known? “Obvious? How so?”

“Well, from their facial expression and their posture…”

“I see… And where were you taught how to notice those things?” Obviously this was something his previous school had failed to address! “Is there a book I can read that covers it?”

“It’s not something that gets _taught_ , people just usually notice it.” Ikusaba shrugged. “Anyway, enjoy your cake. Also meet me at my room at 8am on Tuesday.”

“Ah… Ok then?” He said as she headed back to her own room.

Something “People usually just notice?” So why hadn’t _he_? Perhaps this was something he’d have to pay attention to in the future.

But for now, he had a delicious chocolate cake to enjoy…

* * *

(Tuesday, 27th December 2011)

It was just before 12 by the time Ishimaru and she arrived at the mall. They had taken a shuttle from the train station, which itself was an hours walk away. At least Ishimaru wasn’t one to balk at the prospect of a long hike. It wasn’t the closest mall to Hope’s Peak, but it was the closest one with a gun range, sos he knew it well.

“So, where do you want to start?” Ishimaru asked, signalling for her to lead the way through the busy rows of shops.

“Lunch would be good. The food courts this way…” She started to head to it.

“Oh? You didn’t bring your own?” Ishimaru was surprised, but then again he often was when people weren’t as much as a cheapskate as he was.

“There’s a good gyũdon place here… It’s only 300 yen for a beef bowl!” Having worked for Fenrir meant that she could treat herself to luxuries like that so much more often than when she’d been younger.

“Well, you’re in charge today!” He shrugged, obviously thinking 300 yen was far too much to waste on one lunch when she could have taken free food from the school kitchen…

As they headed towards the food court, people seemed to be diverting away from the wall, which Mukuro thought was for no good reason at first. That was until she saw that there was a man panhandling by the entrance. Mukuro was surprised mall security hadn’t forced him out. Shop owners had always made sure to kick Junko and her out of good begging spots like that, so as not to make their customers “uncomfortable”.

Ishimaru reacted to him the way she remembered a lot of people reacting to the pair of them… or, rather, _not_ reacting. If he’d seen the man he showed no sign of it, he didn’t even turn his head as he strode onwards at the exact same speed as before. That had always pissed Junko off the most, she always hated the idea that she was invisible and wasn’t having any effect on anyone.

Mukuro hadn’t minded it as much, it was far better than the people who insulted them, called the police, made them move off their property, tried to steal from them or just outright attacked them. Of course, the ones who ignored her hadn’t been her favourite either… The ones she always liked the most were the ones who…

Mukuro stopped and started checking her wallet, noticing the man’s face had brightened. “I’ve not got any small coins…” She saw the man’s face fall. “Is a 500 yen ok?” She muttered it quietly, knowing that getting a large amount could sometimes be tantamount to drawing a bullseye on your back…

“Uhh… Yeah! Thanks…” He took the coin and hid it in his coat. “God bless you miss!”

“You’re welcome.” It wasn’t much, it might buy him a meal or two, or maybe some medicine… (Not being able to cook for yourself or sleep in warm places made life so much more expensive) But she’d always been grateful for any little help people would give…

She carried on walking, Ishimaru had stopped and was watching her… well, he _looked_ angry… but that seemed to be his default facial expression, so who knew? Once she caught up to him he carried on walking at his normal pace, as if they’d never stopped. Well at least he wasn’t accusing her of throwing away her money…

“…My father always said they’d just spend the money on alcohol or drugs…” He suddenly said. She couldn’t tell if Ishimaru meant it as a warning or an explanation.

“Some do.” Mukuro admitted, “We always spent the money on clean water, hot food or medicine. Or if we saved up enough we could go to a motel and do our laundry.”

“You… you were homeless!?” He asked, shocked. “ _How_?”

“I don’t remember why. I think was too young to understand.”

“Ah… Ok…” He went quiet again, a least until they reached the gyũdon place she’d wanted to go to. It was popular, with a line of teenagers and young men that was almost coming out of the door. That was no surprise, the smell emanating from the store was delicious. She headed into the door, followed by Ishimaru.

“You don’t have to queue with me, you could go find us a table to sit at instead.” She suggested.

“Err… actually… I just remembered Oogami told me to by myself something with some protein in…” He trailed off, eyeing the bowls being handed out hungrily.

They both bought a bowl, Ishimaru getting his money from one of five envelopes he had in the pocket of his blazer. Once they’d sat down, Ishimaru seemed to consider something and reached into his backpack for his packed lunch- a set of four rice balls. He started alternating between the two meals… Was he seriously going to eat two whole lunches? Did he have a stomach or a black hole?

Apparently he had a stomach, as he stopped eating at the same time she did, putting the two extra rice balls in the bowl with the rest of his gyũdon. “Could you excuse me for a minute?” He stood up, and headed towards the bins by the entrance.

He wasn’t seriously going to throw away food he’d just _bought_ , was he? She followed after him… but instead of heading to the bins he marched back over to the homeless man with a look of grim determination on his face (or a grim look on anyone but _him_ anyway).

“Excuse me, sir!” He started, loudly.

The poor man panicked at Ishimaru’s loud voice. Throwing his arms up and shouting “Ok, I’ll leave! Just don’t hurt me!”

“Err… I… Why would anyone hurt you?” _Ask Junko_ … “I just had some spare food and wondered if you’d want it...?” Ishimaru stammered as he awkwardly held out the bowl.

“Huh? Oh… really? Thanks, kid!” The man laughed and took the bowl, starting to dig into it. “You kinda looked like one of those righteous sorts who think begging ought to be punished…”

Ishimaru grimaced at the thought, “I… violence shouldn’t be used as a punshiment! And it’s hardly your fault if poor circumstance has led to you needing help! Ideally, I feel the government should have better resources available help people in your situation…” His tone changed to a more upbeat one “Did you know, there’s actually been studies that show it costs the taxpayer more in emergency care and legal costs to have people living on the streets, than it would to just give them somewhere to live?”

Ishimaru started on another of his political monologues, once again oblivious that the man he was speaking to was getting glazed eyes and merely nodding along out of politeness...

“Hey, Ishimaru… We’ve got to get going…” Mukuro decided to interrupt.

“Ah! Of course! My apologies, I hope your situation improves soon!” He bowed to the man and followed her as she headed to their next stop.

* * *

Well, that conversation had gone well! Hopefully he’d made the poor man’s day a little better…

“…Could you tell you were boring him?” Mukuro suddenly asked.

What? Why would she say that? “What do you mean? He wasn’t… He was nodding along with me!”

“Uhh… yeah. People do that when they’re bored…” She shrugged. “You didn’t see his eyes glazing over?”

“What do you mean… glazing over?”

“Uhh… like, becoming unfocused?” She gave a vague explanation.

… _Had_ his eyes been unfocused? In retrospect they _might_ have been but it hadn’t been obvious at the time… Or had he just not been looking for it? Was this really something people could just do? Or had she possibly forgotten that she’d learnt it from somewhere? Perhaps once she was at the gun range he could try and find a book about it, he couldn’t be the _only_ person who failed to spot these things, so someone would have written a self-help book about it, _surely_.

Ikusaba’s next destination was one of those giant chain supermarkets that sold everything. A charity had set up outside… they seemed to be raising money to help young children in Iraq and other countries affected by war.

He watched with a pang of jealousy as a young girl was given money from her parents to put in the collection jar, and received a “thank-you” and a sticker in return, causing her to smile proudly. He’d always wanted to help charities when he was younger, but of course it was yet another thing his family didn’t have the money for. His mother had always said she was proud that he wanted to, but that they really couldn't, and his father had always maintained that they couldn't afford to throw money away like that...

“The money doesn’t always end up where it’s supposed to, you know?” Ikusaba suddenly said. Was she trying to cheer him up? “An older member of Fenrir once told me they got paid with money from some big charity gig that was _supposed_ to raise money to feed the starving.”

That sounded familiar…

* * *

Ishimaru frowned and his brows furrowed… _Why_ had she told him that? She’d meant to make him feel better about not being able to donate anything, but in retrospect it was a terrible thing to say, he’d be so upset at the thought of that money causing violence!

Or at least she thought he would… Instead he just asked her a question, as if trying to remember something for a test. “Was this in Ethopia, by any chance?”

“Uhh… maybe? I think Fenrir were in Africa at the time…”

“That was probably Live Aid then…” He nodded and started to walk inside the store.

“You mean you know about it? And you still think charity work’s important?” Surely if there was _any_ chance money would be misused like that you wouldn’t want to give it away, right?

“That was a… particularly _bad_ example, although it highlighted some of the pitfalls of aid organisation.” Ishimaru grimaced, “Ideally that amount of money would have been handled by a government organisation, with the power to dictate how the money was spent… but because it was a charity event that wasn’t the case, and the aid workers ended up converting it at higher rates than they should have, which gave the Ethiopian government money to fund the civil war that was going on at the time…”

He carried on, talking about food being used to lure people to camps that were then forcibly relocated to the other side of the country, and non-profits turning a blind eye to the number of civilians dying on the way because otherwise they might not be able to distribute food… All said in a tone of voice of someone recounting details for a history test. Junko really hadn’t been kidding when she’d said Ishimaru was hard to freak out!

Mukuro wondered if Junko knew about this herself, it was the type of story she’d _love_ to tell people right after they’d donated money to a charity…

* * *

“Of course, it wasn’t that the money didn’t do any good… just that it might have done just as much harm…” Ishimaru carried with his explanation as they walked through the many aisles. Trying to read Ikusaba’s expression at the same time as not getting his facts mixed up was difficult.

Wait… Her eyes had just unfocused! _Ahah!_ “I’m sorry! I’m boring you! I’ll stop now!” He smiled to himself… He _could_ tell people’s expressions! He just had to pay attention!

“Huh…? No I wasn’t bored… I just thought Junko might find this interesting… You can carry on.”

Wait… _What!?_ Unfocused eyes could mean _different things_!? So how was he supposed to know which was which?

“…I think I’d just about finished, actually…” This was impossible! Ikusaba must just… have it as part of her talent or something! He’d definitely be able to find a self-help book on something _this_ complicated!

“Hmm, oh… Ok then!” Ikusaba said…disappointedly? Maybe? He was starting to doubt himself. “Ah! Here’s what I need!” She turned right into one of the aisles. It seemed to contain gun supplies. _Urg._

He understood _why_ the Ultimate soldier was allowed to have guns in a school environment, but it didn’t mean he was happy with it. He could only take solace in the fact that Ikusaba was a sensible gun owner at least, and hope that living outside of a military environment would encourage her to solve problems through dialogue instead…

At least Ikusaba wasn’t buying an actual guns here… She was lifting two secure gun cabinets off of their stands and loading up a basket full of ammunition he _hoped_ was just going to be used for training purposes…

“I need you to carry one of these…” She pointed at one of the cabinets. “I brought some rope so we can tie them over our backs.”

It worked… just about. It made moving a little slower, but was equivalent to wearing a heavy rucksack.

“Well… this is all I needed from here.” Ikusaba told him. “Did you want anything while we’re here?”

 “I might go see what they’ve got on clearance…” He’d somehow noticed the aisle marked as such while talking to Ikusaba.

He had a look up and down the aisle. The first thing he spotted was a pack of “thank you” cards, marked down to 37 yen because one of the six had been stolen… Makoto really _was_ the Ultimate lucky student! He could take the 37 yen from _his_ gift and then give the five of them all a proper thank you instead of just having to post pieces of paper. Wonderful!

As well as that were some waterproof watches… good enough for swimming and down to… 700 yen? He could combine the remainder of Oogami’s present with Asahina’s to buy it, and then use it when taking the swimmer up on her offer to give him lessons… Perfect!

That left 1000 yen each from Chihiro and Naegi, and 500 from Kyoko. That should be _more_ than enough for a self-help book… What _else_ could he buy?

He grinned, his father had been right! Going shopping really was putting him in a good mood! He’d _really_ have to thank his classmates for this next year!

“I think I’m done here now as well! Shall we go pay?” He told Ikusaba once he returned to the end of the aisle where she’d stayed with the cabinets.

They headed up to the counter, where he helped Ikusaba lift the cabinets high enough to be scanned, and they both received odd glances when they lifted them onto their backs to allow them to walk. Then he put his own items down and fished out the exact change for them.

“Big spender, huh?” The cashier muttered.

“Hahaha! I’m amazed how cheap the watch is!” Ishimaru admitted, “I thought proper waterproof ones would be much more…”

“Well… guess that’s the joy of foreign sweatshops…” The man mused.

“Ngh! Err… Yes…” He forced out a reply as he handed over the money… He did, of course, _know_ that most items like that were made in poor conditions for the workers… but actually being told the specific one he was buying still stung…

Suddenly shopping didn’t seem as fun anymore. Should he have combined the different presents and got one that he could be sure was made without exploiting people? But then his classmates might be put out…

“Are you managing that alright?” Ikusaba asked him, he realised he’d been walking slowly and fallen behind her.

“My apologies… I was just thinking!” He sped up to meet her.

“About the sweatshops? That bothers you?” She asked, perceptively.

“Err… Yes.” He admitted, “I’m wondering if I should have paid more for one that was made in better conditions…”

“Hmm… Would one watch really make that much difference though?” Ikusaba asked, “If you hadn’t bought it, someone else like you would have…”

“I… I guess not… I suppose it’s a case of trying to reduce the poor-rich divide so that everyone has a reasonable lifestyle…” Of course, that was _far_ easier said than done… “I’ll have to wait until I get into politics before I can even _start_ trying to make a difference in this regard.” He sighed.

And until then he was probably going to feel bad about wearing this watch…

* * *

Ishimaru put the new watch in his backpack with an annoyed expression. Mukuro didn’t see the big deal, there were worse places to be than a sweatshop, and at least _they_ had food and shelter. But Ishimaru seemed to want to fix problems for everyone on the planet, and though his becoming a politician would be the key to it all. No wonder he was so driven towards it.

Mukuro wondered if it would actually work though, a lot of his plans needed people to be as good and selfless as _he_ was. And people weren’t like that, at least not many of the ones she and Junko had met...

She didn’t say so though. Instead she just led him towards the gun range.

As they headed towards the range, Ishimaru’s head twisted at lightning speed as they passed some fancy looking chocolate store. “Ooh! That’s the shop Togami gets his chocolates from!”

He was talking about the chocolates Togami gave as birthday presents, wasn’t he? Mukuro wondered if they were any good, Junko had taken her box…

“I can use Kyoko’s money there!” Ishimaru continued with glee. “Err…I mean once you’re at the gun range…” He added, embarrassed at his outburst.

Mukuro checked the time, “I’m not booked in for a while, you’ve probably got enough time.”

“Really!? Thanks!” He beamed, took the cabinet off his back and power-walked into the shop. He had a quick glance around at ones filled with various flavours, but his eyes soon settled on the plain blocks of chocolates. He stood completely still for a while, comparing them, his face gradually going from its happy expression to its normal hardened glare as he looked over the prices, probably wanting to make the most of Kirigiri’s money.

She looked at the other customers in the shop, there was a woman scanning the flavoured sections as if looking for something in particular, a young couple holding hands and occasionally picking up boxes to compare what was in there. Finally there was a man letting his two small children pick some chocolates for themselves… Lucky brats. They probably had absolutely no idea how lucky they were… having parents who could afford to take them to an upscale chocolatiers for sweet snacks instead of having to spend the day begging or raiding dumpsters just to fill their bellies for the night…

The little girl had even got bored and wandered off from her father, messing around with the lower displays near to where Ishimaru was standing… At least until he bent down to pick up a box near her… then she screamed and ran back to her father, crying about “the scary man trying to hit me”, much to the hall monitors shock.

“Hey, what the hell is your problem?” The man rounded on Ishimaru.

“I… All I said was that she shouldn’t be making a mess for others to tidy up…” He stammered.

And that combined with his angry face and sudden arm movement had made the girl think he was going to hit her…

“Bullshit! You tried to _hit_ her!”

“What!? NO! I was just picking up this!” He shouted as he waved the box.

The man didn’t seem to believe him, but luckily for Ishimaru the store associates were springing into action. One was cheering the girl up with a tray of free samples while the other separated Ishimaru from the man, leading him up to the counter to pay for his box and then walking him back out of the store once he’d done so.

“Children these days seem to over-react to everything…” He griped as he put the cabinet back on his shoulders, obviously embarrassed by the commotion he’d caused and the way he’d been politely kicked out of the store.

“You did look pretty scary though…” Mukuro shrugged.

“What? What do mean, _scary_?” He asked.

“You were scowling.” She pointed out.

“I… I was not! I’d just been considering the prices of the chocolates…”

“Whilst scowling.” Mukuro pointed out. “It’s kind of your default facial pose.”

His face twisted between three different expressions as he considered her words, but finally slumped into defeat. “Is… Is it really that bad?” He asked with a sigh.

“Yes.” Mukuro was never one to sugar coat words.

“Well… Thank you for telling me. I guess it’s another thing for me to work on… Maybe I can buy something to help with that while you’re at the range?” He mused and they headed to the gun shop in silence, once there Ishimaru dropped off his cabinet in a safe place next to hers and power-walked off with a mission.

Mukuro had her own mission, of course. She headed to the desk. “I have some test rifles booked under the name Ikusaba" She told the man working there. “Here’s my ID.”

“Uhh… yeah…” He looked suspiciously at her as he checked her ID, obviously not expecting her tiny frame to have been the one to book out fifteen different high-end semi-automatics. Still, she knew from experience that he’d soon stop with that look once she’d actually fired one of them…

He eventually led her over to the range, where her guns had been brought out on display for her. She picked up the first one and looked over it.

“Do you need showing how…?”

Mukuro inserted the cartridge, took aim and squeezed the trigger… the bullets line up neatly in the centre of the target.

“…to load thaaaaa….” The clerks patronising question trailed off. She ignored him.

“This one’s a maybe…” She muttered to herself.

“Why only a maybe!?” The clerk asked in shock… “That gun worked perfectly for you!”

“It took too long to load…” She put it to one side and took the next gun down…

* * *

Ishimaru headed into a large bookshop (although it also sold DVDs?), nervously trying to find a self-help section while irrationally hoping no one would see him. What did he have to feel ashamed of? He’d realised a personal flaw (or two) and had come into here to help correct it. There was nothing to be ashamed of in that! He’d just have to be honest about it if anyone asked, so they could give him useful advice… that was always the best way to deal with one’s faults!

He found the correct section and looked over the selection of books and DVDs. A lot of it was to do with organisation (maybe Makoto should come in here) and how to succeed in the workplace. That was't much help. There were some books offering advice on on how to pick up women (core strength exercises, presumably… But why only women? That would be applicable to all sorts of heavy lifting, surely?)

They seemed to be recommending something called "the secret" which seemed to suggest you could make happy thigs happen just by imagining happy things (that sounded like a cheap excuse not to work to Ishimaru).

He was about to give up when his eye caught a DVD, it was entitled "adorable reactions montage" and appeared to contain images of people reacting to artwork... Hmm, maybe that was what he needed. He could study a variety of facial poses and maybe seeing nice things would help him relax his face so he didn’t look as scary?... It was just under 1000 yen, it would be a good present from Chihiro…

"Hey, you need any help?" A store associate had come up to him while he was looking.

"Ah! No I think I've found what I needed, thank you! Unless you have anything better than this for studying people's reactions?"

"Uhh... No,  we've not got anything better for... studying people's reactions..."

"Very well, I'll purchase this one!" Ishimaru smiled. "It should help me stop scaring or boring everyone I talk to..."

The clerk took him up to the counter and rang him up, and he started to leave the store, only for his foot to hit something near the doors. Looking down, he saw it was a wallet.

No one else was around, so he had a quick check to see if there were any contact details for the owner so he could return it. Luckily for him, the driver's license showed a picture of the very man who'd just served him! How fortunate, it would only take a minute to return it...

He approached the sales counter, where the man he'd spoken to was talking to another employee.

"Hey, did you see that weirdo I was helping just now?" Tch! How unprofessional! Insulting a customer like that!

"You mean that one who was glaring at everything? Did he lecture you about the sex stuff?"

"Haha no, this was even weirder!" The clerk who'd served him laughed. "Someone misshelved one of those DVDs where people react to artwork, and he thought it was meant for studying how to read people's reactions..."

Wait, they were talking about _him_?

"What? Seriously? Why would anyone need to study how people react?" The second man at the counter asked.

"Apparently so he can stop scaring and boring everyone he speaks to..." The man he'd spoken to snickered.

"Bwahahaha! Seriously!?" The second man at the counter laughed. "Who the heck needs self help stuff to _talk_ to people!? Why not just, I dunno, _not scowl like an angry lunatic at everything_?"

He was _trying_ to! That’s why he bought the DVD!

"I know, right?" The man who'd served him laughed. "Anyway can I help yoooooooou..." Guilty panic filled his eyes as he turned away from his colleague and recognised Ishimaru.

“…You dropped your wallet.” Ishimaru struggled to keep the annoyance out of his voice as he held out the wallet.

“Uhhh… thanks.” The man cautiously took it from him, refusing to look him in the eye.

“Also, it’s unprofessional to discuss your shop’s customers in such a manner!” He tried to scold them both, although they just remained looking at the counter top. A part of him wished he could give them detention, but he realised the need to accept criticism, as galling as it was in this instance. “I _will_ however, take your advice regarding... reducing the amount that I scowl… thank you!”

He turned and quickly left the shop, trying not to let his embarrassment show. _They’d_ been the ones caught badmouthing a customer, so why was _he_ the one feeling so foolish?

…Because _he’d_ been the one who’d spent 1000 yen on a DVD no normal person would ever need and that probably wasn’t even going to help him anyway?

So much for getting himself in the Christmas spirit, everything he’d spent money on had ended up making him feel awkward and terrible. He’d used Oogami’s money to bore a homeless man, Asahina’s to buy a watch that was going to make him feel exploitative, Kyoko’s to frighten a small girl and Chihiro’s to convince a pair of shop clerks that he was a weirdo… which he probably was…

And he still had Naegi’s money to spend… Hah! He’d probably be better off throwing it away!

… Would that charity still be there?

* * *

Mukuro lined up her shot and squeezed the trigger gently. This gun had a slight recoil, but it was easy to compensate for and most of the bullets hit the centre of the target… She could definitely work with this. It got put in the “maybe” pile. She picked up the next one and started loading it.

“Damn! What gun are _you_ using!?” A man came up to her and looked impressed at her target board. “I gotta get me one of _those!_ If a little thing like you can fire it straight, then it’s gotta be better than this piece of shit I’m using!” He waved a pistol in front of her.

Her eyes narrowed involuntarily and she grabbed the pistol, looking over it. It was well made, perhaps a little too powerful for a short range place like this, but a perfectly workable pistol if you were prepared for the kickback… She looked the man dead in the eye and emptied the gun’s chamber to her side, knowing she hit the centre of the target with every shot.

“Uhh…” He was speechless.

“Don’t blame your tools for your lack of skill.” She said, handing his pistol back. “And leave me alone, I’m trying to pick which of these I’m going to buy.”

She tried a couple more rifles, both going into the “no” pile, before she felt the presence of someone to her side. Not _another_ interruption… “What do you… _Ishimaru_?”

“Hello, Ikusaba-chan! I’ve finished my shopping!” The prefect stood ramrod straight, making no mention of the pair of colourful stickers on his uniform or even the one stuck directly _on his forehead._

“…You gave some money to that charity then?”

“Yes!” He smiled brightly. “Apparently the stickers help with advertising the good cause… especially if they’re stuck somewhere silly…”

He looked ridiculous though… “Are you sure they weren’t just making fun of you?” She asked him.

“Ah, no… I actually asked them that… They said they were just trying to cheer me up…” His cheeks were turning red, just a little. “And maybe I won’t look as scary like this, Hahaha!” He laughed.

Mukuro didn’t have the heart to point out that he’d probably still look scary if he scowled. He’d just look _crazy_ as well as angry… “So… you're not worried about it being spent of the wrong things?”

“Actually… I spoke to them about that… They’re a relatively small charity so they don’t have too many admin costs, and they do most of their work in person in the countries they visit so there’s less chance of money being diverted!” He said, crossing his arms and looking pleased with himself. “Of course, I realise donating to a small charity won’t do much in the long term, it’s more a case of doing what little I can to help… I hope once I go into politics I’ll be able to convince us to get involved as a whole country and solve some of the root causes of the problems, such as the country's water supplies…”

Off he went again, he spoke in depth about his future plans and all the bright ideas he’d put into practise once he made it as a politician- and didn’t even stop when Mukuro started testing the last few guns, gave them back to the staff and they were on their way back to the shuttles.

Still, he _did_ seem to have a lot of reasonable sounding ideas… And looking at the determination burning in his eyes, it felt as though he had an answer for every problem imaginable. Maybe he  _would_   be able to fix everything once he was a politician?

(“ _Just don’t ask him for advice on getting people to like you!_ ”) Junko’s words rang through her mind. Why had her sister said that? Was it because it was the one thing Ishimaru wouldn’t have an answer to? That seemed impossible though, surely someone planning to go into politics would have an idea of how to make people _like_ them? They’d be unelectable otherwise…

Could it be that her sister really _was_ scared of the possibility of Makoto taking Mukuro away?

Poor Junko! Of course Mukuro would never abandon her! And once she asked Ishimaru for advice, she’d be able to show her sister that she really did understand and care for her!

“Ishimaru, can I ask you something?” She interrupted his speech.

“Of course, what is it?” He asked

“Well… You want to be a politician, don’t you?” She confirmed, “In order to put your ideas into practise?”

“Well, yes…”

“So… Given most people don’t really like you at first… How are you going to get enough people to like you enough to get elected?”

“I…” His steps froze, his face fell. The determination that had filled his eyes dilated away and he stared an in despair at empty space in front of him. “…I don’t know.” He finally admitted, before continuing the walk to the shuttle, much slower now.

 _Why_ did she think she could ignore Junko’s advice? Junko was _always_ right! And now she’d just gone and made Ishimaru miserable again. She should just leave him alone now. _He’d_ be better off that way at least…

* * *

(Friday, 30th December 2011)

Ishimaru stood in front of the phone and checked his watch. It was 7:56: Four minutes until…

…Until the time when he would _usually_ be able to contact his father!

He slammed his hand into his forehead. He’d been so desperate for advice he’d forgot they weren’t going to be able to chat today.

He’d spent the last two days pondering Mukuro’s question, his mind coming up blank. He’d even studied the reactions DVD, trying to commit the subtle differences to memory and hoping that recalling the charming images would help soften his features… but he had no idea if it was helping at all and he had no one to ask about it either.

Ikusaba had been too busy training and setting up her new cabinets to spar or study with him (or possibly had realised he was full of hot air after he completely failed to answer her basic question) and he hadn’t seen the headmaster since Christmas dinner.

Oh well… back to the library to study and work on his school life, like his father might have advised him to. Maybe. He walked away from the phones, only to be stopped in his tracks by the sound of one ringing… Maybe his father had found a chance to contact him after all! He ran (he’d give himself a detention later) back to pick it up before it hung up…

“Good eveni….!” He started.

“Makoto? Is that you!?” A woman’s voice frantically asked into the receiver.

“Err…” His heart sank, _not_ _his father_ … “Y-you mean Naegi? I’m afraid he’s gone home for the holidays, ma’am…” Ishimaru told her.

There was silence on the phone. The woman had sounded worried, was it something urgent that needed dealing with?

“I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, from his class.” He introduced himself, “I’m afraid I don’t have his phone number… but I could give you his email addre…”

“…I’m an idiot.” She suddenly said.

“I beg your pardon?”

The woman on the phone laughed. “I’m so sorry! I’m his _mother_! It’s so busy here I suddenly saw the time, wondered why Makoto hadn’t rung me yet and tried the phone he usually rings from without thinking!”

“Hahaha! No worries, Naegi-san! I’ve just done something similar myself!” He tried to reassure her. Then realised this would be a chance to thank Naegi for his Christmas present. “Ah, would you be able to….”

“Oh, no! The _chicken_!” Naegi’s mother suddenly shouted, before the line went quiet.

Of course, they all must be busy… He should just hang up and let them get on…

“Uhh… Hello? Who _is_ this?” Came a sceptical sounding voice.

“Naegi-kun!” Ishimaru exclaimed with a smile at the sound of his classmate’s voice. “Good evening! And thank you for my Christmas present!”

“ _Ishimaru_? Oh, _that_ makes sense! All Mom told me was that you were “the nice guy” from my class!” Naegi laughed.

“…You’re mother thought I’m _nice_?” Someone normal had _liked_ him? And Naegi seemed to agree with her… Had… had the DVD actually _worked_!? Did it mean he might have a hope of becoming a politician after all!?

“What was that?” Naegi asked.

“Ah… nothing!” He didn’t want Naegi to know about his problem… What if he laughed like those men in the shop had? “What were you saying?”

“Oh, well I didn’t realise you had my phone number! So I was wondering who in my class she’d think was nice… Or if she’d got me confused with Komaru when she threw the phone at me…”

“Err… I _don’t_ have your number actually… You mother tried to contact you here at school out of habit, I think…” Although if Naegi was thinking she’d confused him with his _sister_ … “Is she… ok?” He asked.

“Oh, geez, _really_? Sorry about that, she’s just super busy tonight because we’ve got _all_ my Aunts and Uncles and their families round for dinner.” Naegi apologised. “OH! You’re supposed to be ringing your father, aren’t you!? I’ll hang up so you can…”

“NO! WAIT!” Ishimaru suddenly yelled into the phone, far louder than he’d meant to.

“Uhh…” Naegi was understandably shocked at the outburst.

“Err… I mean, you don’t _have_ to stay on the phone, I expect you’re busy…” Ishimaru backpedalled. “But my father’s shifts have changed this week so I can’t ring him this holidays…So I’m free to talk at the moment, if you want?” He offered, cringing at how awkward and desperate he sounded.

“What? You can’t speak to him _at all_?” Naegi sounded shocked. “…Ishimaru, are _you_ ok?” He asked, suddenly concerned after a moment’s silence.

“What!? Of course I am! I’ve just been studying for the last three days!” He responded, his voice coming out strained and louder than he’d meant it to be. “So I’m perfectly fine!”

“But aren’t you lonely? This is your first holiday alone isn’t it?”

“I…” Naegi’s words made him flinch, but… “W-why would _I_ be lonely? It’s not like I’m at home by myself like my father…”

“But… you’re just at _school_ by yourself…” Naegi pointed out gently. “And won’t your father talk to people at work? It sounds like you’ve not even got that…”

… _Was_ he lonely? Had he missing his father as well as worrying about him…? Or even just missing having people to talk to each day…? Friendly people who actually wanted to listen, and not just because he’d been giving them money? How ridiculous of him… He’d never worried about it before…

“Hey, Ishimaru? I’ve gotta go soon…” Naegi sounded apologetic, “But let me give you the other’s phone numbers so you can…”

“Ah! No… that’s not necessary! I’m fine, it’s only another week and I wouldn’t want to impose on anyone!” After all, he could just distract himself with studying, no need to bother his classmates!

“Uhh… Well, can I give you mine and Aoi’s at least? I need help with one of the science questions and she’s having trouble with her math homework…”

“Oh, really? Well in that case of _course_ I’d be happy to help!” Far happier than he should have been, really… He couldn’t stop himself smiling as he wrote down the numbers in his notebook and said his goodbyes.

* * *

(Saturday, 31st December 2011)

“I’m _soooo_ glad I’m not alone on New Year’s Eve!” Junko was happily telling which Z-lister _this_ show was hosted by. Mukuro knew Junko didn’t care about whether she was alone or not, but lots of people did and Junko loved bringing them despair…

The doorbell rang… Ishimaru again? He’d kept trying to talk to her the last few days. He was too foolish to realise Mukuro was trying to keep him away on purpose, for his own good. Or maybe just too stubborn to let her do that.

She opened it, she’d learnt that he’d just keep trying the doorbell if she didn’t do that at least.

“Good Evening, Ikusaba! I wondered if you want to spend New Year’s together.” He stated, probably unaware of the whole “kiss at midnight” convention.

“No.” Mukuro started to close the door, as she had done the last day or two…

“One more thing!” He thrust out his arm, which was holding his notebook. “I have some of the phone numbers for out classmates, I wondered if you wanted them… I realise you might not want to talk to _me_ but the others…”

Take their phone numbers? So she could pull them into despair with her awful conversations? “No, thank you.” She shut the door, and went back to listen to Junko. She really couldn’t do anything without Junko…

* * *

(Friday, 5th January 2012)

“Good evening and Happy New Year, Father!” A week later, Ishimaru started the phone call cheerfully, if a little quickly due to his nerves… He really hoped his father would have been OK over the holiday…

“Ah! Kiyotaka! Good to hear you!” His father laughed in reply, “These last two weeks at work have been terrible…”

Oh no… “Did you get lonely as well?” He asked.

“ _What!? Lonely?_ I _wish_ I’d had time to feel lonely! I’ve been swamped with work!” His father complained, “Really, the number of people getting drunk in public could have filled the station alone, even without families getting together and having arguments…”

Ah… His father had just been busy… It sounded like he’d hardly had any time to miss Ishimaru at all… That was good! He’d hate for his father to have been unhappy because of _him_ , after all!

“What about you? _Please_ don’t tell me you’ve spent two weeks moping about not being able to see me!”

“Ah, no… I mean, it was difficult to get used to the quiet at first… But then several of my classmates needed help with homework so I’ve have a few conversations between studying! They’re all even calling me by my first name now! Plus there was a dinner party with the headmaster on Christmas day!” He told his father the highlights of his holiday.

“Well, that sounds fancy! The superintendent just bought us all some fried chicken…” His father mused, “Still, it was proper KFC chicken! And someone brought in mochi on New Year’s… It’s almost worth me taking these same shifts _next_ year!”

“Ah… Even if I come to visit?”

“Visit? Why would you? It sounds like you’ve had a great two weeks! And it’ll have only been a few months since I see you over the summer…”

“Err… I guess… And I’ll see you in March for the spring holiday!”

“…Well if you think it’s worth the money to travel…” His father didn’t sound sure. “I do think you should consider taking advantage of the school facilities a bit more though…”

“Oh! Well… I’ll consider it!” He promised, although he couldn’t imagine another two weeks of quiet like these ones had been…

“Good lad! I’ve got to head off now! I hope you do great things this year!”

“Ah, yes! You to, Father! Speak to you next we…” He trailed off when he realised the line had gone dead.

He sighed at the sudden silence again. Still, it was just one more night before everyone returned. Then he’d have Makoto to tutor, Swimming with Aoi, Sparring with Sakura and book discussion with Kyoko. Not to mention his decision to give Oowada more of a chance this year…

He had a feeling this year would be noisy…

* * *

(Saturday, 6th January 2012)

“And did you see that loser I had to talk to on Christmas Eve? Where do they find these people?” Junko was back, and talking about how her work had gone.

“Reality TV?” Mukuro guessed, just as Junko suggested it herself. She really was the only one who understood her sister…

“So, what did you do? Just play with your guns for two weeks?” Junko asked her “You have it _soooo_ much easier than me!”

“I went shopping with Ishimaru as well.” Although that didn’t exactly disprove Junko’s point.

“Oooh! You actually did that?” Junko perked up, “Did he look sad, seeing all the stuff he couldn’t afford?”

“Actually he had…” Mukuro started, but stopped when she heard a distinct pattern of footsteps.

“Ikusaba!” Makoto was shouting to her. She turned to face him, he was walking towards her waving a colourful card in his hand, and a slightly smug smile. “I found something! There _are_ people helping in Iraq!” He opened the card and held it out to her. Inside was a charity sticker next to neatly written message:

“Dear Naegi! Thank you very much for my Christmas present! I’m afraid I couldn’t think of anything to buy for myself, so I gave it to a charity. With 1000 yen they should be able to buy some books to help displaced children in Iraq! (And they gave me this sticker as well!) I don’t get to feel generous very often, but I enjoyed it immensely! So thank you for giving me the opportunity! Happy New Year! Regards, Ishimaru.”

“Bleah! You mean to say he _finally_ had some money to spend on himself for once and he _gave it away_?” Junko scowled. “That’s so stupid I think I’m gonna puke!”

“Hey! Wanting to help others isn’t stupid!” Makoto scowled back at her.

“Well, it is if he really thinks 1000 yen is gonna make any difference whatsoever!” Junko rolled her eyes. “What’s one set of books compared to all the destruction that happened over the last 8 years?”

“I…” Makoto looked downwards, and Mukuro could see the beginnings of despair creeping into his eyes. “You’re right… It’s nowhere near enough…” He muttered.

Junko grinned, but only a little. Mukuro knew Junko probably thought this was too easy…

“I’m going to tell _Togami_ about this!” Makoto’s head snapped back up and a bright light seemed to shine from him. “And maybe Celestia… And there’s a Princess in the school as well, isn’t there?” He grinned, “ _They’ll_ be able to help a _ton!_ I’m gonna go find them now! See you later Ikusaba!” He walked off, head held high… a tower of hope in Junko’s territory of despair…

“Tch!” Junko scowled, although Mukuro knew it was partly put on. “How… _despairingly_ hopeful! You know I’m starting to think this school might actually live up to its name… Upupupupu!”

Mukuro knew why she was laughing. Yes, the school lived up to its name… At least, it would until Junko was finished with it…

She couldn’t help but wonder, though, if her sister was underestimating the school… or at least, one lucky boy. No wonder he’d caught Mukuro’s attention…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Next up is Hifumi!
> 
> (And maybe I'll manage to write a chapter that's got a lower word count than the preceding one...)


	5. The Masterpiece (Hifumi Yamada)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to this character analysis, which was a great help in writing this chapter.: http://kamukuranon.tumblr.com/post/57577654072/understanding-hifumi-yamada-a-lot-of-quotes-and 
> 
> Also dear freaking gods this chapter is long and kinda self- indulgent and I'm sorry for that!
> 
> Also sorry if you turned up during the brief time when this chapter wasn't formatted correctly. It should be fixed now.

(Sunday, December 25th 2011)

The great Hifumi Yamada, he with a mandate from the gods themselves, was about to use his Ultimate talent to reach out, and inspire a lost, wayward soul!

“Hifumi and I made you this!” His sister was telling their cousin, Yotismu.

Indeed! This was a case so dire, that it required not only the great talents of Hifumi Yamada, but also the help of his wondrous sister, Fujiko! However, with their powers combined, even this poor soul will be saved from the clutches of the dark, conglomerate web that he’s found himself tangled in…

“Aww… You guys are still making these cute little comics?” Yotismu laughed.

‘Cute little comics’? Did he think this was some simple children’s story? No! This… Was an intervention! A warning for the man to escape the soul-sucking clutches of the gilded prison he’d carelessly found himself in…

“Well! Go on… Read it!” Fujiko encouraged him.

“Is… Is this supposed to be the VentureAce execs?" He asked, "Why have you drawn them as evil wizards?"

"Technically they're a group of psychic vampires, who feed off the life force of humans." Hifumi explained. "The idea first originated in..."

" _What!?_ My bosses don't feed off human life!" Yotismu snapped, "I'm lucky VentureAce gave me this opportunity and they're paying me a fantastic salary as well..."

Oh well… so much for that idea! He hadn't really been expecting it to work, he'd only helped draw the story at Fujiko's request because he hadn't had any ideas for presents himself. Their older cousin had always been so full of imagination and fun ideas, but then he'd got a job working in VentureAce's marketing department, and the long hours of producing exact graphics under other people's direction people seemed to have drained him of it. And the worst thing was he hadn't even noticed it happening, it was such a waste...

"...You guys should consider getting corporate sponsorship! You'd be able to make better comics with some real finance behind you!"

_How dare he!?_ What did he think corporate meddling would add to his work!? "What do you mean _better_ comics!? What's wrong with my publications!?"

"Well... They're kinda messy... Like here for example!" He pointed to the spine of the doujin they'd given him, "See how the pages aren't lined up and the staples are crooked? If you had corporate sponsorship this would be done perfectly by machine instead of you having to assemble everything by hand!"

What!? Who cared about staples when it was the artwork inside that people were meant to read!

Still... That was the kind of thing most people would notice when choosing what to read. Everyone always _said_ not to judge books by their covers, but they always _did_ , regardless. Maybe he ought to find a way to make his work more... professional looking if he wanted to reach a bigger audience...

It was something to consider as he opened the rest of his Christmas cards and put them with the pile of presents, which included a new drawing tablet and several diet and exercise books that his mother had been nagging him to start following.

"Hey, you've got another card from school left!" Fujiko handed him a plain white envelope with his name on it.

Odd... He thought he just had the three? He opened the envelope and pulled out the contents...

"Happy Birthday, Yamada-kun!" Read the plain white paper booklet contained within.

"AAAHHH! Oh no! I wasn't supposed to open this yet! I'm going to be in trouble..."

"Oh, that was a birthday card? Oops! Sorry!" Fujiko laughed, "But why would you be in trouble?"

"I wasn't supposed to open it until the "day of my birthday"! Ishimaru-dono was very specific about that!"

"Well, just don't _tell_ him then." Yotismu shrugged.

"I wouldn't _need_ to tell him! He'll _know!_ His Ultimate Moral Compass gives him the ability to detect wrongdoing!"

"Urg... That's even more ridiculous than you believing that charlatan fortune teller..."

"Well, how would _you_ explain his world-renowned ability for appearing out of nowhere whenever a student is misbehaving?" Perhaps _this_ would encourage their cousin to use that imagination of his again!

"Walking around looking for trouble, an information network...?" Yotismu started listing off boring possibilities.

"An ‘Ultimate Moral Compass’ sounds more exciting though!" Fujiko insisted.

"Well... His grandfather was that corrupt Prime Minister, wasn't he? Maybe he's paying people to cause trouble at specific times so he can "catch" them and make himself look good? That exciting enough for you?"

"Oooh, a conspiracy theory!" Fujiko perked up, "The supposedly honourable civil leader secretly engaging in twisted publicity stunts to keep his popularity...but what happens when his web of lies starts to crumble...?"

"Hmm! An interesting take on his character! Although I'm pretty sure the school wouldn't call him the Ultimate Moral Compass if it was true..." Hifumi mused, "It seems more like the evil version of him I designed when I annoyed at him one day..."

"Oooh! Let's see!" Fujiko asked.

He dug out his sketch book and flipped backwards through it...

"Who's that girl you keep drawing... Did you decide to make an original character?" Fujiko asked.

As if he could design such wondrous perfection! "Uhh... No, that's Lady Celestia, from my class!"

"...does she _know_ you're drawing all these pictures of her?" Yotismu asked, as if he'd been _stalking_ her or something!

"She's been _requesting_ that I draw her!" Which was true... Although he left out the part where she also insisted that he make her several cups of tea to drink while he sketched.

"She must be getting to like you quite a lot then!" Fujiko suggested.

" _WHAT!?_ Why would you think she'd like _me?_ "

"Well, she looked a lot happier in the later sketches..."

"…I must just be getting better at sketching her!" There was no way she'd really _like_ him... That sort of cliche only happened in his doujins... "Anyway! Here's the sketch I was talking about!" He finally found 'The mastermind' next to a blank page he didn't remember leaving.

"Wow, no wonder you're scared of him!" Fujiko gasped, "That smile's _creepy!_ "

"I get the flaming eye... But why you'd make his eyebrows so big?" Yotismu asked,

"Uhh... That's actually what his eyebrows look like! And he doesn't really smile like that..." Hifumi showed them the picture of the class on Fujisaki's Christmas card. "... But this _evil_ version of him, on the other hand..."

He started to sketch out Yotismu's idea on the blank page, showing the black and white ‘hall monitor’ valiantly rescuing someone from being mugged, only to then hand money to the mugger in a secluded alleyway.

"Ooh! I wanna draw something to!" Fujiko got out her own pencils. "What would he do when someone starts catching on to him?"

"Oh, uhh..." Yotismu looked a little surprised to be asked. "I guess he might... Try to bribe them over dinner? Or poison them and steal the evidence?"

"Like this?" Fujiko drew "Ishimaru" talking to someone over a delicious looking dinner, then a picture of him looking through some papers while a group of men carried unconscious form of the other man out of the room.

"Haha! Yes!"

"Hmm... Yes that works! Not that the real one would be able to afford either of those though..." Hifumi pointed out.

"Is that why his card's handmade?" Fujiko asked.

"Yes... Although it's not a card, it's birthday vouchers!" He took them out of the envelope to show her, might as well go the whole way now he'd opened them already...

Fujiko looked through them. "What's a 'personal favour' mean?" She asked as she handed them back.

"It seems to be anything... He spent a whole day waiting on Lady Celestia while dressed as a butler..."

"Is that what you'll have him do?" Yotismu asked.

"Hmm... No." He didn't want to give the hall monitor another chance to impress her Ladyship with how good he looked as a butler...

"Well, what _will_ you do with it?"

"Hmm..." He looked at the vouchers, noticing how perfectly Ishimaru had lined up the pages and aligned the symmetrical staples... "I might have an idea..."

 

 

* * *

(Saturday 7th January 2012)

Ishimaru was walking to the kitchen for... What had been his excuse _this_ time? A snack? It couldn't have been more tea, he'd used that one twice already and the second pot was still mostly full...

He _should_ have been sat at his desk, making absolutely sure he was prepared for the next term of classes that were beginning in just two days. But every time he'd tried he'd been unable to focus, instead finding himself looking at the door and wondering if any of his class had come home yet...

...Come back to _school_ yet, even! _Honestly!_ He was acting the same way he did as a _child_ , excitedly waiting for his father to come home from work... Right down to finding excuses to wait by the door, which was probably why he was taking such a ridiculously long time to choose whether he wanted an apple or a banana.

He sighed, no one was here yet... They probably wouldn't arrive until after lunchtime, would they? This morning was going to be completely unproduct...

"Oh, hey Kitotaka!"

"Ah! Aoi! Good morning!" He turned around at the sound of the swimmer, who was struggling to hold several bags and a pile of letters at the same time. "Ah! Let me help you with those!" He rushed over to take some of the bags from her.

"Hehe, thanks! I had more post than I expected..." She laughed embarrassedly. "I didn't check before Christmas and it turns out I'd got a ton of cards..."

"Ah, it's no problem!" Ishimaru shouldered the bags and headed off with her to her room. "How was your holiday?"

"Oh... The usual. The family came to visit, we all played games, ate too much food... Although I had a ton of races with my brother to make up for it!" She laughed.

"That sounds nice! I probably haven't been active enough this week..." Especially not after all that wonderful food on Christmas... "Ah! Speaking of which... You offered to help me with swimming..."

"Oh, yeah! Do you want to!?" She asked excitedly, "How are Monday mornings for you?"

"Well, I could get up a bit earlier and swap out my usual exercises..."

"Awesome! And then we eat breakfast together!" She smiled, "We can be swimming buddies!"

"Buddies?" She wanted to be _friends?_

"Yeah... We'd motivate each other to do better and share exercise tips and stuff? That's how it always was back in my old school." She frowned, an unusual sight on her. "To be honest it's been really hard to get used to training here, there's no sports clubs, everyone just does their own thing by themselves... Aside from Sakura, but she kinda makes waves in the pool so it's hard to train with her..."

_Ah..._ So she just wanted a teammate... "Well, if it helps you train, then we shall be 'swimming buddies'!" He promised, as they reached her room.

"Hehe, great! I'll see you on Monday then!" She said, as he put her bags down.

"Yes! Have a good weekend!" He told her before heading into his room to study.

…

Studying was easier after that. At least until the doorbell rang...

"Ah, Chihiro! Good morning!"

"Umm, it's afternoon now..." The programmer corrected him. "But anyway... Why did you give me a thank you card, but not Mondo?" Chihiro was frowning up at him.

"Because he didn't get me a present... And you shouldn't have lied about it!" Ishimaru told him.

"Ah!" Chihiro frown turned into a look of shocked embarrassment. "How did you know?"

"He left a note saying as much." Ishimaru stated. "And even if he hadn't and I had given him a thank you card, did you really think he would have accepted it?"

"I don't know..." Chihiro sighed, "I just thought it might help you two stop butting heads over everything..."

Was their behaviour really upsetting him that much? "Well... If it's any consolation, his honesty did cause me to resolve to stop being quite so... hasty while judging him in future."

" _Really!?_ " Chihiro perked up. "Good! You'll see he's not as bad once you get to know him! See you in class Monday!" He waved and walked away.

But afternoon already? This would be a good time stop for lunch. He headed out to the kitchen, ate his usual toast and banana and began to head back to his room, only to spot Yamada heading towards him.

“Ah! Greetings, Ishimaru-dono!” Yamada walked up to him in a cheerful mood. “I opened your birthday present! On the day itself, of course! Not a single day early!”

“Oh, err… Good afternoon, Yamada-kun!” He bowed. It hadn’t occurred to him that Yamada might open his present early if he wanted… He’d just wanted to make sure he didn’t end up using the holidays as an excuse to either forget it entirely or give it to him late. He was hoping his classmates would give _him_ the same consideration…

“So… you want to get involved in the great work of Hifumi Yamada early, do you!? Before my great rise to fame?” He chuckled and handed Ishimaru a piece of paper, a quick glance revealed that it was the favour voucher he’d given Yamada before Christmas. “A smart move! And one that I wholeheartedly encourage! And your timing couldn’t be better, with the art exhibition next Sunday!”

What was Yamada asking him for, exactly? Help with the art exhibition?

“You, my dear fellow, will assemble a _masterpiece_ that I will show at the art exhibition!”

_WHAT!?_ _Him_ create something? A masterpiece even? But he was appalling at art! “Err… what kind of masterpiece?” He asked, although he didn’t think it would matter what it was… unless perhaps it was writing poetry or a play?

“Well, a doujin, of course! What else!?” Yamada laughed. “Come to our homeroom classroom next Saturday at 9am, and your fine workmanship shall be judged!”

_Next Saturday!?_ That meant he had less than a _week!_ _He couldn’t draw!_ And he didn’t even read any mangas, how was he supposed to draw a fan comic of one?

“Ah… I don’t think I’ll be good enough to…” Ishimaru started to apologise.

“Nonsense! I have complete faith in your ability! I know there’s nothing your Effort Drive can’t overcome!” _…His what now?_ “Ah! Lady Celestia! You have returned to us!” Yamada ran off to greet Celestia, who was just passing the dining room door.

What was he going to _do?_ Yamada seemed so insistent that this be his favour… Perhaps he was right and he _could_ do it, if he tried hard enough? But where to start? He had no idea what he’d wanted to draw.

Then again, Yamada often talked about having been inspired by that… Pudgy… Something, Something, Princess…or something? Maybe the library would have a copy?

* * *

“Ah! Lady Celestia! You have returned to us!” And what a return it was, her hair was shining radiantly under the fluorescent lights as she gracefully carried her dainty luggage through the halls.

"Ah, Hifumi. Good to see you." She smiled.

" _It is!?_ "

"Yes. I had been expecting some helpful gentleman to offer to carry my bag, but there hasn't been a single one so far..."

A gentleman? Could she ever think of _him_ like that? "...Can I carry that for you?"

"Oh, why thank you Hifumi!" She smiled radiantly at him and handed over the bag. It wasn't even that heavy, and it wasn't as if her room was far away... She unlocked it and waved to the spot she wanted it put in.

"Hmm... Now I'm thirsty... if only a kindly gentleman would offer me something to drink..."

"Ah... Would you like a cup of tea? Your usual?"

"Why, that would be _wonderful!_ Thank you, Hifumi!" She smiled again.

"I'll be right back!" He dashed off to the kitchen, slowing down temporarily when he spotted a slightly dazed-looking Ishimaru heading to the nearby stairs. Then he started rummaging through the kitchen for the items he needed for Celestia's tea.

"Wow, man. Celestia's got you making her tea _already?_ " It was Hagakure, who was looking slightly harried from his trip. "She's only been here five minutes..."

He decided to ignore the snipe against her Ladyship. "Greetings, Hagakure-dono! How was your holiday? Did you have any interesting predictions?" He asked, the fortune teller always gave him some great ideas from his predictions...

"Oh, uh... Yeah! I, uhh... I _did_ have some predictions." Hagakure answered in an unusually hesitant manner. "Actually I kinda had one about you..."

Oh, ho! A prediction about himself? What would it be? The details of his ushering in of a new age of doujins? A fantastical adventure starring himself...? "Ooh! Do tell!"

"You, uhh..." Hagakure scratched at the back of his head. "You _reeeally_ ought to listen to your mother about the whole _exercise_ thing..."

"Oh? Will me exercising lead to some fantastical adventure!? Or some coincidental good fortune that helps me usher in the new age of doujins..."

"No... it's uhh... It's more that if you start exercising _now_ you might actually _live_ _long enough_ to usher in that new age of doujins."

_What!?_ What did Hagakure _mean?_ His health wasn't _that_ bad... _Was it!?_

"It's not even gotta be that much exercise! Just half an hour each day would help!" Hagakure continued. "...Can you at least _consider_ it? Lots of people like your stuff! And you've got loads of ideas, right? It'd be a shame if you don't get to make most of them..."

"Uhh... Ok then..."

" _Awesome!_ Glad to hear it, man!" Hagakure slapped him on the shoulder and walked off.

Not be able to make his works? Disappoint all his fans...?

No... _No it couldn't be!_ He was Hifumi Yamada! He with a mandate from the _gods!_ He wouldn't just… _die_ before it got done, would he? And besides, Hagakure was wrong 70% of the time! He'd be _fine!_

* * *

Ishimaru almost keeled over with shock as he entered the library. He hadn’t been expecting to see anyone here today… Let alone _Oowada,_ and certainly not Oowada checking out a stack of books! As much as he should be checking the manga section, Ishimaru’s curiosity got the better of him and he went over to see what he was taking out…

“Good morning, Oowada-kun! And a Happy New Year!” He said as he approached.

Oowada jumped and hastily shoved all the books into a bag. “What the fuck are you doing here!?”

What was he hiding? Were there some inappropriate books in the library? Maybe he should demand Oowada show him…

Wait, _no!_ He’d made a resolution not to unfairly judge the biker. There might be many number of perfectly reasonable reasons for him not to want to show his reading materials to people… it could be that they were below the average reading level for their age and he was embarrassed or something…

“I came to read… it’s what one usually does in a library!”

“Yeah, but who the fuck gets back to school and instantly goes ta the library instead of unpacking?”

_Other than him?_ “I’ve been in the school for the last two weeks, I had no need to unpack.”

“What? You seriously ended up stayin’?”

“Err!” Of course, half of his classmates didn’t know… “It turned out my father was booked on most of the shifts over the holidays so there was no reason for me to go back…”

“What? No friends ya coulda hung out with? I ain’t even _got_ parents but I went back for my gang…”

_If only…_ “I… I have better things to do than engage in meaningless socialisation!”

_“Meaningless?”_ Oowada growled, bringing his hand up in a fist. “You think my gang’s _MEANINGLESS!?_ ”

Ishimaru flinched and brought his hands up to protect his face. He’d just said it out of habit… His defensive lie to hide the fact that he’d never been able to _make_ friends despite his attempts. But of course to Oowada, whose Ultimate talent involved having an entire _gang_ of friends following him, it was an insult to everything he stood for…

“I…” He tried to think of a way to apologise, but nothing came out… He closed his eyes, this was going to _hurt_ , wasn’t it?

But it didn’t, nothing happened. He opened his eyes again, Oowada was still glaring but his fist had lowered.

“Tch!” Oowada spat. “You’re lucky Chi think’s I should be _nice_ to you, asshole…” He muttered and stalked out of the library.

Ishimaru steadied himself on a nearby table. It seemed like he had more than just his Christmas present to thank the programmer for… But first he needed to get on with Yamada’s favour…

…

After a short while, he managed to find the manga section that Yamada had encouraged the library to stock, and looked for one with the female character whose face was on a lot of Yamada's possessions. Ah... It was called Demon Angel, Pretty Pudgy Princess, with a star in the middle. Odd name.

It was an odd series as well. He couldn't really understand Yamada's obsession with it. The main character was too... _cutesy_ to take seriously.

Still, perhaps he needed to read the whole series to understand the appeal?

Several hours later, he was no closer to understanding how anyone would be inspired by this trite nonsense, let alone how he was supposed to draw a _masterpiece_ based on it! And to make things worse, he was starting to get hungry- it was a couple of hours after he'd usually eat.

He checked the pile of books he'd taken from the shelf. He only had a few left, maybe he could check them out and read them over dinner, they might have been the ones Yamada was inspired by. And if he got them all finished tonight, he'd be able to spend tomorrow drawing the masterpiece...

* * *

Hifumi headed into the dining room, having spent the afternoon helping Celestia sort her room out, and then sorting his own. He'd been hoping her Ladyship would be around, and interested in modelling for him. But alas, the only person he recognised was Ishimaru, who was sat at a table eating while diligently reading... _Demon Angel * Pretty Pudgy Princess!?_

How could this be? Had Ishimaru read absolutely everything else in the library, and resorted to manga as a last resort? He'd always insisted that would be the only situation in which he would even _touch_ the wonderful (albeit, small) collection he'd encouraged the library to stock... This required investigation!

"Greeting, Ishimaru-dono!"

Ishimaru flinched guiltily at the sound of his voice... He'd better not have got food on the pages! "Oh, uh... Good evening, Yamada-kun." He replied nervously. "Can I help you?"

"I'm just curious as to what's caused your change of heart?" He nodded at the book, which Ishimaru had covered with his arm. "You usually say manga's a waste of time, which is _wrong_ of course..."

Ishimaru gave him the same look you'd give to a deranged idiot, but seemed to choose not to repeat the argument they'd had several times on the subject. "Err... Well. You always say this... series _inspires_ you, and I needed some inspiration..."

Ishimaru needed inspiration!? He'd always assumed their boisterous hall monitor was a self-sustaining loop of the stuff. But still, this obviously wasn't going to work... "But... inspiration come from different sources for different people... I don't think you'd be the type to find it from _moe_..."

"So... I should read something different then?"

"Yes... Read enough different things and you'll find something in tune with your feelings and want to create more of it!" No wait, Ishimaru wasn't the creative type... "Or at least that's how it works for me!"

"Ah! I see! Thank you very much, Yamada!" Ishimaru put the book down away from his food. "If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do!" He bowed and carried on eating, ignoring the book for now.

How he could have possibly stopped at _that_ point was something Hifumi couldn't understand, but he paid it no mind, as Lady Celestia had gracefully entered the room and was looking at the pair of them curiously. Perhaps this would be a good chance to practise being gentlemanly again, she'd seemed to like that earlier...

"Ah, Lady Celestia! Would you like a cup of tea?" He asked, ignoring the loud tutting from Ishimaru behind him. His obsession with making Celestia "do things for herself" was another argument they'd eventually agreed to disagree on.

"Oh! That would be splendid, thank you!" She smiled. "And if you want, I'll model for you while I drink it..."

"Ah, that would be wonderful! Thank you!" He quickly (but not so quickly as to get scolded by Ishimaru or ruin the tea) made Celestia her tea and returned, opening his sketchbook to a fresh page and sat opposite her. She smiled and he started sketching.

He'd missed this... getting to look at Celestia in detail, noticing the way the light reflected off her fringe, as it curved into her smooth porcelain skin... the way her eyes shone and the curl of her lips as she smiled softly at him... Sketching out the striking cut of her chin as it merged into the intricate lace ribbons she painstakingly tied around her neck daily...

He'd never be able to translate her perfection into a simple 2D drawing... But he'd spend forever trying if it meant getting to sit with her in comfortable silence while he did it.

"Hey, Hifumi! How're you doing?" Hagakure asked from behind him. It would appear that fate had decreed that this evening was not going to be one of comfortable silence. "Did you manage that half-hour of exercise?"

What? He'd only mentioned it this morning! "Well... I sorted out my bedroom... That took several hours!"

"Oh, uhh... That's fair I guess." Hagakure muttered, "But maybe do some _proper_ exercise tomorrow... Like on the treadmill, _ok?_ " He patted Hifumi's shoulder and headed off to the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Celestia asked, unusually bluntly.

"Oh... Hagakure's being melodramatic! He says he had a prediction that I need to exercise for 30 minutes a day or I'll die before I get to draw all my works..." He shook his head and rolled his eyes at her.

"And you're _ok_ with that!?" She asked, a thin frown pursing her lips. "What about your dream of reaching a mainstream audience? Would you be ok dying before you get the chance to do so?"

"Uhh... Well... He's only right 30% of the time! It's not like it will actually _happen!_ "

"But it _could_ do... You're betting your _dream_ that Hagakure is wrong... In the hopes of gaining 30 minutes a day..." She said, with a frightening seriousness. "Are you _really_ OK with that?"

"Well... When you put it like _that._.." He could probably spare 30 minutes a day...

* * *

(Sunday, 8th January 2012)

Ishimaru headed into the library, a man on a mission! He needed to read every manga series in the library!

Of course, he wouldn't manage to read _every_ book in _every_ series in one day, but luckily he'd spent some time last night working out a strategy! He'd start by reading a single book in each series, then he'd read another book of the ones that caught his attention. Then he'd narrow it down to 2 or 3 and read the entirety of those series.

He started his work, it even took less time than he'd expected. Mostly because there was hardly anything he was interested in. A lot of it was cutesy stuff or romantic stories that didn't interest him at all. He ended up skipping step 2 entirely.

There were a few good ones though, he ended up focusing on Bleach- a long series about a man who accidentally ended up in the role of a sword-wielding Shinigami, Full Metal Alchemist- a story of two brothers who sacrificed their bodies in a misguided attempt to resurrect their mother, and Ace Attorney, a series focusing on a defence lawyer who always managed to save his innocent clients from a seemingly forgone guilty verdict.

He started reading more of Bleach, only to quickly get annoyed when he realised every conflict in the series was going to be solved by two characters stabbing each other to figure out whose sword was more powerful. Full Metal Alchemist was much better though, he'd been gripped by that until the end... but it didn't feel like it needed anything else once he'd got there. Ace Attorney was better, he'd enjoyed all the stories but it hadn't had a final ending at all. He stood up, inspired. It was decided! His masterpiece would be a fan work of Ace Attorney! Now he'd just need to...

To...

How exactly _did_ you draw a doujin?

* * *

Hifumi quietly opened the door to the gym, breathing a sigh of relief when it was empty. The last thing he wanted was to get caught exercising and laughed at...

Still the room was deserted now, he'd be able to get on a treadmill for half an hour and then he'd have done his new chore for the day. He stood on the closest one and looked at the control unit. It had a display with various charts and numbers, and was awash with various cryptic buttons... but there was one button that was green with a power symbol on it, he'd just hit that one!

_AAHH!_ That was _fast!_ He'd barely managed not to fall flat on his face when it first started. Still, at least he was managing... he just had to run like this for 30 minutes, right!?

After a while his lungs were burning, his legs ached, his vision was starting to blur... He must nearly be done by now, _right?_ He checked the time... He'd only done _three minutes!?_ How was he supposed to do _thirty!?_

Maybe he _had_ done thirty and he was warping time so it just _seemed_ like he'd only done three... That must be it! It must be a gift of power bestowed upon him by the gods!

But the hands on the clock were moving at a normal speed... And now the door was opening at a normal speed, and Ishimaru was heading towards him at a normal speed...

What did _he_ want? He seemed to be trying to ask something, but Hifumi couldn't hear over the noise of his feet pounding on the treadmill and the blood thumping in his head... Couldn't Ishimaru tell he was trying to _exercise!?_ He could barely _breathe_ , let alone _talk!_

Suddenly a scowl passed over the hall monitors face and he reached over to the console and somehow caused the treadmill to stop dead. Hifumi would have run into the console, if Ishimaru hadn't thrown his arms out to catch him. Instead his legs just gave out and he buckled to the floor, gasping heavily as he tried to force air back into his lungs, while Ishimaru crouched by him in a panic.

"Yamada! _Yamada-kun!?_ Are you having a heart attack?" _Was he?_ How did you know if you _were?_ "Please _don't_ , I'm not trained to use the defibrillators!"

Eventually his heart stopped pounding in his chest and he managed to catch his breath.

"Are you alright now?" Asked a less panicked Ishimaru.

"I... I _think_ so..."

"You're not having a heart attack then?"

"Hah... _No_..."

"Well then, you should consider yourself _very_ lucky!" Ishimaru stood up quickly and shouted. "What were you _thinking_ , running that fast on the treadmill!? And without putting on the cut-off strap!" Ishimaru shook a piece of string with a red plastic thing on it at him. "You're lucky you didn't trip, or pass out! Have you even been _trained_ to use these!?"

"Isn't faster better...? And you need training... For a _treadmill?_ " He asked, gradually pulling himself off the floor.

"YES, you need training! Gym equipment can be dangerous if misused! And it’s not 'better' to run so fast you risk passing out! You should be able to hold a conversation while exercising!" Ishimaru snapped, before suddenly looking thoughtful. "Err... I had something I wanted to ask you about, perhaps I could exercise with you and we can talk, to make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard? Once you've recovered, of course!"

Well... At least Ishimaru wasn't _laughing_ at him... "Ok."

Ishimaru showed him how to set the speed and gradient on the console, although he remained very vague when Hifumi asked what most of the other buttons actually did, saying they were all too complicated to need to worry about. Then he started them off at a slow 'warm-up' speed and gradually increased it over the course of a few minutes.

"Err... So..." Ishimaru started once he was jogging and Hifumi was speed-walking. "I wanted to know... How do you actually _make_ doujins?"

An interesting question, and not one he'd expected to hear from the hall-monitor. Why had he suddenly taken such an interest in manga and doujins? Was he curious as to what _his_ role in the process was going to be?

He started to explain the process, starting with drawing on a digital tablet, onto clean up and dialogue placement... Then onto a lecture about printing methods and...

"Err... But what if you'd don't have all that computer equipment?" Ishimaru asked. "What do people do then?"

"Oh... _Well_ if you're talking about _traditional_ methods..." He told Ishimaru all about the old methods, with various bottles of ink and brushes and markers and nibs and...

"You really need all of _that?_ What would you have done if you hadn't liked drawing once you'd bought it all?" Ishimaru interrupted again.

"Oh... Well, I didn't start out with all of that! I used to just have a pencil and paper and some ink pens... I'd have to plan out the panels on a separate piece of paper to make sure I left enough room for the words, then draw the pictures in pencil and once I was happy with that I'd trace over them in pen..."

"Ah, I see... And by ink pens, do you mean biros?" Ishimaru asked, "Like the ones the school gives out?"

" _What!?_ No! That would be _terrible!_ I mean a set with plastic tips and variable sizes for details..." Ishimaru was just looking at him blankly. "I have an old set in my bag, if you want them?"

"Ah! Yes, thank you!" Ishimaru smiled. "And we've done half an hour now... Time to slow down and stretch!"

What! _Already!?_ That had hardly seemed like any time at all! That settled it! He _must_ be a time warper!

* * *

Ishimaru returned to his room with Hifumi's pens, as well as some plain paper and pencils from the school store. Now he had everything he needed! Drawing materials, the knowledge to use them and a manga he was a fan of! Now all he needed to do was sit down, nose to the grindstone and draw...

_...Something_.

Well, a story, obviously! A new case for the great Phoenix Wright! One where the lawyer would defend someone who'd been accused of... of...

He had no idea, did he? How on Earth was he supposed to make a case as good as the ones in the manga had been? He'd read a lot of mystery novels with Kyoko, but he'd never had any ideas for one himself.

Perhaps Phoenix Wright was the wrong manga to try and make fan art of... Edgeworth's ruffly suit would have been hard to draw anyway! Perhaps he could write something for Bleach, instead! An issue where the characters stopped stabbing each other stupidly and actually tried talking to each other because... because...

He couldn't think of anything that would be in character for that either...

Well... Maybe something from Full Metal Alchemist!

...Except if had ended so nicely he didn't really want to change anything about it...

He stared at the blank paper in despair... What was he going to do? He'd spent the whole _day_ reading and was no better for it! Now he only had five school days left and he didn't have a clue where to even _start!_

Well... Panicking wouldn't help... Maybe he'd think better after a good night's sleep. He set his alarm half an hour early so he'd be up in time to meet up with his new ‘swimming buddy’ and fell into an uneasy sleep.

(Monday, 9th January 2012)

"Ok... So you need to keep your stomach flat, and straighten your legs a little more while you're swimming." Aoi pointed out to him over breakfast. "Oh! And you need to practise breathing!"

"Err... I don't breathe properly?" How could you fail to _breathe!?_

"I mean the way you twist your head to take a breath... You don't do that very well..."

"Oh! I see... Was there anything else I wasn't doing correctly?"

"Not that I could see today..." She shrugged, taking a bite of her donut.

"Well, thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to work on it next time!" He told her, and carried on eating his breakfast. He wasn't enjoying it much though, for some reason he felt as if he'd forgotten something, but he was pretty sure he had all the right textbooks for today, and nothing was out of place otherwise, all their classmates were behaving as they usually would on a school morning... Chihiro, Oowada and Kuwata were chatting together, likely because Maizono was returning late due to a concert... Naegi and Kirigiri were sharing some tea... Yamada had just walking in with some diet coke...

_Oh gods, Yamada!_ The _doujin!_ He _still_ didn't have any ideas!

"Hey, are you alright? You've gone really pale..." Aoi asked him as his stomach lurched in panic. "More than usual, even."

"Err... I just remembered something I'm supposed to be doing..." He muttered distractedly as he tried to think of an idea...

"Oh! Do you need to go now? Or is it something I can help with?"

"Err... No it's... I said I'd do something, but I don't think I'll actually be _able_ to..." He admitted, realising his mind was still blank.

"Well, what is it you're trying to do? Maybe I can help?" Aoi asked, ever the helpful soul.

"Ngh! I'd rather not... It's embarrassing..." He hardly wanted everyone to know he was trying to 'assemble a masterpiece', half the class would have a field day watching him struggle...

"Well... What if I keep it a secret?" She smiled, "For my new swimming buddy!"

Well, Aoi probably wouldn't make fun of him, and he needed the help... "I'm trying to create a fan comic for the art exhibition, but I don't know any mangas that I can think of ideas for..."

"You can _draw?_ " Aoi asked, startled.

"Err... No, not really..."

"Haha! You know you don't _personally_ have to take part in _every_ school activity, right?" She laughed. "I don't really read manga myself... I know a few though, what sort of stories do you like?"

"Err, well..." He considered the idea, aside from Kyoko’s recommended mysteries, which he knew he wouldn't be able to write, the only ones he'd ever heard were the bedtimes stories his mother had told him... "I like stories with swordsmen in them..."

"Have you read Bleach? My brother likes that one..."

"Err, yes... I didn't like how much fighting there was in it though..."

"You... Want a story with swordsmen... Who don't fight?" Asahina looked quizzical, "I don't think that actually happens..."

"What!? Of course it happens! Have you ever seen Sakura solve a dispute by hitting someone? Except when they attack first, I mean..." She'd punched that swordsman who attacked her, hadn't she? "It would be so easy for her, but she never does... That's the sort the thing I'd like to read..."

"Umm, ok... But I don't think there are any mangas like that... At least not ones I've read..." She shrugged. "Are there any mangas you're a fan of?"

"A couple... But I don't have any ideas for them." He sighed.

"Well... Maybe you could ask Yamada how he gets his ideas? He draws a ton of stuff..."

"Hmm... That might be my best chance. Thank you."

But Yamada was nowhere to be seen, and classes were about to start, perhaps he could try and talk to him afterwards...

* * *

Classes were finally over for the day, not that he had problems with school, he remembered things easily and so was a reasonable student, but his classes were so _dull_ , aside from the art based ones. But at least now he could go and get some drawing done, he had a few different ideas he wanted to sketch and...

"Err... Yamada-kun? May I speak to you for a moment?" This was unusual... Ishimaru rarely needed to talk to him...

"What is it, Ishimaru-dono?"

"Well... If you're intending to exercise every day... I wondered if you'd want to accompany me on my rounds? It would be about the same distance as you did on the treadmill yesterday and more interesting..."

Urg... He _really_ wanted to go draw... But he did need to do it at _some_ point, and Ishimaru looked incredibly anxious for him to say yes...

"Very well, I shall accompany you! With my time warping powers, your hall monitor duties will be done in the blink of an eye!"

"Err... Wonderful?" Ishimaru stammered, before leading them on a slow walk through the school halls to the front of the building, where they picked up speed as they headed outside.

"You're patrolling _outside_ the school?" Wasn't Ishimaru supposed to monitors the _halls?_

"Yes... Several students have started coming outside to engage in activities that are counter to the school rules, in an effort to avoid me! So I started patrolling outside in order to catch them." He stated as they marched along. "I think it's working though! I didn't find _anyone_ breaking rules in the last week before the holidays! People are _finally_ starting to engage in productive activities instead of wanton rule breaking! It's much _better_ for them!" He smiled broadly. It was amazing how much he _cared_ about this...

"Err... However, I had a question I wanted to ask." Ishimaru's eyes were shifting nervously. "How do you get ideas for your doujins?"

Hmm... _Another_ unusual question from the hall monitor. Then again he wasn't the most imaginative of people, perhaps he was trying to come up with ideas to encourage his fellow students to engage more with the school and was having problems...

But how to answer? He always just had ideas, presumably bestowed on him by fate...

"Yamada? Are we going too fast?"

"No, I was thinking how to answer... I usually have ideas from my dreams... After the first time I saw Princess Piggles I dreamt of her, and drew those dreams..."

"Oh..." He looked disappointed. "...what do you think you'd have done if you hadn't seen Princes Piggles?"

"Well... I might have found something else to inspire me, I suppose..." Although he couldn't think of anything he'd seen so far that would stand a chance... "Or perhaps I'd have made my own series... It's actually something I hope to do! Share my feelings with the world and inspire a new generation of creators!"

"You mean that's _allowed!?_ " Ishimaru exclaimed, a shocked expressed on his face.

"Of... Of _course_ it's allowed!" Where did he think _any_ fictional work came from, if not someone's imagination?

"Oh... Well _that_..." Ishimaru started saying something, but then stopped and frowned... Was _this_ his Ultimate Moral Compass activating?

"Excuse me... I can hear someone, I just want to go check they're not causing trouble." He walked towards some bushes on his right, with Hifumi following close behind.

Stood in a small gap between some trees was Oowada and a boy and girl Hifumi didn't recognise, all holding lit cigarettes.

"Are you three _smoking!?_ " Ishimaru asked. "Even you Oowada!? Since when do _you_ smoke?"

"Oh goddammit..." The biker muttered, "Since I was ten." He answered Ishimaru's question.

" _TEN!?_ That's several years under the minimum age! And why is it that I've never caught you?"

"What, like I'm gonna get a pack out in front of _you!?_ " Oowada asked sarcastically. "I made sure I worked out your schedule so I could avoid you, only now you've gone and _changed_ it!"

"What... No I haven't changed my..." Ishiamru stammered, looking confused.

"Well you're later than usual today..." Oowada griped.

So _that's_ what had happened! "Haha! You have fallen afoul of the time warping abilities of Hifumi Yamada!" He told the gangster.

"What's he talking about?" The girl asked.

"Fatass means he slowed the dork down..." Oowada grumbled, explaining his new ability in somewhat crude terms to the girl.

"Wait... It's not just you... You've _all_ learnt my schedule..." Ishimaru finally realised, "That's why I haven't caught any smokers for _weeks_..."

"Of course we have, ya dumbass! What did you _think_ had happened?" Oowada laughed.

"... I thought maybe you'd all had the sense to quit..." Ishimaru admitted, his face a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.

The two students Hifumi didn't know laughed, but Oowada just scowled and took another drag of his cigarette. "It ain't that easy... do you think we all just smoke ta look cool and annoy you, or something?" He asked Ishimaru.

"Well... Err..." Ishimaru paused. "I guess my giving detentions to you all is having no effect! How's _this?_ I will let you out of detention if you go to the school nurse for advice on quitting smoking within the next week!"

"How long does that take?" The boy asked.

"About ten-fifteen minutes..." Oowada answered.

"Oh hell's yeah! Sign me up!" The other two students replied. "We'll go right now!" They wandered off, still smoking though. Hifumi suspected Ishimaru's new anti-smoking campaign wasn't going to have much effect, other than reducing the number of detentions he gave out.

He didn't seem to have noticed though, he was just staring at Oowada. "How did you know that?"

"Know what?"

"How long the anti-smoking talk takes?"

"Urg... Hagakure started running his mouth about how I was gonna get lung cancer if I didn't quit, so now Chi keeps nagging me to..." So he wasn't the only person Hagakure had decided to scare with threats of an early death?

"Well _good!_ " Ishimaru snapped. "It's a _terrible_ habit! Why would you willingly spend money on something that will kill you!?"

"That's none of your business... Just shut up and gimme my detention..." Oowada muttered.

"Err... You wouldn't rather go to the nurse?"

"I just _said_ I've been already, dumbass! And I don't need any fuckin' _pity_ from you!" Oowada snapped. "Just do your job and gimme the slip already..."

Ishimaru was strangely quiet while writing the slip, and for the rest of the walk... And annoyingly his new time warper abilities seemed to make the remaining 15 minutes drag on forever...

* * *

Ishimaru returned to his room after dinner, still wondering if he shouldn't have... _bent_ the school rules like that. It _did_ make sense to encourage students to get help for their smoking problems rather than just keep giving them useless detentions on the odd occasions they failed to hide it from him, but if Oowada's reaction was anything to go by it might just come across as patronising. But there was a still a chance they might listen to the advice if bribed into going, maybe...

Urg... Life really _would_ be easier if he could just _hit_ people to get them to do what he wanted, or if he was clever and social enough to convince them through _words_. He often felt he'd been born with the wrong skills... a politician who was bad at talking was about as useful as a swordsman who couldn't draw his sword...

... A swordsman who couldn't draw his sword... That might make for an interesting _idea_... But why would he not be able to? Some curse maybe? He could call it "The Cursed Swordsman"!

Wait, maybe that was a little too generic... Perhaps he should come up with a name for the character and that could be the title... With "The Cursed Swordsman" as a subtitle...

What would his main character even be like? Or _look_ like? It would have to be something easy to draw... Maybe he could cheat and make him look like himself, so he'd have a reference... But he could be wearing a red scarf, like a hero would... Perhaps also wrapped around his arm, like his own armband? Ooh! He could make it so the scarf was wrapped around his arm, then his neck, then his sword, so if he tried to draw it, it would strangle him! That could be how the curse worked!

He have to change his name though or it'd be too obvious he'd based the character on himself! Perhaps he could change the season in his name to spring and his surname to include a curse...

After a while he settled on 'Kunoharu Noroiwa', and decided the curse would probably be a family thing, caused by his grandfather, and he'd be on a mission to collect seven mystical artefacts from the people who'd been wronged the most by said grandfather in order to break it... That sort of thing came up in a lot of stories... And he could talk about how he'd have to make words his sword and determination his armour or something...

He yawned, curfew time already!? Good thing he'd done all his homework before eating! (Not that it was due in yet, but no reason to fall behind...). At least now he had an idea... He could figure out the rest of the story and panel placement tomorrow and then have about three and a half evenings to draw it... That should be _plenty_ of time, if Yamada's drawing speed was anything to go by...

* * *

(Tuesday, 10th January 2012)

Hifumi stumbled into the dining room for his morning coke... His legs were aching! He'd read so many mangas where an unfit slob trained to become stronger over a short series of panels... Why didn't any of _them_ ever show the guy stumbling around because his muscles could barely move? Why couldn't _he_ have just had a montage and suddenly be much fitter and healthier?

He eventually managed to get his coke and collapse into the nearest chair with a heavy thud.

"Hey... You ok, man?" It happened to be a chair at the table Hagakure was sat at.

"My legs feel like they've been run over by a Gundam unit..."

"Wait, so you've actually been walking? That's great man!" Hagakure said far too happily for his taste. "Uhh... But maybe you should try something else today? Like weights or something so you can sit down?"

"What sort of weights? And what do I actually do with them?" He didn't want to nearly kill himself like with the treadmill.

"Uhh... I dunno... Maybe ask Mondo? He's been helping Chihiro lift weights! At least that's what Leon says..."

Oowada and Fujisaki lifting weights together? That seemed unlikely... Maybe Kuwata had been speaking euphemistically and Hagakure had misunderstood in some comical fashion, he was the type of character who'd fall into that sort of trope!

But still, the biker did look like someone who pumped iron often... "Ok... I'll ask him after class..."

...

Hifumi realised the problem with that as soon as classes where over... He didn't actually know where the biker would be. He'd be unlikely to try smoking at the same time as before now that Ishimaru had caught him doing it... Maybe the dining room?

...No luck there, although Kuwata was sitting with Maizono, maybe he'd know...

"Ah... Kuwata-dono..."

"Urg, what do you want fa..." Kuwata glanced at the scowl Maizono was giving him. "...Yamada?"

"Do you happen to know where Oowada-dono is?"

"Uhh... I dunno, the woodwork room maybe? He goofs off in there a lot..."

The woodwork room? Typical! His last class had been right next to it! "Thank you, Kuwata-dono!"

"Uhh... Sure, no problem..." Kuwata muttered as he (slightly less awkwardly than this morning) stumbled out of the dining room.

As he approached the woodwork room, he was pleased to hear Kuwata had been correct! He could clearly hear the biker talking... Or complaining would be more accurate...

"Chi, don't gimme that shit! This is a piece of crap!"

"No it _isn't_ , Mondo!" He could just about hear Fujisaki's reply.

"Yes it _is!_ It's probably the fucking _shittiest_ horse anyone's ever _made!_ "

"No it isn't! I'll _show_ you! I'll show it at the art exhibition on Sunday and everyone will say it's a _great_ horse! Because it _is!_ " Fujisaki insisted. Wait, she'd made a _horse?_ Out of _wood?_ He'd had no _idea_ the programmer had such an artisitc side!

"What! _No!_ They're not gonna accept this _crap_ at the art exhibition!" How _dare_ Oowada say that! Hifumi got to the door, intent on seeing Fujisaki's work and telling the biker he should try making something _himself_ before belittling the work of others!

"Yes they will, because _it's not crap!_ Ah, here's Hifumi! _He'll_ agree with me!" Fujisaki smiled and stood up from the table she and Oowada were sat at and moved towards him. "Hifumi, look at this great horse..."

He didn't have a chance to. Oowada knocked it over, grabbed a chisel and hammer and began driving deep gouges into it, yelling " _NO!_ NO ONE! NEEDS! TO SEE! THIS PIECE! OF _CRAP!_ " as he did so.

"Ahh! Mondo! _Don't...!_ " Fujisaki yelled sadly as Oowada destroyed her work, breaking off huge chunks off it. Oowada finally stopped, breathing heavily as he looked at the mess he'd made. She ran back over to survey the damage. "Umm... Maybe we can stick it back together!" She suggested optimistically, "And fill in the damaged bits with..."

" _GODAMMIT, CHI! I SAID NO!_ " Mondo yelled again, scooping up the pieces and throwing them into a nearby woodchipper, before turning it on while poor Fujisaki looked on in shock as her work was turned into sawdust...

Why had he just stood there _watching_ that!? Why hadn't _'The Great'_ Hifumi _done_ anything!? Why hadn't he... slowed down time to give himself a chance to stop the biker from grabbing the chisel? Why hadn't he rushed forward with her to help put the pieces back together, and stopped Oowada picking them up? Why couldn't he use his powers to turn back time and stand up for Fujisaki, like a _real_ hero would have done!

Well... He might have been too late to stop the damage... But he could at least tell the biker that what he'd just done was completely unforgivable! And here was his chance... Oowada was stomping towards him, and he was blocking the only door out of the room! All he had to was stand here and shout back at the biker, the way Ishimaru always did when Oowada did petty things like put his feet on the table or arrive late to class...

Except suddenly the biker's snarling face was inches from his own and he could feel the rush of hot, angry breath from Oowada's mouth as he snapped the words " _Move_ , Fatass!" and before he realised what he was doing he'd let out a squeal and obediently scurried out the way and let the gangster stalk down the corridor away from them...

_Why_ had he done that? What sort of hero cowered at so little as a _glance_ from the villain?

"Umm... Hifumi? Are you alright?" Fujisaki asked from the doorway.

Was _he_ alright!? _She_ was the one who'd just had her hard work destroyed by an angry gangster! How long would she have spent on that? Chiselling wood must be tiring, and she wasn't very strong... It must have taken her days, or _weeks_ even! For all that to be destroyed in an _instant!_ And he'd just stood and watched...

"I... I'm sorry I didn't do anything..." He said, weakly. Not that it would mean anything to the poor girl...

"What? No, it's not _your_ fault... I shouldn't have got you involved..." She sighed.

"I would have got involved anyway!" Or at least, he'd like to think he would have...

"Huh? Did you want something from one of us?" Fujisaki asked.

"Ah, well... I'd been intending to ask Oowada for advice on starting to lift weights..." He admitted.

"Oh! I can help you with that! Mondo helped me so I can tell you what I started off doing! I'd usually train now, if you want to come with me?" She offered.

Huh, Oowada really _had j_ ust been weightlifting with Fujisaki? Although the type of man _he_ was would probably just be doing it in return for some 'benefits'... But regardless... "Uhh... Shouldn't we tell someone what Oowada just did?"

"What? _No!_ We don't need to do _that!_ It's fine! Mondo's just in a bad mood at the moment because he's quitting smoking... And besides it doesn't matter... It's not like he hurt a _person!_ "

Oowada might have done if he hadn't scurried out of the way like a _coward._.. "But, regardless, he still..."

"No! It's _fine!_ I’ll sort it out myself!" Fujisaki snapped. "Don't tell _anyone_ about this, _ok?_ "

"Ah!... Ok..." He stammered. Now he was getting scared into submission by a small girl... Some hero _he_ was!

* * *

Ishimaru returned to his room after dinner. His homework was finished for the day, so now he had time to crack on with his masterpiece! First to plan out the pages... He'd need a cover, which would be the name of the book in big letters and a picture of the main character... A bit like the covers for Bleach, that would be easiest to draw! Then he sketched out an explanation of the curse, which took just over a page... Then what would happen?

Well, presumably Kunoharu would set off on a journey and have some sort of initial challenge, right? Maybe he'd have to convince a gang of thieves to give back something they'd stolen, but how?

Maybe they'd have some code of honour he could appeal to... Like Oowada did... Maybe he could even make the leader look like Oowada? Then he could use the class photographs as a reference to draw him! And the thieves could be a gang of riders (but horse-riders rather than motorcyclists), and they'd give the food back after discovering the man they'd stolen it from had daughters, as Oowada was always saying he'd never hurt a girl...

He finished planning out the story, including a dramatic actiony bit near the end where it looked like 'Oowada' was going to kill Kunoharu, only to actually give him the food. Including the cover, it was exactly seven pages long, perfect!

He checked the time, it was curfew already. Oh well, he had it all planned out now, so drawing it should be easy, right? Three evenings should be plenty of time!

* * *

(Wednesday 11th January 2012)

Another day of boring classes... He hated being part of a school based story! Life would be so much fun if he was the hero of a sci-fi or fantasy, even a historic drama might have more action in it!

But life was... well, life! And he wasn't a _hero_ , either. He'd proven that quite thoroughly when he'd completely failed to stop Oowada from destroying Fujisaki's work... And he still hadn't told anyone about it either...

And he was supposed to be exercising now... Thirty minutes of staring at dull grey walls as he walked on the treadmill, reflecting on how boring his life was and his own cowardliness, probably warping time so that it slowed to a crawl as he walked...

"Yamada-kun! Why are you loitering in the halls?" Snapped a familiar voice.

"Oh, Ishiamru-dono... I'm not really looking forward to going on the treadmill, that's all!" He explained hastily, he didn't want a detention after all. "I'll get going right now!"

"Ah, wait!" He exclaimed, "If you're wanting to walk somewhere, I'm about to go investigate something in the reserve department... It'll take more than half an hour but it might be more interesting..."

An _investigation?_ That sounded like something Kirigiri would do... Or some sort of adventure in the making! He might not be a hero, but perhaps he could be a sidekick? "Ooh! Interesting! Let's go forth and investigate together!"

"Hahaha! Ok then!" Ishimaru laughed heartily, the way a hero _would_ at their over-eager sidekick!

Off they went, to the reserve department! On a mission to… to…

“…What _are_ we investigating?” And, more importantly, what type of hero was Ishimaru?

“Oh! Well, the chair of the reserve student council, Hirayama- you might remember her dunking Kirigiri at the school festival? She’s trying to set up an area where students can leave unwanted items for other students to take, rather than throw them away. But it keeps getting vandalised and she asked if I can help her find out who’s doing it.” Ah! One fighting for justice, apparently! As he should have expected!

“Ah! So we’re answering an SOS call from a damsel in distress!”

“I wouldn’t say she’s _distressed_ , just frustrated that people keep damaging the thing she’s worked hard on…”

Ah, so Ishimaru could empathise with the pain of having something you’d crafted with your own hands be damaged, even if it was something he’d probably not felt himself! It was so tempting to tell him what had transpired between Fujisaki and Oowada… But Fujisaki had been insistent that she’d sort it out…

They arrived at an area where a series of plastic boxes had been set up next to several dumpsters, each with a note for different types of goods- electrical, kitchen, stationary and others.

“Well, it looks alright at the moment…Ooh! Those box files are nice!” Ishimaru muttered, having a quick look in the box marked stationary. “I wonder if _I’d_ be allowed to take things…” He put the lid down, resulting in a surprisingly loud thud.

“ _Ah hah!_ Caught you!” A girl in a reserve uniform, albeit one with the odd patch sewn into it, jumped out from behind the nearby dumpsters, pointing at them dramatically. “Oh! It’s just you! Sorry, Ishimaru! And umm, Yamada, isn’t it?”

“Err… it’s fine… and yes. this is Hifumi Yamada, from my class.” Ishimaru introduced him. “And this is Juri Hirayama, the reserve student council chair I was telling you about.”

“Nice to see you again!” She said as she stuck out her hand, out of sheer politeness probably. “I’ve still got that picture you drew!” Now she’d said it, he did vaguely remember her being one of the many people he’d drawn sketches of at the school festival. “Are you two here to help me stop the people vandalising this place?”

“Ah, yes we are! But just a tip! You need to actually wait until they _start_ vandalising things before you can accuse them of it… otherwise they’ll just argue that they’re being unfairly judged…” Ishimaru pointed out, obviously not wanting _justice_ to fail to be served due to a technicality.

“Haha… _yeeah!_ Sorry I’ve not done this sort of thing before, so I got a bit nervous…” She laughed awkwardly.

“Well, if you’d prefer, perhaps I could be the one to confront them? If they turn up while we’re here that is…”

“That’d be great! And I’m pretty sure they will, they’ve done it before 5pm every other time…”

“Then let’s go hide! And I’ll use my time warping powers to make them arrive quickly!” Hifumi offered.

“…There are main course students with _time warping_ powers?” Hirayama gaped at him.

“Err… Yamada is in the school as the Ultimate Fanartist…” Ishimaru told her, seemingly confused by his having _two_ god-given abilities! This was understandable… He was naturally more of a warrior-type than a thinker… Even if he did work hard on the latter.

“O…K?” Hirayama shrugged, as they stood back behind the bins. “Oh! But speaking of people on the main course… Did you tell the Ultimate Princess about our council?” She suddenly asked.

“Err… Princess Nevermore?” Ishimaru seemed surprised. “I _might_ have mentioned it while I was cleaning for her at some point? I don’t really remember… Why do you ask?”

“Oh… she sent me an email offering to help me with some leadership stuff like…”

“Shh!” Ishimaru suddenly hissed, his Moral Compass must have activated again!

“Hey, they removed your tag again!” A male voice pointed out, as it came past them.

“Tch! Why’d they only remove it from _here?_ Like anyone cares about the _bins!_ ” Another boy answered, to the accompaniment of something shaking.

Ishimaru frowned at that and rounded the corner. “Excuse me! May I ask why you’re about to engage in graffitiing!” He asked loudly, but still rather more politely that a warrior of justice would be expected to…

“Who the heck are _you?_ ” Came the rather rude reply.

“He’s Kiyotaka Ishimaru! Warrior of Justice!” Hifumi came out from behind the bins to introduce him.

“Err… I’m not a…”

“What? You’re a main course student!” One of the lads finally recognised his greatness! “Why are you hanging around our trash area?”

“Well, because…”

“Because _I_ asked him to!” Hirayama decided to come out as well… “I wanted to find out who keeps making me clean up your stupid ‘tags’ all the time!”

“Wait… _You’ve_ been cleaning those up?” The guy with the spray can asked, guiltily. “Uhh… Sorry? We thought the school was doing it for once…”

“But, regardless of whose responsibility it is to clean…” Ishimaru started to say something.

“Well it’ _not_ the school! So could you guys quit tagging this place now, please!?” Hirayama snapped at them.

“Uhh… yeah sure! No problem!” They replied.

“Also you shouldn’t be ‘tagging’…” Ishimaru started to say something just before Hifumi announced “Crisis solved!”

“Haha! Yep! Thanks for your help, guys!” Hirayama smiled at him and Ishimaru.

“Cool, we’ll go tag something else then…” The other two reserve students said, before running off.

“WAIT! You shouldn’t be tagging… anything…” Ishimaru’s shout trailed into a sigh as they left. “Hirayama, it’s nice that they’ve stopped damaging _this_ place but…” He trailed off, as he’d noticed Hirayama was checking her phone.

“Uhh… sorry, I’ve have another email from her Highness… Can we talk about this later?” she asked, apologetically.

“Err… I guess so… I can come to the council meeting this weekend?”

“Great, thanks!” She started typing away on the phone. “See you on Saturday!”

Ishimaru nodded and turned to head back to their school building, with Hifumi following. He was frowning though…

“What’s the matter?” Hifumi asked him. “That seemed to be resolved nicely, and without violence even!” Although that felt like a shame to _him_ , but it was something Ishimaru would probably appreciate…

“The problem is they’re likely to go graffiti something _else_ now!” Ishimaru sighed.

“Ah! So that’s the problem!” Realisation struck him! “ _This_ adventure may have ended well, but there is always more work for Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Warrior of Justice… And his sidekick, Hifumi Yamada!”

“Err… I’m not…” Ishimaru started, only to pause… “ _Sidekick?”_ He asked.

“Ah… Well… I thought… as I need to keep walking…” Had he assumed too much from Ishimaru’s offer?

“I… It would be wonderful to have someone to talk to while on my rounds!” His frown turned into a smile. “Err… I might have to keep changing my timings though… people have figured out my schedule… Perhaps I could make a timetable?” He should have expected as much from Ishimaru! “I’ll discuss it with you when we walk together on Friday!”

“Friday? Why not tomorrow?” Hifumi asked.

“We have PE tomorrow! You need to exercise after that!”

Urrg! He’d forgot about _PE!_ He hated being part of a school-based story!

* * *

Well, _that_ could have gone better! He'd hoped he'd be able to talk about why those lads had been graffitiing the _rest_ of the reserve department, but at least he'd stopped them damaging Hirayama’s item swap area... Hopefully they would realise they should stop needlessly damaging school property if they wanted their side of the school kept clean, or he’d have to tell Hirayama that she might need to convince them herself…

But at least he had someone to walk with on occasion now!

He headed back towards his room, he'd been able to finish off his homework at lunch, so he should have plenty of time to work on drawing this evening!

"Hey! Ishimaru! Do you know where Hifumi is!?" Celestia voice called out to him in an usually demanding tone from across the hall.

"He's gone to his room..."

She scowled, "He's _supposed_ to be exercising!" She muttered.

" _Oh!_ He already has! I took him on a walk to the reserve department!" Ishimaru explained.

Her expression brightened considerably. "Oh really? Did you also go out walking with him on Monday as well?" She asked.

"Err... Yes." Why was she so interested in what Yamada was doing each day?

"Very well. Will this be something you always do with him?" She asked.

"Well... On occasion. But he's trying to exercise every day and I won't always be available..." He explained. "I'm putting together a schedule for him to follow each week, but I also need to start changing my own schedule because I’ve become too predictable, so it will change depending on my duties and his own plans each week..."

"I see... Could you be a dear and show me the schedule when you're done?" She asked, sweetly. _Too sweetly_...

She was probably intending to figure out when she could boss him around, wasn't she? "I'm sure Yamada will show you if he wants you to see it."

She pouted in an annoyed fashion. "I suppose you're right." She sighed, eventually. "And you wouldn't admit it even if you _weren't!_ " She smiled. "Enjoy your evening!" She flounced into her room.

Hopefully he _would_ enjoy the evening. Yamada seemed to enjoy drawing, whenever he'd seen him working in the dining room. It would probably be fun to spend the evening doodling instead of studying, he hadn't drawn since he was a child...

A while later, he remembered exactly _why_ he hadn't drawn since he was a child, he _hated_ it! First he'd wasted a ton of time failing to draw a symmetrical star shape as part of the logo. After that he'd spent an hour staring at himself in the mirror and trying to convert his features into a stylised picture of himself, continuously having to rub out one eye because it wasn't the same shape as the other, only to end up with a flat, lifeless form that was only recognisable as himself because of its stupid eyebrows... And now it was dinnertime and he needed to go and eat...

He quickly headed out to the dining room for some riceballs, he'd have to draw and eat at the same time...

He carried on drawing... Badly. This was taking _far_ too long, considering how terrible it looked. How did Yamada manage to make sure beautiful drawings in so little time...? Had he _always_ been that good at drawing or had there been a time when his work had looked like _this_ mess he was slowly making? Surely he _must_ have some initial talent for it, for him to actually _want_ to draw, instead of just being embarrassed by it?

Would it be nice, to discover you could just... _do_ something, the very first time you tried it? To pick up a bat and become the country's best baseball player without bothering to train? Or to have a family who started teaching you so young that you didn't ever remember the shame of being terrible?

He shook his head, this stupid self-pity wasn't going to help! And yet he indulged in it every time he tried something new and wasn't good at it, which he _obviously_ wouldn't be on his first attempt! All he needed was some _practise_ , after all! He was _good_ at practising!

Except Yamada hadn't given him _time_ to practise, or he'd wasted it all trying to think of an idea... What was he going to do…? He'd just got to the part where he'd have to draw a horse and realised he couldn't remember what they really _looked_ like, he'd need a reference picture of something... Maybe the library would have some books with pictures of them in?

But it was past curfew now... He'd best go to bed... He'd have to get some books out tomorrow lunchtime, finish drawing this mess in the evening, do the inking part on Friday and apologise to Yamada for how terrible it looked and for ever even _thinking_ his talent was easy on Saturday...

* * *

(Thursday 12th January 2012)

If there was one class Yamada hated more than his boring lessons, it was Physical Education... Every week they'd all have to change into embarrassing shorts and t-shirts and be marched as a class outside onto the field, regardless of the weather, and be forced to split into two teams and play some game against each other... Aside from Lady Celestia, who was far too delicate to be forced to run around, and always just watched them all instead. Also this week Enoshima was out of the school at a photo shoot or something...

This time the game was soccer, the ground was slightly wet and the captains were Ishiamru and Oowada, a situation everyone but him had groaned at the second it was announced... They all knew the game would be cut-throat, but only _he_ knew why that was a good thing! This would be a battle of Good versus Evil! Order versus Chaos! Justice versus Lawlessness! A chance of vengeance for poor Fujisaki's work!

And it had been decided that Ishimaru would get to pick first, giving him the opportunity to pick the best party to accompany him on his crusade of justice! This would always start with the fearsome Oogami...

"Ok... I'll start with Aoi!"

"Yay! Swimming buddy!" She ran over to him and went for a high-five, which he took a little while to figure out and return.

"Since when are you guys _buddies?_ " Oowada asked, scowling at the pair... "Guess I get th... Oogami then!" He grinned.

What a shame, Ishimaru's honourable notions of friendship had put him at a severe disadvantage... Hopefully taking Kuwata or Ikusaba next would help even things out...

"I'll take Kyoko next!"

_What!? Noooo!_ She might be smart but that would be no help at _all_ in a game of soccer!

"...The hell are you _doing?_ " Oowada asked, a question they probably all wanted to know the answer to. "Guess I get Leon then!"

"Kickass!"' The baseballer exclaimed as he headed over to Mondo.

Well... Now Ishimaru would take Ikusaba... That wasn't too bad! It wouldn't be much difference from what would have happened if they'd done it the other way around... He might still have a chance...

"Ok... Makoto!" _What was he doing!?_ Didn't Ishimaru realise how _important_ this game was!? Why wasn't he picking all the best players first, like every _other_ team captain would? Or even _he_ had every _other_ time he'd been Captain!

"The _fuck_ is _this!?_ I told you I don't need your fuckin' _pity!_ " Oowada snapped. "So quit pickin' all the _weaklings!_ "

"They _aren't_ weaklings! I'm just picking the people I want to play with!" Ishimaru snapped back at him. "Now make your next choice!"

"Well, if you're gonna be a dumbass... I'll take Ikusaba!"

And there were all the strongest members of their class, together on Oowada's team. So much for vengeance! What had possessed Ishimaru to deviate so far from the normal narrative of their PE lessons...?

Of course, there would probably still be the same old usual cliche... The fat kid no one liked would be picked _last_ , as always... Still, that meant he'd be on _Oowada's_ team! Maybe he could sabotage the biker!

"Err... Yamada!" Ishimaru said.

_What?_ Wasn't Oowada the one picking last? And there was still a crowd of people... He must have misheard...

"Err... _YAMADA!?"_ Ishimaru was waving at him though...

"You want _me_ on your team?" He checked.

"...Yes?" Even Ishimaru looked confused at his own actions... Oowada certainly did as he walked over to join Ishimaru's team, standing next to Kirigiri.

"The hell...? Fine! Chihiro, get over here! I'm not letting _you_ get stuck on that team of losers..." The _nerve_ of him... Acting all buddy-buddy with her after what he did on Tuesday!

"I'll take Sayaka then!" Ishimaru countered.

"Hmm... Interesting strategy..." Kirigiri muttered, as she looked over the two teams so far. Wait, Ishimaru had a _strategy?_ There was a _reason_ he'd assembled a team of underdogs? Was he hoping their bonds of friendship would help them overcome insurmountable odds? But life didn't really work like that...

"... You two _do_ realise _I've_ not been picked yet?" Togami was scowling at having been left so late to be picked...

"Fine, _I'll_ take ya... If only to make ya quit ya _bitchin'!_ " Oowada snapped.

Ishimaru scowled at his remaining two choices. "Hagakure." He finally decided.

"That's the only sensible pick you've made..." Oowada muttered, "C'mon Fukawa, get over here!"

"Ok!" Ishimaru clapped his hands and turned to face them all. "Let's discuss positions!"

Well, Hifumi knew how _this_ would go! He'd probably be put in goal, usually with a joke about how he'd be able to block the entire net at once...

"Hagakure, you go in goal! Maybe you'll be able to predict which way the ball will come from! We'll only let in _two-thirds_ of the goals that way! Hahaha!" Ishimaru joked.

"Uhh... Well I guess it's worth a shot?" Hagakure muttered as he headed back to the goal posts, not getting the joke at all...

Wait, so if Hagakure was in goal then where was _he_ going?

"I think Kirigiri would make a good defender... Is there anyone _you'd_ like to work with?"

She raised an eyebrow at the question but looked over the rest of them. "...Yamada." She finally decided.

Well that answered that question!

"Ok then! For our strikers... Aoi... And Makoto? Maybe you'll score a lucky goal! Hahaha!"

Was he just picking these positions for the sake of bad jokes!?

"Uhh... I guess?" Naegi shrugged, although he looked like he thought he'd be lucky not to get flattened by the other teams defence...

"Not you and me together?" Asahina asked Ishimaru.

"What? No I'm Captain, I should be in the middle to help direct play, shouldn't I?" He asked.

"With me as your assistant co-Captain!" Maizono giggled. "I'll be sure to do my best!"

"Ok then! That's sorted!" Ishimaru smiled. "Err... But what are _they_ doing?" He looked over at Oowada's team, most of whom were shouting at each other.

"Arguing over who gets to be strikers, I assume..." Kirigiri said.

"That doesn't usually happen though..." Ishimaru's brow furrowed in confusion.

"We don't _usually_ end up with Kuwata, Oowada, Oogami and Ikusaba all on the _same team_ though..." She pointed out. "...Do you _really_ not realise what you've done?" She asked him sceptically.

"Err...Well, I thought perhaps I should stop being quite so… _competitive_ about these PE lessons... So I just picked the people I thought it would be nice to play with?" He shrugged. What a pure, kind and noble and _stupid_ , answer! Why had he picked _now_ to suddenly lose his usual obsession with _winning?_

Kirigiri sighed, "Well... Maybe you'll realise by the time this game is over..." She shrugged, "Come with me Yamada."

"Right... Let's discuss strategy..." Kirigiri said, as they headed to the defence line.

"Shouldn't Ishimaru be deciding that?" He was Captain after all…

"What use would _that_ be? He doesn't even realise what strategy he used when picking the team!" Kirigiri sighed. "But I want to see if it could _work_ , regardless..."

"Strategy? What strategy, he just said he picked us because he _likes_ us!"

Kirigiri sighed heavily. "Look at Oowada's team... What do you see?"

He looked over… They were still arguing... Oowada appeared to be gesturing to himself and Oogami, who was looking uncomfortable at the attention. The main problem seemed to be that Kuwata and Fukawa were yelling back at him, Kuwata gesturing to himself and Fukawa gesturing to Togami. Ikusaba was ignoring them entirely, heading up to the centre line. Togami was rolling his eyes at it all and poor Fujisaki was just watching them shout at each other with a worried expression.

He'd never _seen_ a team from their class have such a bad argument before, not even the time Fujisaki had ended up with both Ishimaru _and_ Oowada... Usually Naegi would reason with people, or Asahina would tell them to stop worrying so much and just enjoy the game, or Kirigiri would come up with a solution that suited everyone, or Maizono would just tell Leon to stop being so stubborn... Except...

"He's taken all the mediators..." Yamada realised. "Oowada's got a team that can't work together..."

"Exactly... And most of them want to be the main striker... They won't listen to him telling them to stay back, so their defence will be appalling. If we can get the ball behind their front line we'll be laughing..."

"But that means _US_ getting the ball off of _Oowada and Oogami_!" He pointed out. "That's going to be impossible!"

"For the pair of us? Obviously." She shrugged. "But Hagakure _ought_ to catch the ball a few times, and it should only take us scoring a few times before his team goes into meltdown... We just need to make sure we get the ball past the strikers those few times, hence us needing to discuss strategy."

He listened, it was less about strategy and more her teaching him a series of hand signals she'd use to tell him who he should pass the ball to, when he inevitably got it. ("Hagakure likes you more than me, and I suspect people will forget to shadow you.")

This seemed like it would be interesting… the team of underdogs succeeding due to hidden machination from the strategic defenders! Perhaps Fujisaki had a chance for vengeance after all...

Eventually Mondo got his way (seemingly spurred on by the sight of Ishimaru checking his watch impatiently): Kuwata and Togami were in the centre, Ikusaba was sent back to defence with Fujisaki and Fukawa was in goal. And so the game began.

The first four kickoffs were a disaster... Either Oogami or Oowada managed to run past him with ease and kick the ball into the net, usually in the complete opposite direction to where Hagakure was blocking, much to Oowada's delight and Ishimaru's disappointment, regardless of how much he was trying to curb his innate destiny to defeat the biker.

But the then the _next_ kickoff was different, this time Hagakure actually caught the ball and threw it over Oogami's and Oowada's heads to himself, as Kirigiri had predicted. Although that just meant he now had Oogami and Oowada approaching from the rear and Kuwata, Togami and even Ikusaba bearing down on him from the front! He looked over to Kirigiri to see who he should pass to...

The answer was Maizono... But she was on the complete other side of the pitch! Oh well... Everything had gone as she'd expected so far... He kicked the ball as hard as he could towards the singer.

He wasn't quite on target, and didn't have anywhere near enough power... Kirigiri had to run towards it and kick it back on track, but it got past the group heading towards him and eventually to Maizono, who passed it to Asahina, who easily dribbled it past Fujisaki and kicked it past a vacant looking Fukawa...

"Hahaha! Good work team!" Ishimaru cheered jubilantly.

Oowada was less pleased... "What the fuck was _that!?_ Why the fuck are all my _good_ players on _this_ half of the pitch!?" He yelled at the three of them who'd ran forward to try and steal the ball from him.

"We're not _your_ players, you lowlife..." Togami started.

"I'm the goddamn Captain so that means you're _supposed_ to do what I _tell_ you, you stuck up dumbass!" Oowada yelled.

"I'm not following a Captain who doesn't know how to lead." Togami smirked, "And don't bring up your insignificant little gang, I'm talking about _real_ leadership..."

Well... He'd say it was nice knowing Togami... Except it hadn't really been...

Luckily for the heir, Oogami put her hand firmly on the biker's shoulder. "I will play defence, I shall make sure Hina doesn't score so easily again..." She offered.

"Fine!" He snapped, "But I still ain't putting Togami out front, Leon, you’re with me! Ikusaba, come forward to the centre... And _STAY_ in the centre! We're supposed to be a fuckin' _TEAM!_ "

The next kickoff it was Kuwata who ran past him to score a goal, but the time after that he tried to score in the exact same way and Hagakure caught the ball, throwing it over to him again... And attracting four of the other team towards him! He looked over to Kirigiri for her signal again. This time it was Ishimaru who was to receive the ball, a much easier kick to make than Maizono had been. The hall monitor got it and started running up the side of the pitch, towards Naegi, Fujisaki and a quickly approaching Oogami.

Ishimaru quickly passed the ball over to Maizono, who passed it over to Asahina, who just about managed to kick it towards the net before Oogami caught back up with her. And at a fast enough speed that Fukawa panicked and dodged out of the way instead of blocking it.

"Great shot Aoi!" Ishimaru cheered.

"What the fuck was that! You said you weren't gonna let her score again!" Mondo snapped at Oogami.

"My apologies... I am not used to team games... I thought Ishimaru and Naegi were the bigger threats, as the ball was on their side..."

"Umm... I could have dealt with..." Fujisaki started to say something, only for Oowada to ignore it completely. "Fine... If I want the goal defending properly I guess I'll do it myself! Ikusaba, you get to be striker! Chi, go see if you can get Togami to stay in the goddamn centre of the pitch! And Oogami, this time stay on Asahina!"

The next kickoff it looked as though Ikusaba was going to curve the ball straight into the net all by herself... Only for Hagakure to miraculously be in just the right place to intercept it and pass it to Hifumi again.

This time he only had three people bearing down on him (Fujisaki had been unsuccessful in her mission, it would seem). Kirigiri was signalling to herself, so he kicked the ball over to her, assuming she'd pass it on to Ishimaru or Maizono.

Instead she took the ball and ran up the centre of the pitch herself, signalling for Ishimaru to follow her as Ikusaba rapidly chased her down from behind.

Just before the mercenary caught up to her, she readied her foot to pass the ball over to Ishimaru, causing Oowada and Ikusaba to instinctively rush over to the hall monitor.

...But then she didn't kick it. She took advantage of the now clear space ahead of her to run right up to the goal and kick the ball in herself, just before Oogami figured out what she was doing and caught up to her. Fukawa barely made an effort to stop it as it bounced past her feet.

Oowada snarled at Kirigiri, "I ain't fallin' for _that_ trick again..."

"...I know." Kirigiri managed to get out between heavy breaths.

"You shouldn't have fallen for it _once!_ It was an obvious feint!" Togami said, smugly.

"Well if you've stayed where ya were _supposed_ ta be you'd have been able to stop her _yourself!_ " Oowada yelled at him.

"Tch! Don't blame _me_ for _your_ shortcomings!" Togami snapped. "Head to the centre and I'll show you I can put up a far better defence than you just did!" He headed back to their goal without waiting for an answer, leaving Oowada glaring at his back for a moment before heading over to Fujisaki.

"...So now they're finally in the formation they should have picked in the first place." Kirigiri muttered. "We're going to need _luck_ to get past that... Pass the ball to Makoto."

"What if he's not available?" Togami was staring at him pretty fiercely, it looked like the heir had decided to shadow him pretty closely.

" _No one’s_ going to be, and I think Ikusaba's finally caught on to our signals so she'll likely block your view of me- unfortunately our best bet is rely on luck..." A small smile played on her lips "...but if we do manage to score again, I think it'll be the final straw that pushes the other team into meltdown..."

Ah... So this was _it_... The make-or-break moment that would either turn the game to the underdogs favour... Or leave them in a spiral of defeat. This would be the part where dramatic music played, and everything would happen in slow motion...

Except this was real life, so almost as soon as the whistle blew Kuwata had the ball and was racing past him. However he tried to score in the exact same way he had the two previous times so Hagakure was able to block it easily, and then the ball was being thrown over Kuwata's head, to himself.

Naegi was too far away, and being marked to closely by Togami for him to really have a chance of getting the ball... but the same was true of everyone else on their team, so he gave the ball the most powerful kick he could in the boy's direction...

...and Naegi didn't even notice... He seemed to be checking his pockets for something instead. Well! So much for their lucky make-or-break moment! Togami had noticed the ball and was running back towards it, and would probably pass it to Oowada who's send it to Ikusaba who'd probably score...

At least that's what _would_ have happened, if Togami hadn't stepped on something and twisted his ankle, falling to the ground as the ball bounced past him. It ended up at the feet of Naegi, who absent-mindedly kicked it into the goal (left empty as Fukawa had abandoned it to check on her beloved 'Master').

"Great shot Neagi!" Ishimaru cheered at the same time as Oowada snarled "Oh _great_ fuckin' defence Togami, ya really showed _me!_ " sarcastically.

"That was _not_ my fault! Some _idiot_ left this on the pitch!" Togami waved something shiny.

"Oh hey! That's my locker key!" Naegi exclaimed, "Uhh... Sorry Togami! I just realised there's a hole in my pocket." He added sheepishly.

"Well maybe if Togami wasn't such a _weakling_ he wouldn't have hurt himself on it." Oowada snarked.

"Well, perhaps if we had a _competent leader_ we'd be more than one point ahead!" Togami retorted.

"And here we go..." Kirigiri walked over to Hifumi watch the ensuing argument.

"HEY! It's not _my_ fault none of you assholes can follow a damn order!" Oowada yelled, "Or that the dumbasses who insist on being strikers keep kickin' the ball straight at their goalie!"

"Hey! C'mon man... It's not _our_ fault Hiro's predicting our shots!" Kuwata complained.

"Well, he _might_ have a harder time predicting your shots if you didn't keep shooting into the _exact same part of the net!_ " Togami pointed out. "Perhaps _I_ should..."

"STOP TRYIN TA CHANGE THE FUCKIN' FORMATION WHEN _I'M_ THE DAMN _CAPTAIN!_ "

"Oowada, shouting will not..." Oogami tried to defuse the argument, to no avail.

"Well maybe if you hadn't picked such a sucky formation in the _first_ place we wouldn't _need_ to change it!" Kuwata snapped.

"Umm, hey! _You guys!_ We need to..." Fujisaki was desperately trying to alert her team to the fact that the teacher had blown the whistle to signal the start of the next kickoff, and Asahina was dribbling the ball up the pitch. No one paid her any attention.

"You only hated that formation 'cause I didn't let ya be a damn glory hog!" Oowada snapped. "And besides, no one on Ishimaru's team have given _him_ shit over the formation HE picked!"

"That's 'cause his team's a bunch of losers..." Kuwata rolled his eyes.

"Then explain why that team of losers is only one point behind us, then!"

Asahina kicked the ball into the net and the whistle blew again. Oowada's team finally looked at what was going on.

"Tch! _Zero_ points behind us now..." Togami grimaced.

"Well, maybe if _someone_ didn't keep mouthing off..."

"Master is _not_..."

" _GUYS! Stop arguing!_ We need to...!"

If this was a manga the ensuing argument would have been drawn as a dust cloud, such was the impossibility of determining who was shouting what. Even after the whistle blew to signal the next kickoff they didn't stop...

"...Does anyone want to practise playing in a different position, seeming as we don't appear to have _opponents_ anymore?" Ishimaru asked, bitterly.

"Could I be a striker?" The words were out of Hifumi's mouth before he even realised it.

"Go ahead..." Ishimaru replied.

He walked up to the centre of the pitch, where Naegi kicked the ball over to him...

This was it, the winning goal, and mere _minutes_ before the end of the game! Striker Hifumi Yamada was running up the side of the pitch, deftly avoiding the other teams defence with his miraculous speed and fancy footwork! The crowd were going wild as he approached the goal and craftily curved the shot around the goal keeper, who missed catching it by centimetres! And as he turned away from the goal he looked to the side-lines to see a crowd of cheering girls yelling his name!

...Except in reality he'd walked awkwardly up the centre of the pitch, barely able to keep the ball at a sensible distance ahead of him. There were no defenders or goalkeeper because they were all too busy arguing to notice he'd even _got_ the ball, let alone chase after him. The only thing he'd heard as he approached the net was Kuwata yelling " _Fuck!_ The damn _fatass_ is gonna score!" and then he'd just tapped the ball over the line with his foot from about a meter away.

And as he turned around there were no girls cheers his name, just...

...just Lady Celestia, smiling and clapping at him, as if he really _was_ a decent footballer.

...Maybe this PE stuff wasn't so bad after all...

The whistle blew to signal the end of the game, much to the annoyance of a certain biker. After all, not _only_ had he been able to impress Lady Celestia, but justice had been served! And now Ishimaru was approached Oowada, in order to strike the final blow!

"Well, that was..."

"Don't gimme that 'good game' bullshit, you smug asshole!" Oowada yelled and shoved him to the ground.

"What!? You only lost by _one point!_ " Ishimaru snapped as he picked himself up and tried to brush mud and wet grass off his PE kit.

"Yeah, which you let _him_ score!" Oowada snapped back, pointing in Hifumi's direction. "I bet you think you're _hilarious_ , making me look like a fuckin' _chump_ 'cause ya _tricked_ me into pickin' all the assholes who _can't follow a goddamn order!_ "

"Err... _What?_ " Ishimaru looked shocked, had he _really_ not figured out what Kirigiri meant before now? "I... I didn't _mean_ for that to happen! I just picked people I wanted to play with!"

"You _seriously_ expect me to buy that?" Oowada asked, clenching his fist.

"Umm, Mondo... I don't think Kiyotaka's that clever... He probably _did_ just pick people he liked!" Fujisaki interrupted.

"Err... I'm sorry if I ruined the game!" Urg! Ishimaru was _bowing_ in apology to _Oowada!_ He was supposed to be striking the biker down... Or at least giving him detention for shoving him into the mud! "Maybe we could have rematch at some point?"

"...Well, whatever! It's a stupid game, not like it actually _matters_..." Oowada groused and walked off, leaving Ishimaru looked upset and worried.

So much for avenging Fujisaki! Why had Ishimaru suddenly started being so forgiving of the biker's misdeeds?

* * *

Urg, the day had been a disaster from start to finish! First he'd gone to the library only to discover that every single picture book that focused on horses had been checked out last Saturday and wasn't due back until _next_ Saturday, which would be too late to help him. He'd ended up only managing to find a single picture of a man riding a horse, he'd just have to hope Yamada didn't notice all the panels with the horse used the same pose over and over...

And then that football match had made Oowada think he was being devious, instead of just trying to have a fun game for once. So much for that idea! It would have better if he'd just been his usual competitive self... At least Chihiro had managed to convince Oowada that he'd only done it by accident! But now he'd ended up having to put on his weeks load of laundry early in order to make sure the mud didn't stain his only PE kit, when he really didn't have time...

Because now he had to go and draw several copies of the biker, and lots of horses, and ugly pictures of himself in profile, which he'd already discovered he couldn't draw...

Well, it turned out to be just one of _many_ things he couldn't draw. It was a long list, which he now knew included trees, horses (horrible, _cursed_ horses!) and _Mondo Oowada_.

The picture of the biker from the front didn't look _too_ bad (comparatively speaking), he'd been able to look at the class photos for it (although he'd drawn the 'biker' with his hair down instead of in a pompadour, as they wouldn't have had hairspray in those days) and was more pleased with how it turned out than with anything _else_ he'd drawn so far. Even if one arm had ended up having a fat elbow and the horse he was riding looked too big for its own legs to support it.

But then his inability to draw in profile had struck, and there weren't any pictures of Oowada looking away from the camera so all the _other_ pictures looked appalling, especially as the let-down hair looked like that stupid style everyone had worn in the eighties... What was it called?

Oh well, it didn't matter, he needed to get on, he was running out of time, _fast!_ Was there any way he could reduce the number of drawings he had to do? Maybe he could combine the dialogue in two of the panels into one... It was a bit of a squeeze to get all the text in but at least he was done quicker!

It wasn't until he'd finished drawing that he realised he'd now left an empty panel at the end of the last page... And he wasn’t sure if it was obvious that the bag ‘Oowada’ had given Kunohara was supposed to have food in it… Oh well, hopefully Yamada wouldn't care... And at least now he was done, drawing. Maybe it would look better once it was inked with smooth clean lines instead of messy sketched?

He'd find out tomorrow... It was an hour after curfew already, and he needed sleep...

* * *

(Friday 13th January 2012)

Classes were finally over for the weekend! And what a weekend it was going to be! The art exhibiton was going to be a wonderful time to exhibit his work to the other students, as well as certain influential individuals who had been invited specifically by the school…

But first, he had his daily exercise to do, and a discussion to have with Ishimaru. He was just waiting for Ishimaru to finish taking down notes from their final class…

“Hey, Mondo! Look at _this_!” Fujisaki was trying to show Oowada something on her laptop. “It’s hilarious!”

“What the fuck is…? Why are you showing me pictures drawn by _kids!?”_

“You- you don’t _know_ they’re by children…” Fujisaki stammered, apparently not having considered that possibility. “And besides… _see_ there _are_ worse horses than…”

“I _TOLD_ YOU TO _SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THAT ALREADY!_ ” Oowada’s roar filled the classroom, causing Fujisaki (and himself) to shrink in fear.

“ _Oowada!_ ” But one who did _not_ shrink was the mighty Ishimaru, warrior of justice! He stood up strong and tall as he marched over to the desk to confront the terror of their class! “…I understand that it’s _mean_ of Fujisaki to be mocking art that people have tried their best on… even if it _is_ poor quality… but getting angry and shouting won’t…”

“Oh will you shut the hell up for once!?” Oowada snapped back at him. “You don’t even understand what going on!”

“Well… What _is_ going on then?” Ishimaru asked. “Perhaps if you tell me I could…”

“It’s none of ya damn _business!_ ” Oowada snapped and pushed Ishimaru aside as he stalked out of the room.

“Ngh!” Ishimaru grimaced as he straightened himself from the shove. “Err… Fujisaki, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Fujisaki replied, “What about you?”

“Err… I’m alright… But should I not have got involved just now…? What exactly is going on?”

“Huh? Oh well… It’s nothing you need to worry about! Mondo’s just in a bad mood… because he’s quitting smoking! I was trying to cheer him up…” Fujisaki lied. “But I guess it didn’t work the way I intended…”

“Ah! He’s trying to quit? That’s wonderful! I’ll try not to antagonise him quite so much in the near future then!” Ishimaru feel for her lie hook, line and sinker! And now he was even _less_ likely to deal with Oowada the way he should be!

“Really? Thanks, Kiyotaka!” Fujisaki smiled. “I’ll go see if I can get him to calm down a bit…” She ran off out of the class.

Could Ishimaru really not tell what was going on? Was his Ultimate Moral Compass broken when it came to matters regarding the biker? Maybe Oowada had some morality-negating ability!

In which case… he really needed to be _told_ about the events on Tuesday, otherwise the evil biker would be free to reign terror on them for the rest of the year!

“She’s lying.”

“I beg your pardon?” Ishimaru looked at him. “What makes you think… she’d lie about that?”

“I… I know what’s going on with her and Oowada… I saw it happen!”

“Saw what happen?”

“It was on Tuesday! They… they were in the woodwork room, Chihiro was showing him a wooden horse she’d made and he was mocking it, saying it was the worst horse ever made…”

“So just now… Chihiro was just trying to defend her artistic ability?” He realised quickly.

“Yes! But that’s not all… When she tried to get _my_ opinion of it, Oowada destroyed it!”

“What… you mean by accident?” Why was he _still_ giving the biker the benefit of the doubt!?

“No! He picked up a chisel and broke into several pieces… and when Fujisaki suggested she could fix those back together, he picked them up and threw them in the woodchipper!”

“ _What!? Why_ would he _do_ that!?” Ishimaru cried. “And why does Chihiro keep telling me to stop arguing with him is _that’s_ the sort of thing he does in return! And why didn’t you tell me about it sooner!”

“I’m sorry! She told me not to tell anyone! She said she’d deal with it herself…”

He frowned. “In _that_ case there’s not much I _can_ do… she’d likely just denied it happened if I tried to report it, for fear of retribution… All I can do is attempt to punish the biker when I catch him breaking _other_ school rules and wait for him to repent…”

_Oowada? Repent?_ Even after knowing what he’d _done_ , Ishimaru seemed to think more highly of the biker than he should do? Why was he being so nice to him this year?

“But regardless… you and I have a schedule to sort out!” Ishimaru changed the subject before he got a chance to ask. “If we discuss our plans for next week today, I’ll write it up and bring it to you on Saturday…”

Saturday? Oh, yes! Ishimaru’s favour! With all the excitement and exercising he’d almost forgot…

* * *

Urg! To think he'd _ever_ thought Oowada was _honourable!_ To think he'd tried to let him off of a detention, instead of giving him retroactive ones for all the times he must have been smoking behind his back, probably laughing at how stupid he was for always taking the same route around the school! To think he'd let Oowada push him into the mud and silently dealt with it, instead of making the delinquent reimburse him for the damage to his clothes!

Well, _no more!_ He wasn't going to give the biker an _inch_ of allowance now! Especially not as the only person who'd ever said he should was Chihiro, and Oowada had probably just bullied him into it! Just as he'd obviously been bullied into letting Oowada get away with damaging his hard work! How many _other_ pieces would the programmer had made before now... Only to have them smashed on a whim by the gangster!?

And now he had to ink this stupid comic... where he'd shown the biker being honourable and reasonable instead of just lashing out at everyone, as he _actually_ did in _reality_.

He tried to put his anger aside as he sat down to ink the work, tracing over the relevant lines without thinking about their meaning, which was probably how he managed to miss the fact that he'd spelt his main character’s _name_ wrong on the first page, and drawn himself levitating on the third. Oh well, it was in ink now... No way to fix _that_.

He rubbed out all the messy pencil sketches, leaving behind a flat lifeless mess. If only he could go back and change... well, every single thing about it really! But he couldn't, as much as he might wish he could. If only there was some way he could make it look a little better though...

Oh well, it was dinner time now. He should probably just get something to eat and then study, rather than waste time trying to fix this awful mess...

He headed to the dining room, at least this time he'd been able to eat nicely and enjoy his food, instead of shovelling it down as an afterthought...

His stomach lurched when he saw Yamada though, he'd have to face him tomorrow... And all he had were pages of flat ugly images... Worlds away from the beautiful work Yamada was in the middle of... he looked over the artist's shoulder... colouring?

"You're colouring your manga?" Ishimaru asked without thinking, "Aren't they usually black and white?"

"Hmm? Oh well, usually! It's cheaper to print that way!" Yamada agreed, "But sometimes colour is used, like on the covers, to draw the readers eye, and also for certain emotive parts as well!"

"Oh... I see! Thank you!" He let Yamada get on with his work, he had more to do himself! The school store sold _crayons_ , didn't it?

...

Ishimaru returned to his room with a pack of twelve different coloured crayons, the cheapest the school had stocked. But at least it might add a little emotion to his lifeless work! He thought about what colours to draw ‘himself’ in, and then set to work...

This was actually quite fun, he'd _liked_ colouring exercises as a child, as it was easy not to go over the lines if you were careful about it. The only time he'd been told off was once when a teacher had complained about him using too much brown in one picture... But what was he _supposed_ to do when half the items in it were made of wood?

He worked through the pages, his eyes were red, the scarf was red, his tongue was red and so was this part...

Oh drat, those had been his _teeth_. Oh well, if Yamada asked the curse would just have to have made his teeth red for some reason...

He got to the page with 'Oowada' in it. How was he going to colour _him_? Probably all in black clothes, with a gold belt to symbolise the gold stitching in the gangsters coat, which he hadn't even tried to draw. And he'd colour his hair the way Oowada's was dyed, blonde at the top, brown at the bottom, even if it was a _stupid_ way to dye your hair...

In fact, he'd colour the horses mane blond and it's tail brown just to highlight _how_ stupid it looked!

He finished his colouring, and flicked through the pages to read his finished work. Hopefully now his lifeless drawings would look like...

...like something a child would have made...

He buried his head in his hand... some _'masterpiece'!_ This was _hideous!_ Why had Yamada thought he could do this! Had he not worked hard enough? But he couldn't imagine ever being able to draw well enough to come even close to Yamada's level, let alone after a single week of practise...

Oh well, there was nothing he could do now. He'd just have to go to bed and hope it was good enough... Or hope Yamada didn't tell everyone just how little his birthday presents to them were actually _worth_...

(Saturday, 14th January, 2012)

Ishimaru woke up to the sound of his alarm, from a dream that his adult self had tried to present a manifesto he'd written when he was five to the general public. Then he realised that he might as well be doing that in reality. Today was when his skills would be judged... And all he had was a terrible mess of childish scrawls...

At least, that was how it had felt last night. Perhaps the night’s sleep would have helped put things into perspective... He looked at the book again.

Well... It might not be the _best_ artwork in the world. But he'd worked hard and tried his best! Surely it wasn't the _worst_ thing a total beginner had ever come up with! He was sure that Yamada would respect the work he'd put into this and be able to see the positives and _oh, who was he kidding this was terrible and Yamada was going hate it!_

He sighed, what was he going to _do?_ He'd promised Yamada a favour and had now completely failed to fulfil that promise. The only thing he really could do was apologise for the failure and promise to try better next time. Perhaps he could include a final scene suggesting an ongoing plot? Maybe the bandit leader could turn out to have one of the broken stars, and then Kunohara would have a reason to chase after him and Ishimaru wouldn't have to learn how to draw an entirely new character...

He hastily sketched the scene into the empty space he'd ended up with, pencilling, inking and colouring in one go. Then he stapled the pages together and almost hit his head on the desk when he realised it meant that not only would he have to keep drawing _Oowada_ in a positive light... But he was going to have to draw _more cursed horses!_

But there was no time to fix it now... It was 8:45. He truly had run out of time. With a heart full of dread, he picked up his absolutely _awful_ 'masterpiece' and headed to the homeroom classroom.

As he went to enter the room, he almost crashed into Makoto, who was pushing a trolley full of paper and looked like he was rushed off his feet. “Kiyotaka? _You’re_ the one he’s making staple all of these?” The luckster asked.

“Err… Staple all of _what?_ ” Ishimaru asked, hiding his “masterpiece” behind his back.

“ _Yamada didn’t tell you!?_ He’s printing off _5000 copies_ of this 30 page ‘masterpiece’ of his and he says your favour will be to staple them all together, all by _yourself_ , before the art exhibition tomorrow!”

Wait… _Yamada’s_ masterpiece? All he’d wanted Ishimaru to do was… _Staple some papers together…!?_

“Ah! Aha! _Hahaha!_ ” He almost bent over double with relieved laughter.

“I _knew_ it was too much… look, Chihiro and I will convince him to…”

“No! No it’s _fine!_ ” Ishimaru laughed, “I thought I was in for _far_ worse! I’ll get started now…” He entered the room. There were stacks of paper everywhere and a high quality stapler, with several spare boxes of staples next to it.

Chihiro was also in the room, stacking sets of paper into angled piles that would allow him to easily pick up a single set of papers and staple them together. That would make things much easier! “Ah, Ishimaru? Are you the one putting all these together?” He asked, “I’ve put them into sets for you, but this still seems like a lot for one person…”

“Nonsense! It’s fine!” Ishimaru replied, quickly taking off his bag and hiding his terrible attempt at art underneath it on the floor. “This will be no problem at all! I assume I sit here?”

He started working on the first pile. This might take him an entire day, but he’d sooner spend a whole _week_ stapling than have to try _drawing_ again…

* * *

Hifumi returned from the printer with another trolley full of his masterpiece, to find Ishimaru had already arrived and started diligently constructing the printouts with a broad smile on his face. _That_ was the kind of ‘professionalism’ he’d been expecting from their Moral Compass! He pushed the trolley over towards Fujisaki, who was helping out by organising the papers into convenient piles.

“Good Morning, Yamada-kun!” Ishimaru said, starting the day with exuberance, as always!

“Good morning, Ishimaru-dono…” Yamada replied, checking the quality of Ishimaru’s work. It was, as expected, _spectacularly_ neat, with not a single page or staple out of line. _This_ should show Yotismu he didn't need to put up with corporate meddling in order to put out a high quality product!

“I hope it’s satisfactory?” Ishimaru asked.

“Well of _course_ it is! You have your Effort Drive, after all!” Really, he didn’t understand why Ishimaru had been so nervous about this! “Also… Did you… did you manage to bring… that thing we discussed?” He tried to subtly ask for the exercise plan.

“Hmm? _OH!_ Yes, my bag’s over on the floor there…” Ishimaru nodded in the direction of a far table, his hands not resting from their task for a second.

Yamada checked under the table to find a backpack tidily stowed on top of a sheaf of papers, meticulously stapled together. Typical Ishimaru, even stapling the exercise plan neatly…

“AH! _NO!_ _Inside_ the bag! _INSIDE!_ DON’T LOOK AT…”

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35166624833/in/dateposted-public/)

“… _that…_ ” Ishimaru’s voice trailed off with a quiver. (Author’s note: There should the first of seven images here, if not please let me know in the comments. Also pages read right to left.)

What… what was _this?_ It looked like something an untrained child would draw… A flat image with no detail or shading, sloppy line work, poor proportions and coloured in _crayon?_

But judging from the eyebrows, hair and red eyes the man on the cover was supposed to be… “Ishimaru… Did _you_ draw this?”

“Ngh!” He flinched, staring intensely at the stack of papers he was lining up. “I… Err… Yes…” He answered, still staring at the papers in his hands as if he’d combust with shame if he met his gaze.

_Why?_ He obviously had no drawing experience whatsoever, and he _knew_ the importance of building up gradually… How had inspiration gripped him so fiercely that he went straight to trying to draw a full comic straight away?

Ah! Of course! _He’d_ told Ishimaru that art was a way to express feelings earlier in the week, hadn’t he? Was there something the warrior of justice wanted to _tell_ them, but couldn’t find the words to _say?_ Well, Ishimaru had helped him exercise... he owed it to the guy to ‘listen’ to his explanation, regardless of how _clumsy_ it was…

Fujisaki had had the same idea, of course a fellow budding artist would understand! She stood next to him as they turned to the first page.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35136890474/in/dateposted-public/)

Ishimaru couldn’t ‘ _draw his sword’!?_ Well! No _wonder_ he was always so uptight!

“Are his family really in _that_ much trouble?” Fujisaki asked quietly. What was she talking about? Was impotency a hereditary issue?

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35935345366/in/dateposted-public/)

Hmm… standard hero’s story setup, there didn’t appear to be any references or meta-analysis to other works… and Ishimaru _really_ couldn’t draw profiles… or anything _else_ for that matter…

“A group of… _riders_ causing trouble?” Chihiro muttered, sounding concerned.

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35136884984/in/dateposted-public/)

Hmm… _still_ the standard hero’s story, with Ishimaru rushing off to confront the villian, perfectly in character… and a valiant attempt at drawing a background!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35166612763/in/dateposted-public/)

“That’s _Mondo_ isn’t it?” Fujisaki asked, with an annoyed sigh.

Well, who _else_ would you cast as a villain?

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35806088992/in/dateposted-public/)

“Tch! Mondo’s not _like_ that…” Fujisaki murmured.

“…Are you _sure?_ ” How could she be so _nice_ to him, after he’d destroyed her hard work?

“Well… ok so he _has_ stolen stuff… and he _does_ care about his ‘man’s honour’… but he wouldn’t _kill_ a guy!”

Well, time to see if Ishimaru agreed with her… The next page felt like the last…

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35935327546/in/dateposted-public/)

“ _Oooohhh…_ Ok that _is_ like Mondo…” Fujisaki smiled. “I _knew_ Kiyotaka could start getting along with him!”

‘Getting along’ might be putting it mildly, given that apparently Mondo had the ability to help Ishimaru ‘ _draw his sword_ ’. No wonder he’d suddenly started being so forgiving of the biker!

And no wonder he’d not wanted to say this out loud… Hope’s Peak’s most respectable student had a crush on its biggest trouble maker. He’d _never_ get taken seriously in his duties again if he actually came out and _said_ it! Let alone what Oowada would do to him if he found out… Poor guy, hopefully his crush would pass and he’d find some _other_ nice man... One of the other six ‘broken stars’…

Assuming he hadn’t meant he needed all 7 people in bed with him at once, that is! Maybe he’d just be better of using medication to deal with the issue if it came to that…

* * *

Ishimaru tried to focus his attention on the stacks of papers he was sorting but... _Urrgggh!_ This was _horrible!_ Why weren't they _saying_ anything!? The pair of them were just reading through it and _muttering_ …

Why did he _care_ so much, anyway? He _knew_ it was terrible, it wasn't as if he was worried about criticism! But seeing them staring at it made him feel naked, and not the comfortable nakedness of talking with another man in a public bath, but the cringing, stomach twisting embarrassment of being trussed up in his underwear and judged by the girls swim class as they came past...

Finally, _finally_ they were finished reading the awful thing! But now they were just looking at _him_ instead!

"I... I know it not very good..." He understated, if only to break the awful silence.

"It's better than anything _I_ could do!" Chihiro offered, to his surprise. "And you got Mondo's character perfect!" He smiled. Chihiro thought _that_ , even after Mondo had damaged his hard work? Or was he just saying it to hide what had happened with the biker?

"Hmm... Admittedly you could have done with learning some basic techniques first... There's a book I could lend you for _that_... But I can tell you've put your thoughts and feelings into this, and I can respect that!" Yamada smiled. "And there's medication for that... _problem_ as well, you know!"

What was Yamada talking about? There was medication that helped with _drawing?_ That sounded like some sort of scam to him…

"Err... Thank you?" He replied as the twisting in his guts lessened and he carried back on with his work. Why had he been worried? His classmates were too polite to outright laugh or insult him!

...But why did he now feel... _disappointed?_ He'd known it wasn't good, he was hardly expecting glowing praise! So why did he feel like... like they'd not said something he was hoping to hear?

He focused on stapling the papers, trying to push away the nagging feeling, until Makoto came back in with more print outs for him to work with.

"Hey, what're you guys looking at?" He asked the others.

"Kiyotaka drew a doujin!" Chihiro waved the front cover at him.

" _Really!?_ " Makoto exclaimed. "Can I read it?" Well, at least _he'd_ actually _asked_...

"Well... It's not... good, but if you _want_ to..." He muttered through his embarrassment, Makoto would probably just have the same reaction as Chihiro, after all...

Not that it stopped anxiety from making him want to throw up as the boy read it and Yamada and Chihiro left to get more printouts...

Ishimaru couldn't help stealing occasional glances at Makoto as he worked... The boy was frowning at it, _oh gods_ why did that make him want to cringe? Was he going to laugh?

"Kiyotaka..." Urg, here it comes... "You're _not_ a fool."

He felt his checks flushing even as he wondering where the sudden statement had come from. "I beg your pardon? I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah... But this guy's pretty much you, and he calls himself one three times..." Makoto shook the 'doujin'. "So... I just thought I'd say you're not a fool. Or _I_ don't think you are, at least!"

"I..." He wanted to believe Makoto, but couldn't shake the feeling he was wrong. "I think that might be because you just don't know me that well..."

"Well... What is it about you that you think’s foolish?"

"... I want to become a politician when I'm older..." He admitted. "To the extent that it's _that_ or... Or it feels like my life will have just been a _failure_..."

"Uhh... That doesn't seem foolish to me? I think you'd be _great_ politician!" Makoto smiled, not realising the problem.

"But... Who'd want to elect me? Most people think I'm awful..."

"What!? Who said _that?_ " Makoto cried.

He formed a list in his mind… “Well, Katsushika… and most of the other students in my middle school… and a couple of the teachers… And I think you’ll find most of the students outside out class here dislike me…”

“That’s just kids being jerks because you’re a hall monitor!”

“But… I’m terrible at _talking_ to other people as well… I go on and on and can’t tell when I’m boring them and Ikusaba says it’s just something people know how to do, but I don’t and I wonder if something’s _wrong_ with me…” And here he was, about to go on and on _again_. And he didn’t know if he could stop himself, either. Makoto’s questions seemed to have pierced whatever wall he built to bottle up his worries and now they were all threatening to spill out…

“That’s not true… People don’t just _know_ how to talk to other people and tell what they’re thinking…”

“So why does everyone but _me_ …?”

“It’s something you pick up from talking to other people as you grow up…” Makoto explained, gently. “But you’ve not had many people to talk to… so you’ve not practiced it…”

_Practice?_ Instead of spilling out, his worries drained away… All he needed was _practice_ … And if there was one thing he was _good_ at, it was practicing…

“I... Hahaha! That’s so _obvious!_ I should have realised!” He laughed. “Thank you so much, Makoto!”

Makoto blinked, then laughed as well. “No problem! But…” He looked around the room, “Are you sure you can do all this by yourself? Maybe we could…”

“I told you before, this is fine! I’ll manage even if I take all night!” Ishimaru stated, his entire being feeling lighter as he pulled another stack of papers towards him…

...

It didn’t take all night, but it was getting close to curfew when he put the final copy down onto a tray to be taken to the exhibition hall. Well, at least it was over, and Yamada had actually let him take breaks to eat…

“Uhh… There’s a few more to put together…” Makoto told him, putting another stack of papers next to him. These ones seemed thinner though.

He picked up the first one, only to cringe as he saw a photocopy of his own terrible drawing on it.

“What… Why have you…!?”

“It’s just a _small_ print run… you are only a fledgling artist, after all!” Yamada explained, “But I know you worked hard, so I shall help you spread your message across the school!”

The whole _school_ seeing this mess!? “Err… Is that really necessary? I mean… it… it’s _terrible!_ ”

“It’s not _that_ bad! It might encourage other students to try as well!” Chihiro insisted. “I know at least _one_ person who would be inspired by it…”

His work… _inspiring_ people? “Well… I guess…” He muttered. He could only hope he wouldn’t get laughed at _too_ much in return…

* * *

(Sunday, 15th Janurary 2012)

The great arm of Hifumi Yamada grew tired... But he would _not_ give in! The masses were flocking to receive his message from the gods, marked with his signature of authenticity! (Before being handed over by Fujisaki.) He would not let mere fatigue prevent him from delivering his blessing!

(" _YOU_ drew this!?" "Err... Yes...")

And, of course, he also had his new _apprentice_ to be aware of! The warrior of justice had shown great fear when first told it was expected of him to present his own work, but had, as expected, found great courage within himself and attended regardless!

("YOU drew this terrible thing?" "It was my first attempt!" "Dude... I could do better than this!" "Well, I look forward to seeing that then!")

He might not have a message from the gods to present, but he _did_ have a message! The message that even though one might feel that one doesn't have a talent for creation, one can still _try!_ And that the mere _act_ of expression will...

("...Whatever dude, I've got better things to do than make shitty art like this! Hahahaha")

...Will get you laughed at by your peers, apparently.

He'd _hoped_ seeing Ishimaru's work would inspire people to give it a go themselves, show them that you could find enjoyment in making art even if it wasn't ‘ _the best_ ’... But most of them were just mocking him instead.

("You drew this?" "...Yes.")

And now Ishimaru was cringing every time someone even _looked_ in his direction, obviously not finding enjoyment in his work anymore. If anything this was probably discouraging people, who'd want to try and make something that got you laughed at, right?

("What pens did you use?" "Hmm? Oh, these ones!" "Where did you get them from?" "Err... I don't actually know... Would you like these ones? I don't think I'll use them again...")

And now even Ishimaru had lost his inspiration! This was a disaster! He could only hope some affirmation from their classmates would help him find it again...

* * *

"It's fine! I think I need to work on my pencilling a lot more before I draw anything else!" He told the girl who'd asked about pens, as she thanked him. Not that he was sure that he’d actually draw anything else, but Yamada had given him that book so he should at least do the study exercises in it, right?

At least Chihiro had been right and he'd helped encourage someone else! And it was giving him the chance to practise talking to people. That was worth being the target of a little mockery, right?

Speaking of mockery... Here came Kuwata...

"What are _you_ doing here?" He asked.

"I tried to draw a doujin..."

“Pphth! _Seriously!?_ Lemme see!” He snatched a copy off the desk and flipped through it, sniggering. “You drew Mondo with a _mullet!?_ _Bwahaha!”_

Ah! _That_ was what that hairstyle was called!

“Leon, what are you laughing at?” Sayaka had walked up behind him.

“He drew _Mondo_ with a _mullet!_ ” Leon thrust the relevant page at her.

Urg… She was going to think he was a lunatic for wanting to show this to people…

“What!? Ishimaru you…” Sayaka looked towards him, so he looked down at the table instead. “Did you think you _had_ to make something for the art festival?”

“What!? How did you…?” She wasn’t _really_ psychic, was she?

“What, seriously? _That’s_ why you drew this!?” Kuwata was evidently shocked at the concept of fulfilling an obligation. “Geez, dude… I’d have just told the school to go do one…”

“That’s hardly unexpected, given the amount of overdue homework you have!”

“Urg… Whatever, it’s not like I need to be good at _maths_ …”

“Oh! Speaking of homework…” Sayaka exclaimed before he had a chance to try and adjust Kuwata’s lazy attitude, “I have a recording session tomorrow and won’t be able to hand in mine… If I leave it in your pigeonhole could you please…?”

“Ah! Absolutely, I’ll make sure it’s all submitted for you!” He didn’t know why she kept asking him every time, it was one of his duties as class rep… “And I’ll pick up notes for you!” He reassured her.

“Thanks, Kiyotaka!” She smiled so nicely that he couldn’t help but return it, it was always nice to be appreciated!

“...Why’d you ask _him?_ ” Kuwata asked, glaring at Ishimaru.

“Because _he’ll_ actually do it!” Sayaka smirked at him.

“Hhmp… Whatever!” He was still glaring at him. “How much for _this?_ ”

_What?_ Kuwata wanted a copy? Oh gods, was he planning to show it to _Oowada?_

“It’s 250 yen.” There _, that_ should be extortionate enough price for this _dross_ that no one in their right mind would…

“We’ll get two copies then!” Sayaka smiled, fishing some coins out of her purse.

“Uhh… Thanks…” Well, _this_ was going to be a disaster…

…

Togami stalked over to his table, looking irritated. “This is Yamada’s work?” He asked quickly.

“Err… No, it’s mine… Yamada’s is over there.”

“Right…” Togami nodded, turned towards Yamada’s table… then frowned and turned back to him.

“ _Your_ work?” He asked, staring at it incredulously.

“Yes… Did you want to have a look? Although it’s rather poor…”

Togami looked around him, as if on the lookout for something. “I’m in a hurry. Summarise it.” Was he avoiding Fukawa again?

“It’s about a swordsman who goes on a journey to break a curse that’s stopping him from drawing his sword.”

“Why doesn’t he just do something else?”

“I… I beg your pardon?”

“He could just _not_ be a swordsman. Maybe get a job cleaning for a local lord. He could probably do quite well out of _that_ …”

What made Togami think Kunoharu would be good at _cleaning?_ He hadn’t even considered that aspect of his character… “Well, he might be willing to do jobs like that to get by… but it’s not really who he wants to _be?_ ”

“Hmm… Interesting.” Why was Togami… analysing him like that? “Anyway I…”

“I shall start the bidding at 5000 yen!” Togami was suddenly cut off by Princess Nevermore, who had rushed over to them, followed closely by Hirayama and several other reserve students who were carrying various pieces of artwork.

“Tch! You don’t even know what this _is!_ ” Togami snapped at her. “6000 yen.”

Wait… where they talking about buying _his_ work!? “I have multiple copies…” He tried to explain.

“The kingdom of Novoselic’s purchasing power shall _not_ be outdone by a mere corporation! 7000 yen!” Sonia countered.

“Fine. Enjoy… _this_.” Togami picked up a copy and handed it to her.

She looked at it for a moment. “…You did not actually want to buy this, did you?” She asked, flatly.

“No. Now stop outbidding me on everything I so much as _glance_ at!” Togami snapped at her and walked off.

“Ahahaha… Well, I’m actually only selling them for…!!!” His explanation was cut off by Sonia throwing a pile of notes on the table, and following after Togami before he got a chance to finish. Hirayama followed her again, although not before giving the cover of the book an odd glance. She probably thought he was mad… or wasting paper.

Still, at least she seemed to be getting on well with Her Highness, hopefully the princess was helping her in return…

…

“So this is what you’ve been working on all week?” Kyoko said coolly as came up to the table. “Let me guess, you misunderstood a request from Hifumi, and then he insisted you show everyone your work?

“Yes.” He admitted. It was slightly less galling than her thinking he’d actually _wanted_ people to see this mess… Not that it was stopping Kyoko from picking up the ‘masterpiece’ and flipping through it, eyes scanning over it as if she was looking for a tiny piece of evidence hidden amongst it…

“You’re that _that_ foolish, you know.” She finally said.

“Err… yes. Makoto said something similar.” He told her.

“Of course he did…” She smiled. It was an unusual to see such a pretty smile on the usually stoic girl… Except whenever the luckster was mentioned, or nearby… Did that mean?

“Kyoko… Do you _like_ Makoto?” He asked.

“What!?” She looked startled. “…Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous!” She answered, frowning at his foolish question.

“Ah, my apologies… I need more practise at reading people…”

“…Yes, you do.” She agreed.

* * *

His young neophyte was starting to look less depressed! As expected of his classmates, they had all bonded through the power of friendship to give hope to the warrior during his moment of despair!

And speaking of their classmates, here was the radiant beauty of Lady Celestia!

“Greetings Lady Celestia, I hope you are enjoying the artwork!”

“Hmm… I am. But my feet are tired.” She stated. “… A gentleman would offer me his seat.” She added after a moment.

_AH!_ “Would you like a seat, Lady Celestia?” He stood up.

“Yes, thank you Hifumi.” She smiled as she sat down, idly helping herself to the book he’d bought to read during the inevitable slow period in the afternoon. He panicked as her eyes flicked casually over the copy of the exercise schedule he’d hastily shoved in it to use as a bookmark, but if she saw what it was, she made no comment on it.

“Thank you for that, Hifumi! I’ll buy a book as well.” She smiled, once she'd finished her reading. He reached under the counter to give her the special edition he’d prepared for her, one with a sketch as well as an autograph…

Meanwhile, over at Kiyotaka’s table, Asahina, Hagakure and Oogami were reading his work appreciatively...

“So… what happens next?” Asahina asked excitedly.

“Err… I hadn’t really considered it…” Ishimaru said, craftily avoiding giving out spoilers!

“Well, I’m sure in the end he manages to right his grandfather’s wrongs.” Oogami said, staring at Ishimaru.

“Yeah… and I’m getting a prediction that he ends up being really good friends with that horse riding dude!” Hagakure said cheerfully.

“Ngh!” Ishimaru grimaced.

_Really,_ how insensitive could the fortune teller _be?_ To give Ishimaru false hope that his delinquent crush was even _capable_ of forming a bond of friendship, let alone with one as noble, pure and unlike himself as their Moral Compass!

There was a break in the crowds, and Ishimaru took the opportunity to take a break himself, conscientiously putting up a sign saying he’d be back in five minutes before he left.

“Oh… _Typical_ , just as I turn up!” Naegi’s voice moaned from Ishimaru’s table a few minutes later. “I was going to buy a copy…”

“What the fuck is this shit anyway? It looks like crap…” _AAAIIIEE!_ What was _Oowada_ doing here! Was he planning to destroy _all_ the artworks?

“Oh… uhh… Kiyotaka tried to draw a doujin…” Makoto muttered.

“What!? That hardass can _draw!?_ ” Oh no! Oowada was picking up a copy to _read!_ What would he do when he found out how Ishimaru _felt_ about him?

“Uhh… no, not really…” Makoto admitted. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

“Why the fuck not? It’s _true!_ This is crap!” Mondo sneered, flipping through the pages.

“It’s only his first try…” Makoto muttered.

“Well, he should’a waited ‘till his _second_ try… or maybe his _hund_ …” Oowada’s voice froze as he got to a page near the centre. “The fuck is _that!?_ ”

* * *

Ishimaru got back to the table about four minutes after he left and… _Oh gods!_ Oowada was reading his doujin! And he was right at the part before _he_ appeared in it.

What would he think? What would he _do?_ Would he actually read the whole thing and think that Ishimaru had any measure of respect for him… Or would he just see the part where he appeared to be a villain and punch Ishimaru for the insult? Then again there was always the chance Oowada would be proud of being depicted as a thug…

Well… Ishimaru was about to find out, because Oowada was turning to the full page image…

“ _WHAT!?_ Is… is _this_ …?” The biker’s face twisted into a scowl. “Is this supposed ta be a _horse!?_ ”

“Uhh… Yeah... that’s a horse…” Makoto confirmed, hesitantly.

“ _BAHAHAHA!_ ” Oowada broke into laughter. “Are ya fuckin’ serious!? This is the shittiest fuckin’ horse I’ve ever _seen!_ He thinks that’s what a horse looks like!? Where the fuck’s its _neck!?_ HAHAHAHA!” Oowada flipped over the page… “Oh! _There’s_ its neck! This other horse here musta _stolen_ it! HAHAHAHA!”

He… he’d spent _all that time_ considering the possibility that Oowada was an _honourable_ man at heart, despite his initial appearance and mannerisms… He’d spent _half an hour_ staring at their class photos to get his features correct! And Oowada hadn’t even _noticed_ it was _him!_

“And why the gently caress is its mane blonde and its tail _brown!?_ ” Oowada was _still_ laughing at the horse…? “What did he model this thing off, a My Little Pony toy?” He flipped the page again. “Oh no! The dude’s attacking his shitty fucking horse! Somebody stop him! BAHAHAHA!”

And he wasn’t even _reading_ it! He was just flipping through the pages… laughing at Ishimaru’s attempts to draw _horses!_

“And what the fuck happened _here!?_ Did the horse shrink or are _these_ guys riding Shetland ponies? AHAHAHA!”

Well… of course _he’d_ laugh! _He_ wouldn’t get it, would he!? _He’d_ never spent hours slaving over something difficult! _He’d_ never poured his time and effort into trying to express himself! _He’d_ never put his feelings into something that left him open to ridicule and mockery!

“Hey, Chihiro! You weren’t kiddin’ about there being shittier fuckin’ horses than…”

“WELL AT LEAST I ACTUALLY _TRIED_ TO DRAW A… A _SUGARY FUDGING HORSE_!” Oowada spun round with a glare as the words shot out from his mouth. “At least _I_ put some _effort_ into creating something! Instead of just _destroying_ everything around me like a _COWARD!_ ”

“You think I’m a _coward!?_ ” Oowada growled as he stalked up to him, trying to intimidate him by getting right into his face…

“YES!” He belted it out, back straight, head up and staring right into the biker’s eyes.

The biker glared straight back. “What!? You think you’re _better_ than me just ‘cause you’re too _stupid_ to keep your shitty crap _hidden_ from people!”

“I _know_ I’m a better man than you for a _multitude_ of reasons!”

“Oh, I have had enough of your _shit!_ I’m gonna show you once and for all who’s the better _man_ here!” Oowada growled, cracking his knuckles.

“Very well! If it’s a challenge you’re issuing, I accept!” He’d show everyone that this _delinquent_ was nothing to be scared of! Then people wouldn’t be afraid of reporting him when he damaged their _work!_

“Uhh… guys? You aren’t going to fight are you?” Makoto stammered from their side.

“Nah… I’ll give him a chance!” Oowada sneered, as if he’d have _any_ chance of winning in _any_ sort of competition! “We’ll go to the sauna… And _you_ can be our witness!”

The sauna? Why would he suggest…?

“M-me…?” Makoto stammered.

“Ah! I see! A simple endurance contest, is it? We’ll see who can stay in the longest!” Ishimaru realised.

“Damn straight!” Oowada snapped. “Now come on!”

They both grabbed Makoto… after all he’d need someone to let everyone know that the biker was nothing to be feared once he’d _won!_

* * *

Poor Ishimaru… to have his confession completely ignored… it was the sort of bad plot used to string out an overdone will-they-won’t-they romance…

“Urg!” Fujisaki groaned. “Just when I thought they were starting to get along… You told Kiyotaka about the _horse_ , didn’t you?” She asked with an annoyed sigh.

“Ah! I’m sorry! But… what Oowada did was unforgivable! Destroying something you must have worked so _hard_ on! Neither of us could just ignore that! _We_ understand what it’s like to pour your feelings into a piece of work!”

And Oowada’s reaction just now was nothing but more proof that he was just a violent, brutish _thug_ who only cared to tear down the hard work of others! Of course Ishimaru, the hard working, noble warrior of justice, had seen fit to lock himself in a fierce battle with…

“Yamada… _I_ didn’t make that horse…” Fujisaki stated. “ _Mondo_ did! He was just embarrassed about how it looked…”

…with… with… Mondo Oowada, _embarrassed woodworker?_ A man working tirelessly in secret to unleash the raging storm inside his heart, only to be foiled by his fearful desire to protect his manly pride?

What kind of story was _that!?_

…

And how long was this story going to _take,_ exactly? Hifumi wondered as he headed back to his room. It had been several hours since the pair had gone off to their challenge! He’d ended up packing up alongside Fukisaki and returning to his room without knowing how the challenge had gone.

He sighed, he was supposed to be “squeezing in a quick walk before bed” as Ishimaru had put it on the schedule. But he was tired and not in the mood. Walking outside by himself in the dark was the sort of stupid thing a doomed side-character in a cheesy monster story would so before getting brutally dismembered.

Still, Ishimaru was still at his challenge with Oowada… It wasn’t as if he _actually_ had a moral compass that could detect wrongdoing. Hifumi could probably just not worry about it tonight and tell Ishimaru he _had._ After all if wasn’t as if a 30 minute walk was going to have much effect in the long run… And if it turned out Ishimaru _could_ detect wrongdoing, then that would be a far more exciting story than walking on the treadmill…

The doorbell rang. Had Ishimaru known he was considering ditching exercise and come to make him do it? What sort of genre would that result in? A military training montage, perhaps?

He opened the door… only to find a far more appealing sight than that of the hall monitor. “Lasy Celestia! Did you want something!?” Perhaps she’d come for some tea?

“Ah, Hifumi. I need some fresh air, so I’m going for a walk.” She explained.

“Ah… Ok?” Why had she told him that? And why was she now scowling at him…? “Wait? Outside, by _yourself_ …?” That was the sort of thing a horror story victim would do! “…Do you want someone to accompany you?” He asked.

“Yes, thank you Hifumi.” She smiled, waiting for him to get his shoes on and they walked through the halls together.

Well… _this_ was better! If this was a monster story, then at least _he’d_ be the one to get attacked and eaten first, and Lady Celestia would have time to run away!

It wasn’t as if there were any _other_ options… A man and woman walking together on a moon-lit night would either be attack by monster, or in a romance novel… and it wasn’t as if there was _any_ chance _Celestia_ would be in a romance novel with _him_ …

“…A gentleman would offer me his arm.” Celestia stated.

Hifumi complied before he realised what he was doing, and then Celestia’s thin arm was linked around his and her exotic hair was brushing softly against his side and he could have sworn a small smile was playing at her lips…

Well… if this _wasn’t_ a romance, it was doing a good job of setting up a surprise ending…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apologies for the fact that about 20% of this chapter was me laughing at my own inability to draw. I hope you had fun reading regardless (especially because this chapter will probably be the most fun one of this fic)
> 
> But next chapter Kiyotaka and Mondo will finally be friends! And we'll be focusing on... Junko...  
> (It'll be fine, right!?)
> 
> Note: The next chapter is as long as this one and ends on a cliffhanger. The chapter after that is even longer. If you're reading late at night, go to bed!


	6. Valentine's Date (Junko Enoshima)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Major DR2 spoilers in the chapter. Also I’m completely ignoring DR3 (I had this fic planned out before it started, and I’ve only watched 3 episodes of pre-despair.)  
> -I've gone with the manga version of the sauna scene.  
> -I was aiming to show some of the members of class 77 gradually falling into Junko’s despair, so they will be a little OOC compared to the game.  
> -In the PC version of DR2, Ibuki’s pointing and peeking sprites are sometimes accompanied by her VA shouting “pointing” and “peeking” respectively. I decided to include her doing that in this fic.  
> -I’m using the Japanese tradition of women giving chocolates to men they associate with on Valentine’s Day (with bigger chocolates for guys they like more)  
> -The remaining notes are kind of spoilerish but I feel like they need to be said in advance because it might be controversial otherwise… Or maybe I’m worrying too much!  
> \- Junko is an evil bitch and her descriptions of Chihiro (and Hifumi) and the way she treats Mikan are meant to reflect that. Also as Monokuma breaks the fourth wall a bit in Dangan Ronpa 2 I have her do it a few times here (Mostly just for humour’s sake though).  
> \- My headcanon for Chihiro’s gender is that he considers himself male and would like to be treated as such (At least at this point, he might realise he’s slightly gender-fluid and likes being treated like a girl on occasion when it comes to his own chapter, I’m not sure on that yet). But at the moment he’s still too worried about being picked on for being ‘too weak for a boy’ to actually present himself as such. Because of this he’d secretly like to be given V-day chocolates, but won’t admit it.  
> -Insert obligatory [All headcanons for Chihiro’s gender are totally cool, let’s not have an argument in the comments please!] statement  
> -Also my thinking is that Hope’s Peak has a tendency to not properly punish its students at times because they’re the ‘hopes of the world’ (The cover up of student council murders for example) so if Kirigiri seems like he’s being too lenient later on, I agree and that’s why.

(Friday, 10th February 2012)

“Go _on_ Muku… just _ask_ him already!” Like, seriously! She wanted to see her sister’s despair at being shot _down_ already!

The Lucky _Loser_ had nagged the Ice Detective into letting him take her out for Valentine's, like, a _week_ ago… but somehow her dense big sister had missed the memo and was still planning to ask ‘Makoto’ to be her Valentine… and she couldn’t _wait_ to see the result!

“I… I’ll do it when it’s just the two of us…” She muttered in response, glancing around at the other students in the room…. Urg, so she was gonna _hide_ the big event from even _her!?_ Did Mukuro not care about how she felt _at all?_ It was _soooo_ despair inducing how much the hapless hoodie wearer had caused them to split apart... She’d have to try and distract herself from the _horrible pain_ her sister was causing by people-watching these other losers she was in a class with…

“Hey Chi? Can ya do me a favour?” Oowada was asking Fujisaki. “Can ya download some of these movies for me?”

“Top 10 violent movies to watch on Valentine’s Day?” The girly-boy replied. “ _Why…?_ ”

“It’s for me and Kiyotaka!” Oowada told him/her/it, (who really _cares_ , not like this shit is posted on _Tumblr! LOL)_ “ _He’s_ gonna have a bunch of documentaries from the library, and for each hour I sit through, I’m making him watch an hour of actions movies!”

“Uhh… So how many of these are you going to need?”

“Well… it’s just our bros night in this Tuesday… so 2 or 3, maybe? But maybe start with the slightly less gory ones? I don’t wanna freak him out _too_ much…”

Wait… _Bros night in?_ … This _Tuesday…?_

That was _Valentine’s Day!_ ” Captain Hardass and Corncob head were gonna be hanging out even on _Valentine’s Day!?_ And it sounded like they were gonna actually have _fun_ instead of just getting drunk and one of them making a desperate pass on the other and then them both waking up and never talking to each other again like guys hanging out on Valentine’s were _supposed_ to do.

_Urrrggg!!!!_ There was absolutely no despair in that at _all!_ This was _awful!_ Not only was _Oowada_ suddenly not obsessing over girls to the point that he freaked them all out, but now he was dragging Ishimaru into his happy place as well!

And Ishimaru had had _so much_ _potential_ for despair…

He’d been so  _desperate_ for friends, it would have been so _easy_ to mould him, like putty, into anything she wanted…

Perhaps she could have kept his despair to himself… Talk to him, become his only emotional support, gradually introduce him to alcohol and drugs as a way to quiet the loneliness and self-doubt that constantly gnawed at him, then disappear from his life and watch him spiral into dependency and addiction until he was just a useless mess who’d crumpled under the pressure his father, teachers and title had all piled on him. Watch him spend his days slowly killing himself, knowing he’d failed to restore his family’s honour and that his so called ‘Ultimate’ legacy would be nothing but a stack of bills and debts no one would ever repay. But still too much of a coward to just end it himself…

Or she could have used him as an extension of her own despair. Encourage his bitter jealousy at the sight of others having fun _without him_ to turn into anger and a desire to _punish._ To punish the lazy, for not feeling the guilt he was wracked with whenever he stopped to let his aching body rest. To punish the carefree, for having so much of the happiness and fun that he only barely remembered from the time his mother was alive. To punish the violent, for taking the easy route instead of struggling with the words and diplomacy that always twisted out of his mouth the wrong way. To punish the talented, for never knowing the feelings of inferiority he felt the first hundred times he tried to do _anything_. To punish the affectionate, for rubbing salt into the lonely wounds of his soul with their happy acts of love that he knew he’d _never_ get to feel.

To punish, punish, punish… until the world either joined him or lived in the fear that he and his “disciplinary committees” would find them and find _something_ that they’d done to deserve his _punishments_ … The punishments of a hardened tyrant who’d never known joy or fun and hated the entire _world_ for the fact that he’d been born with a name, face and personality that made everyone he met either ignore or _hate_ him…

Or go the other way! Remind him of the _compassion_ he felt for his fellow man, his desire to help them be _all_ that they could _be_ … but also of how _weak_ they all were… how _eas_ il _y_ they were tempted into lazy habits and poor decisions and disruptive behaviours and, like, wouldn’t it be better if they had someone to _look after_ them? Someone who knew what was _best_ for them, even if _they_ didn’t? Someone who wouldn’t let them slip, even for a _second?_

Tell him they needed _him_ the _Ultimate Moral Compass_ to lead them down the right path… even if they complained, even if they moaned about not having ‘free will’, even if they fought _against_ him he shouldn’t let _himself_ slip, even for a second! Because he _knew_ what was best, _right?_ And he’d _know_ what was best right up until the final moments when the rescue force stormed into his office with all the people he’d been ‘looking after’ freed from his ‘facility’ and he was shot dead to the sounds of cheers and jubilations…

Or she could have just _not_ done _anything_ to him! Let him work his ass off, let him slave away at his books and sacrifice fun and friends and spend the best years of his life working himself to the bone to achieve his dreams. Let him become the man his father wanted him to be, let him surpass his grandfather, let him pay off his debts and make the world give him the respect he’d spent his _entire life_ trying to earn…

And then sit back and enjoy the despair he felt every single minute of his ‘dream’! From the mornings when he woke up crying, through the day when he had to bargain, compromise and give up on his ideals in order to make even the _tiniest_ positive change, into the nights when he lay awake after pleasing a wife he didn’t love and reflected on the fact that, despite having _everything_ he’d ever worked and hoped for, he _still_ wasn’t _happy._

But _NOOOOOO!_ Fucking _Oowada_ his goddamn _‘Kyoudai’_ had screwed all of that to _hell_!

_Now_ he’d spent every day this last month laughing at Oowada’s side, revelling in how easy it was to talk, smile and laugh when he was close to his friend, instead of feeling like an awkward, ugly _mess!_ He was letting Oowada tempt him into social outings instead of feeling compelled to say no and then secretly resenting Naegi for organising them once he was the only one left studying in the library. He was gaining pride from listening Oowada’s compliments, instead of replaying all the criticisms he’d ever heard in his head over and over and over until he rotted his own soul…

And, even worse, he was just as good for Oowada as Oowada was for _him_. Oowada had spent every day this past month studying ( _actually_ studying, not the _fun_ kinda studying) at Ishimaru’s side, revelling at how easy it was to do equations, write essays and remember history when he listened to his friend, instead of feeling like a stupid, useless _thugI_ He was letting Ishimaru drag him to the nurses office for extra nicotine patches, instead of insisting he didn’t need them and then secretly lighting up a cigarette when he was left alone for more than five minutes. He was gaining confidence from listening to Ishimaru’s compliments, and was starting to show others his woodworks instead of focusing on all the tiny little mistakes he inevitably made until he lost his temper and threw his hard work in the woodchipper and resolved not to bother trying again…

And now Valentine’s Day was approaching… and instead of Oowada insisting he was totally gonna ask a girl out only for him to screw it up and then spend the evening in his room drinking and smoking himself into oblivion, he was now insisting that he and Ishimaru were gonna be having a ‘bro’s night in’ and be watching action movies and documentaries! Which _completely_ screwed with Ishimaru’s ‘duty’ to be stomping around the school handing out detention slips for ~~having fun~~ ‘public displays of affection’, and ruining any chance of the friendships he was so desperate for in the process!

Well, no more! No more _fucking hope_ for the two ‘ _Kyoudai’s_ ’! It was making her want to _puke_ , and she needed to get some good-old fashioned despair up in this bitch!

And she had _juuuust_ the right little piece of paper to do it with…

But first: “Hey! _Makooootooooo!?_ What are _your_ plans for _Valentine’s?_ ”

She could _feel_ her sister tensing up with panic…

“Oh? Me? I’m taking Kyoko on a picnic.”

Aaaaand there was the sound of her sister’s pen clattering to the floor… Poor, poor Mukuro… How wonderfully _horrible_ Makoto was to you… and the best part was that he had _no idea_ … Upupupupupu!

* * *

Kiyotaka was in the library, checking over the available documentaries… which ones would Mondo be interested in? Maybe some nature documentaries, ones with lots of animal fighting or mating? Although mating scenes might just remind him that he didn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day again this year…

The fact that Mondo worried about not having a date had been surprising to him… He’d just expected the biker to be the sort who’d cruise around on his bike and suavely invite any girls he was interested in for a ride… not get nervous about it and shout awkwardly so that they ran away… and ten times in a row at that!

Then again, there was a lot that surprised Kiyotaka about Mondo… He’d been surprised to learn how much effort Mondo put into his responsibility of leading his gang, how much the gang leader missed taking his fluffy white dog out on walks as a treat for fetching the newspaper, that the biker planned to be a carpenter after high school, and the work he’d destroyed was his own, not Chihiro’s.

He’d been surprised at how _kind_ Mondo was… that the biker had even cared to listen to him talk about his grandfather, let alone _cry_ over his hardships! He’d surprised himself by admitting his loneliness to Mondo, then Mondo had surprised him even more by calling him a _friend._

He still wasn’t sure if it was his surprise, or the discovery that he’d never needed to _beat_ Mondo in the first place that made him lose the challenge… but it hadn’t mattered anyway as, to his surprise, Mondo insisted it was _his_ loss anyway…

And then Mondo had caused the biggest surprise of all, by saying that having another brother would be nice… and had agreed to let Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the awful, uptight, obnoxious, rules-obsessed _hall monitor_ call him his _KYOUDAI!_

And he was surprised at the fact that he was _still_ experiencing a rush of joy just from _thinking_ the word, even after three weeks had passed since then….

_Kyoudai… kyoudaikyoudaikoyudai!_ Just thinking the word made him want to spin in little circles with childish glee… he finally had a _friend!_

And they felt so _right_ together that he couldn’t even begin to fathom how he’d been so easily duped by ‘friends’ in the past… Those liars who’d smiled at him and agreed with every word he’d said, right up to the point when they shoved him in the mud or told him what an _idiot_ he was for ever trusting them...

No such nonsense between him and his _Kyoudai!_ They each had their own pride, and wouldn’t let the other push their values _too_ far! Mondo was no more likely to stop swearing or wearing that ridiculous coat than Kiyotaka was to miss homework or stop handing out detention slips… They each had their _things_ that made them who they _were_ and neither would change _those_ for the world!

Not that that meant they weren’t helping each other improve though… Mondo was always at his side, pushing him forward… encouraging him to socialise, helping him get the practise he needed to talk to people, but also subtly informing him when he was going on too much. Meanwhile he’d done his best to be a pillar of support for Mondo to lean on, helping him to quit smoking, being there for him at times when he felt stressed or lonely and became tempted to light up one of the cursed death sticks…

And one such time was going to be the evening of Valentine’s Day. The time between the end of classes and the beginning of curfew was threatening to be full of happy couples, inconsiderately engaging in PDA, without considering how lonely it made any single students feel… Walking through it all, painfully aware of the fact that it had been yet _another_ year when he’d failed to start preparing to court a respectable wife…

At least _this_ year he’d had a reason to avoid being on duty as a disciplinarian and wouldn’t have to be the one marching through them all, getting complained at for handing out detentions when _they_ were the ones knowingly breaking school rules. He’d be with Mondo, introducing him to the wonders of the planet, and being shown some classic movies to use as talking points in the future. His ‘Bros’ night in’ with his _Kyoudai!_ He couldn’t…

“You Kiyo-kata my _man!”_ He jumped slightly at the sound of Enoshima’s voice.

He… he wasn’t quite sure what to make of Enoshima… she was a model, and therefore popular, which always made him feel as if he was at a disadvantage whenever he spoke to her… he always half expected her to suddenly scowl at him and tell him to leave her alone or call him ugly like Amaya and all her friends often did in middle school…

But of course, Enoshima wasn’t like that! She was actually quite friendly to him, on the rare occasions they got to talk, although she had a tendency to slack off in classes she wasn’t interested in, but even when he had to reprimand her for that, she was at least contrite, saying he was _always_ right and that she deserved the punishments...

It made him wish she’d been around during middle school, _she_ wouldn’t have convinced all the other girls in class that he was annoying and useless and that they shouldn’t ever talk to him. And then he might actually have had a chance to talk to people, and would have a better idea of what to say to all the slang and turns of phrases she used that always confused him and left him feeling like an idiot after every conversation they had, no matter how patiently she explained their meanings to him!

But she hadn’t been… so he always ended up feeling like an idiot right from the beginning of the conversation, just like he did back in middle school... And just like he was right now. “Err… Kiyo- _kata?_ Is that a joke of some sort…?”

“What!? _Noooo!_ It’s a _nickname!_ You _do_ know what nicknames are, _riiiight?_ ”

A _nickname?_ No one had ever come up with a nickname for him before!  (Unless _Kyoudai_ counted!) At least not one that wasn’t outright rude… “Err… I am aware of the practise, my apologies! I did not realise we were close enough to be at that level familiarity with one another!” This was great news though! Now he had _two_ friends!

“Huuuh? You think that makes us close?” Enoshima asked in an overly-cutesy voice. “Aww… I’m sorry! I just call everyone I talk to by a nickname! It makes things more fun!”

_Ah…_ “Err…my apologies then, I… I don’t really understand social interactions… I didn't have many before coming here...” He found himself stammering out an awkward confession.

“Yeah, man! What’s the fudge’s up with _that!?_ ” Enoshima asked, suddenly loud and energetic. But at least she had the good grace not to swear! “You always seem like a cool guy to hang with!”

A _cool_ guy? No one had ever said he was cool before either… He’d never been able to understand exactly what made one ‘cool’, other than bad habits like smoking or items of clothing arbitrarily chosen by his classmates, usually Katsushika in particular, who always seemed to decide that if _he_ ever had something that was once considered ‘cool’, it’s ‘coolness’ was now null and void…

“You think I’m cool?” He confirmed… If _he_ was considered _cool_ he’d be able to convince the other students that _smoking_ was now ‘uncool’ and maybe they’d quit…

“Well… OK, _no_. You’re kinda the antithesis of cool…” Junko reconsidered, to his disappointment. “But you do stuff for people… people like that!”

Did that mean people only liked him because he did things for them?

“Oh! Like this favour I need!” She continued reaching into her blazer pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper that he was beginning to learn to recognise…

“Oh, well… of course I’d be happy to help!” He told her. “What can I help you with?”

“I knew you would be! You know Mikan Tsumiki, right? The Nurse?”

“Err… yes…” He’d been looked after by her after he’d been injured in the first month of school… She’d been quiet, except for any times when he’d asked if he could leave, when she’d switched to apologising loudly for not helping him get better more quickly… Although she was obviously very good at her job and had answered all his questions about various treatments she was using to a good level of detail.

“Weeeelllll… A lot of us are worried about her being lonely! Y’know… with Valentine’s and all… so I want you to take her on a date on Tuesday!”

_Tuesday!?_ “Err… I’m sorry, but I already have plans for Tuesday! Could it be a different day?”

“No, Tuesday is Valentine’s Day _._ ” Enoshima said, matter-of-factly. “No girl wants to be alone on Valentine’s Day, that’s the point of the favour.”

“I… I understand… but, but I told Mondo…” He started to stammer out an explanation, Mondo was so excited about this…

“If I need to find a time when you and Mondo _don’t_ have plans, I’d never be able to redeem this.” Enoshima pointed out, “You two are always together… what’s one night apart?”

“Ngh… But… a _date_ doesn’t seem like a _favour…_ It’s far more of a commitment than that!” He realised, “After all, she’d be even more upset if she ended up liking me and I didn’t offer her a second date…”

“Huh… Wow, I didn’t think you’d be that cold… I thought you’d _like_ a chance to get a nice respectable girlfriend… wouldn’t that help your career?” Enoshima asked sadly, making him flinch at the realisation he was turning down something he’d been aiming for, for _years…_ “But, oh well… I guess I’ll have to tell all my friends you weren’t able to help poor Mikan after all…” She turned to leave…

_All her friends!?_ She had so many! Were they going to think he was useless and they shouldn’t speak to him…?

“W-wait!” He cried out to stop her. “I…” He’d almost shouted ‘I’ll do it!’, but the thought of Mondo alone with a pack of cigarette crossed his mind… “Please let me consider it first!” He asked instead. Perhaps he could see if Mondo would be able to make other plans first…

“Thanks!” Enoshima smiled… “I can always count on _you! Upupupupu…”_

* * *

Hah! And that was Hall Booty in the bag! _Suuuuure_ he might _say_ he was just gonna ‘consider it’… Buuut there was no way biker boy was gonna tell him _not_ to try and get laid, he was too good a friend for _that!_ And it was Friday so he’d ring his Dad who’d probably think it was a good thing for his son to be dating a nurse and not even _consider_ the possibility that wouldn’t be want his son actually _wanted_ …

And she still had another plan, just in case _something_ made him change his mind…

So! Now to go tell _Mikan_ the good news…

Whiiiich meant she had to go hang out with _this_ buncha weirdos… welcome to class 77!

Their classroom was kinda empty... Unless you counted the gaggle of reserve students Nevermind had serving her, but seriously, who cares about reserve students? Class 77 didn't exactly hang out much together anymore... But at least Tsumiki was here, and had looked up in the usual adoring/drooling expression Junko was always on the receiving end of...

She ignored her and walked over to Sonia... She knew Tsumiki would stick around to talk to her until the end of time...the nurse had been boringly easy to bend to her will...

"Good afternoon, your Highness!" Junko bowed respectfully, making it clear the Sonia wasn't the normal high school girl she'd come to school wanting to be.

"Good day, Enoshima. I have told you, you do not need to bow to me... And Sonia is fine."

"Ok! No probs, your Highness!" She said, causing Nevermind to sigh quietly. "So, you spoke to that Hirayama chick I told you about?"

"Yes, she has been quite useful in finding me suitable help..." She gestured to the nothings surrounding her. "Although... she is under the impression that I was told of her by the hall monitor who cleans for me, rather than yourself."

"What, Ishimaru? Man... It's like he thinks he's responsible for everything that council does!" Which was fair, because he kinda _was_... "Still, it's no biggie! We can just let him think he's in charge..." It'd be more despair for him... If she used the council for THAT plan...

"Hmm... Very well. Although I do not think she or her council are of much importance..."

"Well, maybe not _now_... But I bet with the right leadership they'd be able to do some incredible things..."

"Such as...?"

"Well... Maybe, like, clean up the whole reserve side of the school?"

"Hmm..." The princess wasn't impressed, but she wasn't supposed to be...

"Oh, or maybe something crazy like... Convincing all the reserve students to commit suicide at once!" She laughed, like she was just joking.

"That... I believe the phrase is that that would be quite 'fucked up'!" Nevermind exclaimed.

"Well, of course! You'd have to, like, be some crazy record breaking _serial killer_ to wanna do _that!_ "

“A… a serial killer who uses _suicides_ as a weapon?” The serial killer adoring lunatic mused, “That… is an interesting concept…”

“Yeah… but it’s probably not really possible, is it?” Junko ‘admitted’, “Not even for a ruler as good as _you!”_

“Hmm…” Right, there was _that_ idea in Nevermind’s head… that had been too easy… And speaking of too easy…

“Heeey… Miiikan!” She cooed as she walked over to the nurse who’d been eye-fucking her for the last five minutes.

“Ah hah ha… _Junko!_ ” She swooned in response. “It feels like it’s been _sooo long….”_

Seriously? It’d been, like, a _week_ tops… “Awww… I’m sowwy… but I’ve been _busy.”_ She squeezed Tsumiki’s arm _hard_ … in a spot she knew was bruised… because she’d given it to her last week…

“Ah! Please not there! It _hurts!_ ” Tsumiki whined.

“But at least I’m _paying attention_ to you, right?” Junko murmured seductively into her ear, “You wouldn’t want me to _ignore_ you, would you?”

“Ah… no, please!” Mikan cried, “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have complained!”

“Don’t worry… _I forgive you!_ ” She said, causing Tsumiki to _shudder_ … what a weirdo… let’s get this plan on the go already… “Buuuuut… Speaking of you being ignored… I’m worried you might end up all by yourself on Valetine’s… So I wanted to say I’ll make sure that _doesn’t_ happen!”

“You… you _will!?_ ” Tsumiki gushed, obviously imaging spending the night with _Junko_ … Hope building as she thought about Junko doing who knows _what_ sick things to her…

“Of _course_ I will…” She crooned, letting Tsumiki’s hope build just a _little_ bit more… “I’ve set you up on a date with a guy from my class!”

“ _Huuuh!?_ ” _Ahahahaha!_ “A… a _guy!?_ ”

Oh this was too good! “Yeah! You know Ishimaru, right?”

“Ish…Ishimaru!?”

“Yeah! The one with the cut on his arm you looked after back in September!”

You know… the one who spent four days bitching and moaning about how he was missing classes and duties and was too _important_ to be stuck lying around in a bed for the week like you told him to! The one who _pissed you off_ by asking you curious little questions about everything you _did_ , instead of just being _weak_ and letting you be in control like he was _supposed_ to, because he was _sick_ and _you_ were the nurse! _That guy!_

“I think he’d be a good match for you!” Junko lied.

“O-oh? W-well if _you_ think I sh-should?” The nurse agreed, disguising her reluctance with nervousness.

“Sure! I’ll tell him to pick you up at 7 from the med centre… that’s when your shift ends isn’t it?”

“AH! You… you remembered!” Tsumiki blushed.

“Well…kinda had to look it up to check for the date…” Junko rolled her eyes. “See ya around!” She jumped up and away from Tsumiki, causing the nurse to whine slightly… Time to get out of this circus school room before she ran into…

“You… I know what you’re doing… Even trash like me can figure it out…” Urg, _This_ guy!

Komaeda was stood in the door glaring at her... What a pain! She really wasn't in the mood for his whole hope versus despair stuff during this plan. Still maybe she'd get lucky and he'd go down the whole 'making despair stronger to make hope stronger' route and help her fuck up the kyoudaiship even more that she had planned to...

“Oh, really now! Well then… why don’t you _tell_ me what I’m doing!?” She decided to go aggressive at him, she was kinda bored of being slightly ditzy now…

“You’re causing despair… you’re _always_ causing despair…” Dingdingding! Cor-rect! “And this time you’re dragging the _Moral Compass_ into it… You’re disgusting…”

“Well… At least _I’m_ not garbage!” She laughed at him. “And whatcha gonna _do_ about it!?”

“Worthless trash like me? I couldn’t do anything…” He sighed. “But I’m so _lucky!_ Now I’ll be able to see the moment where _Hope_ triumphs your despair _in person! Ahahahahah…!”_ He let out that weird, high-pitched laugh of his and wandered off…

She couldn’t wait to make him cause so much despair that not even  _his_ hope could beat it... 

* * *

Kiyotaka entered the dining room with his usual dinner. He checked quickly to make sure none of his classmates were already here (Mondo had insisted he stop picking tables off by himself and reading during dinner instead of talking to people) and sat down, poking at his food anxiously.

What should he do… he hated the thought of letting Mondo down, but he didn’t want Enoshima to tell everyone he was useless either…

“You _finally_ sick of eating that same meal every night?” Mondo’s voice interrupted his worrying, and his friend sat down along with Chihiro and Makoto.

“Ah Kyoudai!” He smiled, “It’s not that, I just had something on my mind…” He admitted.

“Well, what is it?” Makoto asked.

“Err… well it’s just… you know the favour vouchers I give people on their birthdays?” Honesty was probably the best strategy, as always.

“Yeah… Leon keeps _bitchin’_ that you won’t let him use it to cancel his detentions…” Mondo said wryly.

“And I keep telling _him_ that cancelling a detention given in my _professional_ capacity as hall monitor is not a _personal_ favour!” Kiyotaka snapped in annoyance at having to repeat that _again._ “Err… but that’s not the problem…” He found himself looking down at his uneaten dinner rather than have to look Mondo in the eyes… “Enoshima wants to use hers to send me on a date with Tsumiki on Tuesday evening…”

“The nurse?” Mondo asked, to which he nodded. “Dude, she’s pretty hot… you should go for it!”

“Wh-what? But what our bros night in…?” Mondo hadn’t _forgot_ had he?

“ _That’s_ why you’re worried?” Mondo laughed and rubbed his hair, “We’ll just do it a different night!”

“Oh! I’ve still got space in my LAN party if you want to come, Mondo!” Chihiro added. “We’ll be playing Quake, Doom and Battlefield!” He’d invited the pair of them before but Mondo had been under the impression that Kiyotaka wouldn’t like any of the games…

“Really? That sounds great! See, you’ve got no reason not to go your date!” Mondo slapped his shoulder.

Well… that was easily sorted… He thought Mondo was going to be more upset than that! But then again, Mondo had more friends than _he_ did… it was no wonder it didn’t bother him as much if _one_ of them wasn’t available… “It just still feels odd going on a date as a _favour_ to someone…”

“Do you not like Tsumiki?” Makoto asked.

“No, that’s not it! I mean, I don’t really know her at _all_ …” Kiyotaka frowned. “But what if she doesn’t enjoy the date? Does that mean I failed at the favour?”

"Why would she not like the date? She'll be with you, bro!" Mondo slapped his shoulder with a laugh...

"Ah! Hahaha..." Kiyotaka felt his face flushing at the compliment, "I guess? I suppose it can't be worse than being alone, at least, maybe?"

"That's the spirit!" Chihiro said, "Now eat your food, or it'll go cold!"

"Hrm..." He started to eat his food, properly this time. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Mondo... But something about this still felt... off about this... Maybe he should check with his father first?

...

About an hour of enjoyable talking later, Kiyotaka was stood in front of the phone, watching his watch tick up to the moment he'd ring the police station... Which... Was... Now!

“Good evening, Father! I hope you’ve had a good week! And, err, I could do with some advice…”

“Oh? Something happen with you and your Kyoudai?” His father asked worriedly.

_That_ had been another thing that surprised him about Mondo… that his father was so accepting of their friendship! He’d been expecting a much harsher reaction when he first said that he’d become fast friends with the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader… But by the time the noise of the drilling in the office next to his father’s had died down his father had been perfectly happy about it!

“Ah… no, we’re still friends!” Kiyotaka smiled. “The thing is… Enoshima from my class has asked me to take a friend of hers out on a Valentine’s date as a favour to her…”

“Enoshima’s the model, isn’t she?” His father sounded slightly disapproving, “What’s this _friend_ of her’s like?”

“Well… she’s a nurse? And quiet?” And he didn’t know anything else about her, did he?

“A _nurse?_ ” His father sounded surprised, “Really? Well, that’s pretty respectable! It sounds more like Enoshima’s doing _you_ a favour!” He laughed.

“I… I guess?” He hadn’t really considered it like that…

“You _guess?_ Why wouldn’t it be?” His father asked sceptically. “You’re not being petty and getting upset that she’s not attractive or something, are you?”

“Err… no! K-kyoudai said she’s pretty, err, ‘hot’ even!” Kiyotaka awkwardly corrected him. “It’s just I’m finding the idea worrying, for some reason…”

“It’s a _blind_ date…?” His father muttered, “Are you worried because you don’t know anything about her?”

_Was_ that it? “Err… maybe, partly? I’m worried she won’t enjoy herself…”

“Well… maybe try to talk to her this weekend, find out what she likes so you can plan the date better!” His father suggested, “And try to find out if there are any dances you can take her to… your mother always liked those…”

“Really?” He didn’t remember that… “I wasn’t aware you could dance!”

“Haha! Well… I’m still not sure I _could_ … but your mother always insisted I had a good rhythm…” His father laughed happily, “Although it was usually in the park afterwards, when I was apologising for stepping on her feet!”

“Ahahaha!” He laughed, his mother had always been forgiving… Like that time he’d tried to wash up and had broken a plate…

“OH! _That’s_ something you can do! A walk in the moonlight!” His father suddenly exclaimed, “I used to tale your mother home via the fountain there… she always liked how the moonlight shimmered in it…”

“That… that does sound nice…” He sighed… He could just imagine his mother’s eyes lighting up at the sight…

“…Kiyotaka? Are you still there?”

“Ah! Err… yes! I’m sorry I just… it was nice hearing you talk about mother…”

“Really? I’ll try to think up some more things to tell you about next week then!” His father offered, “At least, assuming you don’t have too many things to tell me about your new _girlfriend? Hmm!?_ ”

“Err… hahaha, yes!” He laughed, although it felt as if he had to force it a little…

“Well, I’ll speak to you next week!”

“Oh, yes! I hope you have a good one, father!”

He put the phone down, frowning slightly… His father’s last comment had put him on edge… why was the idea of having a _girlfriend_ suddenly worrying him? Did he actually have time for one? With the extra time he was spending with Mondo he was only just about keeping near the top of his classes…

“Hey, Kiyotaka? Are you ok?”

“Oh! Makoto!” He jumped at the sudden interruption to his thoughts. “Did you have a nice chat with your family?”

“Uhh… Just the same as usual…Dad’s full of accounting stories, Mom’s busy as always, Komaru wouldn’t shut up about her manga of the week…” He shrugged, “… _You_ still look worried, what did your father say about the date with Tsumiki?”

“Oh, he suggested I take her to a dance, and a walk in the moonlight…Like he used to with my mother…” He smiled again, imagining his parents, happy together…

“So… you’re definitely going then?” Makoto sounded surprised. “I mean, I know you promised Enoshima a favour, but you don’t _have_ to do whatever she says!”

“But, why _wouldn’t_ I _want_ to? Tsumiki’s got a respectable talent! Dating someone like her would help my political career, and she’s even ‘pretty hot’ as well, apparently!” He listed off the benefits of Enoshima’s favour…

Makoto briefly pulled a confused face at the last word, before asking “Ok… But _do you_ _want_ to go on a date with her!?”

“Ngh!” He froze… Even with all his logical arguments in favour of it… he just couldn’t bring himself to say _yes…_

“I knew it…” Makoto sighed, “Kiyotaka… if you don’t _want_ to be on a date with her, she’ll pick up on it! You’ll _both_ be better off if you just admit that to Enoshima, rather than going along with it just because everyone says you ‘should’!”

“I… I suppose you’re right… I should be honest with her…” As galling as it was to admit he wasn’t good enough to do Enoshima’s favour, Makoto was right… “I’ll go let her know now…” He confirmed… he’d just have to hope she didn’t _really_ end up telling all her friends…

* * *

Junko looked around her room... Was this too much?

There was Mioda, Nevermind, an incredibly fat 'Maizono', that actress chick Mukuro had discovered over Christmas, Mukuro herself and even a couple of random non-Ultimate models (RM 1&2) she worked with thrown in for good measure.

Aaaaand it was a slumber party so they were all wearing their night-wear, which varied from skimpy lace (herself and the other models) to cotton full body suits (Mukuro) to... whatever the heck the pink and purple Frankenstein creation Mioda was wearing was supposed to be...

Yeah... This was definitely too much, she didn't even know for sure if she'd need it, buuuuut she _really_ didn't want to give Ishimaru a chance to drop out of her plan at this point.

Not that he didn't have _A_ chance... There was still _A_ chance, just not one that was likely to happen!

The doorbell rang... Looks like it was worth the effort of throwing a party after all... She got up to open it, girly-looking mocktail in hand.

The Hall Pedant was standing outside the door with a mix of anxiety, regret and determination on his face... Or at least he was until his brain registered what Junko was wearing, his face turned scarlet and his jaw clenched as he locked his eyes onto Junko's forehead.

"M-my apologies, Enoshima! You didn't need to open the door if you weren't..." He started offering a panicked apology.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m just having a slumber party! Come in!” She gestured inside.

“Err…” His brain shut down at the scandalous prospect of being _inside a girl’s room_ while she was _wearing lingerie_.

“Well, I can’t stand around at the door like _this,_ what if a _guy_ sees me!?”

“O-of course!” The idea of causing someone _else_ a scandal caused him to spring into action and enter the room, whereupon one of the random models pointed out a flaw in the logic.

“ _Omigod Junko! He’s_ a guy! _”_ RM… let’s say #1 ‘cause _she_ spoke first, exclaimed as she made the barest amount of effort to cover herself.

“Nah, it’s _fine!_ He’s the Ultimate Moral Compass, he ain’t gonna _perv!_ ” Kiyotaka nodded curtly without taking his eyes below nose level on the girls sat around her room. “Think of him like an honorary girl!”

“Err...” His nod stopped and his face scrunched at the insinuation that a _man_ would have been leering at them all by now…

“Well, as long as he doesn’t start talking!” The actress said in a cheerful, polite tone of voice that completely masked her annoyance that he was here.

“Yes! Absolutely!” Kiyotaka agreed for a moment. “Err… but I _did_ need to talk to you, Enoshima…” He muttered.

“Sure, no problem… But, here, have a drink first, _sister!_ ” She ignored the incredulous scowl on Mukuro’s face as she shoved the girly drink into his hand and led him into the room, pushing him down onto a beanbag before his brain had time to register what was going on.

“Err… th-thanks…” He muttered, somehow managing to sit up straight even on _that_ , as the girls in the room all looked at their new ‘sister’ and he stared back at them like a deer caught in headlights, not even _glancing_ at any of the girls below neck level, to Junko’s annoyance…

“So, lemme introduce everyone! You know Me, Mukuro, Sayaka and Sonia already…” She paused, then shrugged, “Well, I mean, obviously _everyone_ knows _all_ of us…” The honorary girl took a nervous gulp of his drink as he realised he was sat in a circle full of _popular girls_ , “But I mean personally you’ve not met the Ultimate Musician yet…”

“Ibuki _loves_ your boots and armband!” Mioda prattled. “They’re so _striking!_ Did you _make_ them?”

“Err… No, I…”

“Or these two girls I work with…”

“Hi!” The RM’s said in unison.

“Th-that’s correct! I, err, my name is Kiyotak…” He finally found the presence of mind to start introducing himself.

“Anyway! We were all just talking about Valentine’s Day! Y’know, sister’s making sure none of us end up alone by ourselves on the big day!”

“O- _oh?_ ” Another gulp of the drink…

“Yeah, like I’m looking after Mukuro ‘cause otherwise she’ll just spend the night in the training range!” Plus it gave her an excuse to stay in her room and monitor a bunch of different ones though the secret cameras she had set up around the place. “Right, sis!?”

“Yeah… Thanks sis…” Mukuro forced a smile and their other ‘sister’ took another gulp of his drink.

“But I’m lucky I’ve not got to worry about Mikan!” Junko added, causing another nervous gulp.

“Yes! Ibuki is so glad Mikan won’t be by herself! Ibuki would have spent the night with her, but she has a concert to play for all the students!” Mioda said excitedly, causing another measure of the drink to disappear.

“Souda and I are helping Tanaka with a ritual…” … Did Nevermind realise Souda thought they were going on a date?

“And I’ll be outside the school at my _own_ concert…” ‘Maizono’ added. “But I’m _know_ you’ll show her a good time! After all, I’m psychic!” Aaannd the drink was almost gone… time for the final blow…

“Yep! Kiyotaka’s definitely not just some _useless annoyance_ , amiright!?”

His hand actually trembled as he brought the last of his drink to his lips.

“Oh, you finished that already? What was it you wanted to talk about?” Junko asked. This was his chance... His chance to  _hope_ he'd still be liked even if he  _didn't_ do things for people...

“Errrr…” He stared at the circle of popular girls, eyes wide in terror as he probably thought about what they’d _say_ if he said what he’d been intending to… After all he might _talk_ about the ‘pure bonds of manly friendship’… but he also knew boys wanted to impress pretty girls, so they always listened to _them…_

_“_ I…” His hand tightened around the glass as he gulped. “I’ve never been on a date before… I wasn’t sure what to… are there any dances or events around the school I could take her to?” The coward stammered.

“OH! You can bring her to Ibuki’s concert! Have some tickets!” Mioda handed him, like, _five_ of those worthless things…

“Uhh… thanks!” He took them, putting the empty glass down. “I… err, I’ll let you all enjoy your party!”

He didn’t _run_ out the door, but he _did_ speed-walk…

* * *

(Saturday, 11th February 2012)

Kiyotaka looked at the door to class 77’s homeroom, trying to push down the feeling of anxiety building in him… He really _needed_ to get to know Tsumiki and show her a good time on Tuesday! All those girls would spread it around school that he was useless if he didn’t…

A part of him childishly wished Mondo was there to back him up, but that was foolish! It was just _talking_ to a girl… or her friends! He didn’t need someone holding his hand for that! That still didn’t stop him from wishing that Mondo hadn’t fallen behind on his homework as he pulled the door open and stepped through…

There were a few students in the classroom, but no sign of Tsumiki… Closest to the door was a man with black and silver hair swirled upwards into a spike, bandages wrapped up one arm and a long purple scarf added to his school uniform. There was also a purple-haired boy wearing a garish yellow jumpsuit and a short portly man wearing a red apron and small chef’s hat that appeared to do absolutely nothing to prevent the hair from his long pompadour from getting into any food he could theoretically prepare…

“Who is _this,_ who _dares_ enter the sight of Gundam Tanaka, uninvited!?” The man closest to him asked, his differently-coloured eyes taking on a look of manic wildness.

“My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! Ultimate Moral Compass!” He saluted as he introduced himself, “I hoped to speak with Mikan Tsumiki, from your class, would you happen to know where she is?”

“Ishimaru? So _you_ are the demon-eyed mortal who has access to the dark lady’s chambers…”

“What!? M-my eyes are _not_ demonic!” Kiyotaka found himself repeating a line he hadn’t had to say since elementary school. “And that’s not a polite way to refer to black students either!”

“Urg… No… That’s just what he calls Miss Sonia…” The mechanic sighed.

“But, her Highness isn’t black…?” Was he missing something?

“I refer _not_ to the colour of her skin, but of the _power_ that flows through her veins!” Tanaka corrected him dramatically, “But, if you cannot sense it within her, then I suppose your eyes must truly not be that of a demon.” He shrugged.

…He assumed that was an apology for the insult? Maybe? “Err… thank you?”

“Don’t try to understand him, you’ll just get a headache…” The mechanic advised him, “But what’s this about you being in Miss Sonia’s room?” He scowled, showing two rows of unusually sharp teeth.

“I just clean her room on Thursdays!” Kiyotaka explained quickly.

“Oh?” That caught his interest, his scowl turned into curious surprise… “Have you ever… _seen_ anything in there?”

“Err… furniture? It’s mostly the same as all the other dormitories…” Did he think a princess would have been given a better room?

“What instruments of sacrifice and summoning does she use?” Tanaka asked.

“Err…I don’t think she plays music…?” He’d certainly never seen any instruments in her room…

“Urg, that’s not what I meant!” The mechanic griped, “I mean, have you seen any underwear or lingerie?”

“ _WHAT!? NO!_ O-of course not! I don’t clean her room _that_ thoroughly!” And he’d been quite proud of the fact that he’d not leered at any of the girls last night… “And she’s very tidy so of _course_ I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“Tch! Well that’s boring… I wanted to know what it looks like…” The mechanic sighed.

“I think she’s the type who’d wear black lace… something regal…” The chef suddenly joined in their conversation.

What was _wrong_ with these two? “That is _not_ an appropriate conversation to be having about your female classmate!” He told them. They just rolled their eyes at him. “Just… do any of you know where Tsumiki is, please?” He asked.

“My all-seeing eye can locate her…” Tanaka said, “But the Dark Gods require a sacrifice for its use!”

...Did that mean he’d tell in exchange for payment? “Err… all I have on me is a banana.” He explained. Then it hit him that he shouldn’t be offering bribes anyway… “And regardless I… is that a _hamster?”_ He asked, as a small furry face poked its head out from under Tanaka’s scarf.

It was quickly followed my three more, which scurried out and along his arms, he looked over them fondly, smiling slightly. “Be glad, mortal! For the Dark Gods are interested in your offering!”

“The dark gods are hamsters.” Kiyotaka found himself saying the most ridiculous sentence in his life.

“They have taken the _form_ of hamsters.” Tanaka corrected him, although he wasn’t sure ‘corrected’ was quite the right word for it. “For their true visages would cause wailing and shrieking for miles around, and would be quite detrimental to my studies.”

“And they eat bananas?”

“They cannot consist entirely on fruits, but they do appreciate you offer of something to satiate their sweet teeth…”

“Err… well, OK then?” He took the banana he’d put in his bag in case he wanted a snack and handed it over, confused. If it weren’t for all the talk of gods it would seem Tanaka had just wanted something to feed his pets… That’s certainly how it looked when he peeled it and broke several small pieces off to give to the hamsters, before finishing the rest of it himself as they scurried back into the confines of his scarf.

“A worthy offering! Very well, demon-looking mortal! The one you seek is outside the confines of Kirigiri’s realm, seeking Caduceus’ fountain of knowledge! Her expedition will last until dawn breaks on the day of the saint of Terni.” Tanaka exclaimed.

So… Caduceus was a medical symbol… and Terni was where St Valentine was from… “So she’s on a medical course outside the school until Tuesday morning!” Kiyotaka proudly figured out the puzzle.

“Wow… he understood something _Gundam_ said…” The mechanic started saying.

“Wait!? She’s not back until _Tuesday morning!?”_ Kiyotaka realised what that meant… “Ah… I’m supposed to be taking her on date that evening and I know nothing about her…” He sighed.

“ _I_ know a lot about her…” The chef at the back piped up… “But I’m not sure I’d want to tell you unless we get to know each other better first…”

Well, that was fair… For all _he_ knew Kiyotaka was stalking her. “What do you suggest?”

“I’ve heard that you think the best way to get to know another man is to take your clothes off… I’ve a similar opinion myself.”

Ah! Wonderful! He’d never managed to find anyone but Mondo who was comfortable bathing with him! It would be good to know if it really did help people become closer! “So a trip to the baths then? When would be convenient for you? And also, may I ask your name, if we’re going to get to know each other?” He suddenly realised he ought to know that at least…

“I’m Teruteru Hanamura, and we can go _now_ if you like…” He stood up and walked across the room once Kiyotaka nodded at the suggestion. “I can give you a banana to eat while we’re there as well…” He grinned.

To make up for the one Tanaka took? How considerate! “Ah! That’s not necessary, I can just pick one up from the kitchen on the way there! But thank you for the offer!” He said as they headed off to the baths…

* * *

Urg… that Komaeda idiot kept stalking her! He was probably thinking her plan involved screwing with Ishimaru on Valentine’s and was trying to work out _how_ she was going to… Now she was gonna have to _actually_ screw with the date to throw him off her _real_ plan…

Hmm… what _would_ be a fun way to screw with Ishimaru? Send him there with flowers Tsumiki hated? Tell him to serenade her with his silly little pair of castanets? Make him wear ridiculous clothes…

Ooooh! Did Ludenberg still have that stupid suit she bought him? With the girly shoes? She’d be in the dining room now, right?

She headed down, with the trash heap following her and… Wait… Was that Ishimaru and _Hanamura_ going into the baths together? (Is the author posting her weird smut stuff _already!?)_

Well, whatever… She had a wannabe to go pester… And it looked like _luck_ was on her side, because she’d turned up at _juuust_ the right time to cause some despair for the _fatass_ while she was here!

He was coming out of the kitchen, holding a tray with not only his _mistress’_ usual cup of tea, but also a single red rose in a little vase. He looked like he’d tried to ‘dress up’ to, or at least as much as you can when you’re a size XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL! His uniform was actually clean and more neatly ironed that usual, his ahoge was slicked down with gel and he looked like he’d actually bathed for once as well!

And now he was looking over at Hagakure nervously, and the fortune fool was checking his glass ball and giving him a thumbs up and he was walking over to Ludenberg… _Upupupupupu_ … this was going to be _delicious!_

“Hey, _Celes!?_ You got a minute? _”_ Junko made sure she got to the gambler before Yamada.

The dolled-up bore _almost_ flinched as her attention was torn away from her fatass butler and onto Junko herself.

“I was just about to have my tea.” Wow, Ludenberg was actually trying to get rid of her so the blob could ask her out? Did she wanna be in a cheesy monster story or something? Welp, too bad! _Junko_ was here!

“Aww… It’ll only be a teeny, tiny little minute.” Junko went cutesy for a sec. “Do you still have that great-looking suit you bought for Ishimaru?”

“I do. You may have it if you wish.” What, no bets, no mind games, nothing? _Wow_ little miss plain-Jane had it _bad_ if she was trying to get outta this convo _that_ quick!

“Really!? Like, thank you _so_ much!” Junko started, talking loudly, for Yamada’s ‘benefit’. “’Cause, like, I set him up on a date with a friend of mine, but then it occurred to me that he’d probably just turn up in his school uniform, and who wants to go out with a guy who’s not got anything better than _that_ to wear!?”

Ludenberg actually broke her poker face for a sec as she glanced to the guy stood somewhere behind Junko. “I… I think the uniforms here are…”

“And it’s not like he’d got a bad bod, amiright? I mean, that _ass_ alone! There’s, like, a _ton_ of clothes he could wear to show it off! But, _noooo_ he’s always gotta wear the uniform and the boots… Such a _waste,_ right?”

“I don’t particularly care what he…”

“I mean, I know _you_ get what I’m talking about, ‘cause you bought him the suit! I’d have gone with a good pair of Levi’s myself, but you like your guys who can pull off tight black suits and I can respect that!”

“Suits aren’t nec…”

“Anyway, so thank, hon! You’ve done me a _huge_ favour! I’ll come by your room and pick it up at some point! Enjoy your tea!”

…Her tea, sans the little vase, which the fat coward had put down between… _Ahahaha!_ He’d put it between Maizono and Kuwata! Man, her producer was gonna go nuts if a picture of _that_ got out!

And now he was heading out of the dining room… he must have just put the tea down and _ran…_ How despairingly _easy!_

* * *

(Sunday, February 12th 2012)

Kiyotaka had spent the morning studying and then met up with Mondo to eat his lunch… a slice of toast and a… peach. Not that he _liked_ peaches, especially, but he _really_ didn’t feel like having his usual banana today…

“So, Kyoudai…” Kiyotaka still felt the urge to grin at Mondo’s use of the word. “How did you go from trying ta talk to Tsumiki to going into the _baths_ with _Hanamura?”_

“Ngh!” He flinched, partly due to remembering the awkward situation and partly due to the shock that Mondo had somehow _found out_ about it! “How did you…?”

“Dude, _everyone’s_ talkin’ about it.” Mondo rolled his eyes.

“What!? Why would _that_ be of interest to anyone…?” After all, once he’d given the chef a detention for PDA, he’d walked out perfectly calmly… No one should know what happened _inside_ the sauna…

“Well, mostly ‘cause Hope’s peak’s biggest hardass went and got nearly naked with its biggest _sleazeball…_ Of course people are wondering what happened there…”

“Nothing _happened!_ ” He snapped. “I just… left after it became apparent that Hanamura’s definition of ‘male bonding’ was… different from my own!”

“And you didn’t know that going _in?”_ Mondo gaped at him, _“_ Everyone knows that guy hits on everything he _sees!_ ”

“That… that wasn’t something I was aware of…” He muttered, embarrassed, if _everyone_ knew it, why didn’t he?

“Really? Kyoudai, you’ve _got_ ta start paying attention to what people are talking about around the school!”

"No. I've told you before, I see no need to pay attention to useless gossip..."

"Yeah, but it's _not_ useless... You'd have known not to go to the baths with that little creep for starters!" Mondo griped. "Think of it like a textbook about people around us!"

"Gossip is _not_ a textbook!" Kiyotaka snapped, "People _check_ textbooks... gossip is more like wikipedia, any idiot can make something up and it becomes taken as fact... I've been the subject of enough deleterious rumours to know that!"

"What sorta rumours? Who’s started them?" Mondo growled.

"I don't mean _here_..." He sighed at his friend's over-protectiveness, secretly pleased to be shown concern. "It was mostly back in middle school... The most common ones were some variation of the idea that I wasn't earning my high grades fairly... Things like cheating on tests or bribing the teachers..."

“What…? You spend _all_ your time studying! Why the hell would _you_ need to cheat!?”

“Well… no one really knew me well enough to know how much time I spent… I think they just assumed I’d be willing to cheat because of my grandfather…”

“That’s still bullshit…” Mondo muttered, something he seemed to say a lot about his middle schoolmates.

“Well… it was… irritating at the time. But usually they’d get bored and move on once it became apparent that I _hadn’t_ been doing anything wrong!” He shrugged. "It taught me not to waste time paying attention to baseless gossip!"

"Then how come you're still scowling over it?" Mondo asked, causing him to tilt his head in confusion.

"Err... I wasn't...?" His mind whirred for a moment as he tried to figure out why he would have looked as if he was scowling, before he went to take another bite of the peach and realised the issue. "I... Uhh, I think I'm just not really enjoying this very much..." He waved it at Mondo.

"Bhahaha! Fair enough!" Mondo laughed at the revelation, "I’m about to get my lunch… You want a banana to eat instea...?"

" _No!_ No, thank you!" He answered far too quickly as the memory of Hanamura's offer resurfaced...

"... _Kyoudai_..." Mondo's face took on a dark expression. "What happened in the baths?"

"Nothing _happened!_ " He hissed again. "As I said, I left after it became apparent..."

"Ok, but how did it 'become apparent'..." Mondo asked with air quotes, "What did he _do?_ "

"Ngh...He asked if I wanted to try a radish and I responded positively and then he lifted up his towel and I realised he wasn't talking about _food_..." Kiyotaka admitted, spitting the distasteful words out in a quiet rush. "So then I reprimanded him and left!"

"Ok... So why has this put you off _bananas?_ "

"Err, well... Before we entered the baths he mentioned that he could give me one to eat while we were in there..."

"And ya didn't think that was weird? Or sketchy? _At all?"_

"I'd just sacrificed the one I had to the dark gods! I thought he was just offering me a replacement, seeing as he's a chef..."

"You did _what now!?_ "

"Err... Tanaka has these hamsters he calls the dark gods..." He explained, "He said he'd use his 'all-seeing eye' to tell me where Tsumiki was if I gave them my banana..."

"And you did that instead of asking someone _sane_  instead, _because_...?”

"Hanamura and the only other person there were too busy discussing what they thought her Highness' underwear was like..." He griped, then realised something... "I suppose in retrospect that should have tipped me off that his offer of male bonding might not have been as innocent as I thought..."

" _Ya think!?_ " Mondo gaped at his stupidity. "That guy needs a punch in the face..."

"He does _NOT!_ Violence is not an acceptable form of discipline!" That was one thing he _was_ going to change about Mondo... "I've giving him a special detention and have organised a video regarding sexual harassment for him to watch!"

"That won't do shit..." Mondo muttered, "It'll just be like your offer about the quit smoking advice..."

"What... What do you mean? I... Hasn't that helped people?" He asked in shock, "I've seen far fewer smokers around the grounds, even though I've been changing my schedule for patrols each week!"

"Uhh...That's just cos people have gotten better at hidin' from ya..." Mondo cringed.

“Ok… but surely _some_ of the people I sent to the school nurse must have found the advice useful… right?” He asked, “ _You_ did, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah… Mondo admitted, “But that’s ‘cause I _wanted_ ta quit! They _don’t_.” He shrugged. “Or at least not enough to go through the cravings anyway…”

“But… why not? I mean, it’s expensive, disgusting and the health consequences are terrible!”

“How should I know? It’s not like all smokers are the same… they probably all have different reasons! Why not ask _them?”_

“Hmm… I suppose that might help me to tailor help to them specifically… Although that’s assuming I can actually _catch_ any of them smoking ever again!” He sighed.

“Hahaha, I’m sure you’ll find _some_ of them at some point… But you know it’s not your job to get students to quit smoking, right?… Why do you _care_ so much about this…?”

“Because I want to see them reach their full potential… and they _won’t_ if they slowly kill themselves with those horrible death sticks!”

Mondo chuckled quietly. “…You are _such_ a dork…” He muttered, reaching a hand out to muss up his hair. From anyone _else_ the insult would have elicited annoyance, but instead he grinned like he’d just received a compliment of the highest order. “…So what fruit _do_ you want?”

“Huh? Oh, err… an apple?”

“Sure, see you in a few!" Mondo ruffled his hair one more time before walking off towards the kitchen. In the meantime he used the reflection in his spoon to straighten it back up again.

"Looking good Kiyo-kata!" He jumped and dropped the spoon woth a clatter at the sudden interuption from Enoshima.

"Oh, err, Good Afternoon, Enoshima!" He was starting nervously again... "How can I help you?"

"Well... It's about what you were just talking about with Mondo... Some friends of mine are smokers and I'd like them to quit but, like, I don't wanna end up having an argument about it with them... They keep denying they actually smoke, but it's super obvious they do!"

"Hmm... Well if they deny it, it would be hard to catch them unless we know where they're going to be..."

"Well... I know how to find them... But if they know I told you they'd be super peeved!" Junko said aggressively.

So that was what she was worried about... "I see! I assure you any advice you give me will be considered as if it were from an anonymous source!"

"Awesome! Thanks bro! Thing is... You know the skateboarder in class 76? She's always going off to their 'meetups' on her board... which leaves tracks!"

Of course! Why hadn't he ever thought of that! "I see, thank you for the advice!"

"No problem... After all, you're helping protect them from their bad decisions..." Enoshima patted his arm and left.

Well, now he knew he'd be able to catch some of the smokers on Monday... Now he just needed to try and plan what he could say to convince them once he did...

* * *

(Monday, February 13th 2012)

Classes were finally over for the day… and the trash heap had quit tailing her! Time to go put her _real_ plan into action… But where to find corncob head…

Turns out he was was sitting around waiting for his ~~boyfriend~~ ‘kyoudai’ to meet him for dinner when he was cornered by the skateboarder Junko had sent said ‘kyoudai’ after yesterday, along with Kuwata and the rapper… Perfect!

The rapper started things off with his trademark talent: “Yo, yo, wait right there, you with the corncob hair, ‘cause I gotta swear…”

“Dude, your Mom sends you home-baked cookies every week, quit acting like you’re a badass!” Oowada cut him off. (Because the author knows she can write rap about as well as she can _draw.)_

“Well, _you_ can talk! What kinda _gang leader_ snitches on people for _smoking!?_ ” Ball boy asked angrily.

“The hell! Why the _fuck_ would I bother telling anyone what _you_ idiots are doing?”

“Maybe so the hall monitor will suck _your_ dick instead of _Hanamur…_ ” The skater started.

“Fuck you lady, he gave that little creep detention for that shit!” Urg… Corn chip hair was defending his _friend_ before himself… how sickeningly _hopeful!_ “Besides, who says anyone grassed on ya! He might just have got lucky!”

“Dude, no. We were _a mile_ out from the school and he had the _fatass_ with him!” Kuwata managed to use logic for once, “He _knew_ where we gonna be! And he even had a whole speech planned out!”

“Yeah… He was saying we shouldn’t say smoking’s cool ‘cause _you’re_ quitting and _you’re_ cool!” The rapper rolled his eyes, as did Junko cause _blehh_ Ishimaru was so _sappy_!

"Did you idiots really tell him you just smoke ‘cause it’s _cool?_ ” Oowada sighed. “You know that’s fuckin’ stupid, right?”

“Yeah, I know… I’m _trying_ to quit, man.” Kuwata rolled his eyes. “But being given detentions all the time isn’t helping!”

“Well… why don’tcha _tell_ him that?” Baguette head suggested. “He’d probably ease up on ya… Or his head would explode and you wouldn’t have a problem anymore…”

“Hell no! I’m not letting that stubborn ass know he’s getting to me!”

“Ya know he’s just trying ta _help_ , right?”

“Are you serious?”  Kuwata scowled, “Do you actually _like_ the guy?”

“ _What?_ You think I’ve been calling him Kyoudai for a month as a _joke_ or something?” Oowada stared incredulously.

“I _thought_ you were doing it so you could, like, _fix_ him!”

“ _Fix_ him!? What the hell does _that_ mean!?”

“Well, y’know… get him to quit being such a hardass…” Kuwata shrugged.

“Well I…”

That was Junko’s cue! “ _Huh_ … _I_ thought it was the other way around…”

“Whaddya mean ‘the other way around’!?” Dorito head snarled at being ganged up on.

“Well… Isn’t _he_ the one trying to fix _you_ …? Like, he keeps telling you to practise woodwork in the hopes you’ll end up quitting your gang… And he’s made you quit smoking and is now telling everyone it’s ‘cool’ to quit ‘cause _you_ did it… It’s like he just wants to fix you up so he can use you as a good example to convince everyone else…”

“Oh, totally!” Kuwata agreed with her.

“That… that’s not… He just…”

“Or he just wants to show off how _good_ he is by turning the ‘baddest’ guy in school into a dork!” Junko snorted, causing the others to laugh.

“Screw you guys! He’s not _like_ that!” Oowada snapped.

“Whatever, dude.” Kuwata rolled his eyes, “We’ve gotta get to _detention…_ Thanks for that!” The three of them trudged off…

“I told you I didn’t fuckin’ grass on ya!” Oowada snapped after them. “And if _you_ think he’s such an asshole, why’re ya setting him up with ya friend!?” He snarled at Junko.

“ _Hmm?_ Oh, you mean Mikan?” Junko put of a resigned shrug. “I _tried_ to tell her he’s too good to be true, but she’s been _nuts_ about him since he saved the ogre from that lunatic…” She lied, “She wants his dick so bad I’ll be surprised if they even get out of the med centre before she’s riding him! Upupupu!”

“Tch! Well, she’s gonna be pissed, ‘cause he ain’t that kinda guy…” Oowada tried to be smug… but couldn’t _quuuittte_ hide his grimace at the thought of his dork of a kyoudai getting laid before  _him_ …

“Yeah, I suppose… He’ll probably manage to wait until they’re out the building and she drags him into a bush!” She laughed, “Hey, d’ya reckon he’ll give himself detention for PDA when he does it…?”

“He ain’t doing _anything!_ ” Oowada snapped, “He’s waitin’ ‘till he’s married…”

“PPpffthaha! _Suuure_ he is!” Junko let out a laugh, before putting on her serious face, “Y’know… It’s kinda sad how easily he’s duped you…” Oowada growled like the little dog he was… “I mean… you’re the _Ultimate Gang Leader!_ But what’re you gonna be when _he’s_ done with you and not even your _gang_ respect you anymore…”

He scowled “You’re full of shit, Enoshima! I ain’t being _duped_ , yeah I’ve made some changes… but so’s he! We’re helping each other change for the better!”

“ _Huh…_ Well, if you’re _absolutely sure_ he actually _cares_ how you feel and isn’t just being a nag…” She shrugged.

“I am!” Oowada lied before spotting Ishimaru and stomping off towards him.

* * *

(Tuesday, February 14th 2012)

Kiyotaka woke up earlier than he really needed to. He’d had a restless night’s sleep. Mondo had seemed upset about something at dinner yesterday, but Kiyotaka couldn’t get him to explain why... although he’d looked annoyed when Kiyotaka had tried to ask if he had any advice about the upcoming date, was he more disappointed about the Bros’ night in than he’d admitted?

And of course, said date was making him nervous as well… Still, no point tossing and turning in bed worrying about it! He decided to get up early and do his morning exercises and shower so he could go for a power-walk once curfew ended.

As he opened the door, he saw Celestia rounding the corner away from the dining room... And as he'd walked out the door exactly at the end of curfew, that meant she'd come out early!

"Ah, Celestia!" He called out after her and followed her. As he turned the corner he saw she was knelt down in the otherwise empty hallway, leaving a small black box wrapped in beautiful silver ribbon in front of Hifumi's door.

"May I help you, Ishimaru?" She asked.

He frowned. Technically he _should_ be giving her detention for breaking curfew... but doing so when she'd done it to leave a gift for Hifumi seemed... well, Mondo would probably call him a ‘hardass’ at the very _least!_

And she didn't seem to think she'd done anything wrong, maybe he should give her the benefit of the doubt?

"...What time do you think it is?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's five past seven."

"Actually it's only..." He checked his watch, " _Two_ past seven! Your clock must be running fast! _Technically_ you've broken curfew, but as it's obviously an accident and only by a few minutes I'll let you off with a verbal warning this time!" He told her, “But please make sure your clock is correct in the future.”

“…Very well.” Celestia replied, looking slightly amused.

He decided to do a quick walk around the hallways, although he had to keep stopping due to the sheer numbers of students who were _already_ engaging in public displays of affection… If this was the number of students doing so just from giving each other chocolates and flowers, what was it going to be like once the actual _dates_ started and every couple insisted on kissing each other goodnight outside their dorm rooms?

…Wait. Should he try to kiss _Tsumiki?_ Would he _have_ to? Not that she wasn’t nice but he barely knew her and the idea of trying to kiss on top of worrying about every other aspect of the date made him feel like he wanted to throw up… Were you _supposed_ to kiss on a first date or was that too forward? He really should have asked his father… Maybe one of his classmates could help?

“Heeey! Swimming buddy!” Aoi’s cheerful voice knocked him out of his worrying.

“Ah! Good morning Aoi!” He replied, waving at her as she approached him with one hand behind her back. “May I help you?”

“Hehe… Open your mouth!” She asked.

He did so… was this a breathing exercise…?

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” She suddenly brought her hand up to his mouth and the taste of chocolate spread over his tongue…

“Mmm!” He hummed in appreciation… it was a milk chocolate, a little sweeter than he’d like and certainly not something he should be having before _breakfast_ , but still incredibly nice…

“You like it? I put more cocoa on that one because Celestia said you like really dark chocolate!”

“You made this?” He… _tried_ to say through a mouthful of chocolate. “It’s delicious!”

“Hehe… thanks! I’m not very good at this girly stuff… But it’s sort of an obligation to _try…_ ” She shrugged, “Plus it gives me an excuse to eat the extra chocolate!”

“Ahahaha!” He laughed at her usual sugar obsession… But the mention of obligations brought something up in his mind. “Err… speaking of obligations… may I ask you something?”

“Huh? Of course you can!” She tilted her head in surprise at the question. “Heck, I ask _you_ stuff all the time!”

“Err… This isn’t really school related though…” He admitted, “I, err… Do you know if you’re supposed to _kiss_ on a first date?”

“Wha? You’re asking _me?_ ” Aoi seemed shocked, “Why…?”

Partly because she’d been the first classmate he saw and partly because… “…I thought girls knew that sort of thing?”

“And you asked _me?_ ” She still seemed stuck on that.

“Uhh, yes?” He shrugged, “But if you don’t know I can try and ask Kyoko…”

“No I, uhh… I mean… I don’t think there’s a _rule_ about it…?” She tried to explain, “You’re just supposed to kiss when it _feels_ right, aren’t you?”

…Which it likely _wouldn’t_ if the thought of it was making him queasy. “I see! Thank you very much for the advice!” he bowed in thanks.

“No problem! Glad it helped, I guess? Anyway, sorry, but I’ve got more of these to hand out!” She held up a bag of chocolates “See you in class!”

“Indeed!” He nodded as she left, and he went to check his pigeon hole for any letters. There weren’t any, but there was a small clear bag, tied up with ribbon, containing a single star shaped chocolate. He read the tag, it was apparently from Sayaka…

“Hi Kiyotaka! I hope you enjoy Valentine’s Day! I have a feeling it’ll be a fantastic time for you both this year!”

She thought he and Tsumiki would get on well? That was hopeful…

“Thanks for helping me keep on top of schoolwork!” The note continued, “You really are our class’ … well, it’s in the bag! ;) From Sayaka.”

Him? The _star_ of his class? He grinned proudly at the suggestion, it really was nice to be appreciated… He was still smiling about it when he came out of the kitchen with his breakfast and sat down at the same table as Kyoko.

“Hmm…?” She briefly looked up from her book, “Oh, it’s you…” She reached into her satchel, “Here.” She passed him a thin black box, which apparently contained 100g of organic dark chocolate.

“Err… W-what is this?” She couldn’t mean it as a Valentine’s Day present, surely? It was about 4 times bigger than Sayaka’s…

“It’s Valentine’s Day… it’s an obligation.” She stated, going back to her book.

Well, yes women usually gave chocolates to men they associated with on Valentine’s Day… but a whole bar just for him? Or maybe it wasn’t just for him, she probably was planning to share it with several people! “How much am I allowed?” He asked.

“…I was assuming you’d eat all of it.” Kyoko said as she flipped a page.

“What!? No I couldn’t possibly accept this much!” They still weren’t really even _friends_ … “I’ll take a quarter of it and return the rest…” He started opening the box.

“What? No! That’s idiotic!” She snapped, “What am I supposed to do with three quarters of a chocolate bar I don’t even _like?_ ”

“Give it to Makoto?” He suggested, they _were_ going on a date this evening…

“He doesn’t like it either.” She primly, “…And besides, I don’t want him to get the impression that he’s my boyfriend.” She added after a moment’s hesitation.

“But… aren’t you two going on a date?”

“I agreed to _consider_ making him my boyfriend.” She explained, “It doesn’t mean he actually _is…_ ”

“I see.” Well that was fair… it wasn’t as if one date would make _Tsumiki_ his _girlfriend_ either… The thought was oddly comforting to him. He’d always thought he needed to get a girlfriend, but now there was a chance he might _get_ one the idea was… unsettling. But that was a ridiculous way to feel, after all he shouldn’t want to put off preparing for his adult life just because of vague ‘feelings’! Maybe Kyoko could give him some advice on the matter…

Except that while he’d been thinking she’d snuck off… leaving him with the whole of the chocolate bar… He sighed as he started eating breakfast. He’d have to try and give some of it back to her when he got to class…

As he was approaching the door to class, he overheard Kyoko talking… “Ah, Chihiro… you don’t mind dark chocolate, do you?” She was asking.

“Umm… no, but… why?” Chihiro sounded confused. Did Kyoko know his secret? But wouldn’t she know to _keep_ it secret?

“I bought some for Kiyotaka and it was on buy one get one free… But I had enough trouble leaving him with just _one_ bar…” She complained. “And I don’t know anyone else who likes it.”

“ _Leaving_ him with it…? That makes it sound like you gave it to him and then ran off!” Chihiro chuckled.

Kyoko sighed, “It was more a case of sneaking off when he got distracted. He wanted to open it, take a quarter and then give me the rest back!”

Chihiro laughed. “You know he’s just going to come in here and try and give it back, right?”

“I’m _hoping_ he’ll take the hint and drop it!” Kyoko sighed. “But he’s probably going to be annoyingly stubborn about it all day… Anyway, enjoy Valentine’s day.”

“Oh! You to! And thank you for the chocolate!” Chihiro said brightly.

Kiyotaka looked at the bar of chocolate in his hand… Kyoko thought trying to give it back was _annoyingly_ stubborn? He still thought it was too much to be given but…

He walked into the classroom, which was mostly full as writing several detention slips had put him behind his usual schedule. In the far corner, Togami was callously ignoring Fukawa, who was trying to give him a large box of the same brand of chocolates the heir usually gave everyone else. Next to them was Celestia, who was pouting ever-so-slightly in Hifumi’s direction, who was in turn glaring at the back of Hagakure’s head.

That was odd, he’d have thought Hifumi would have been delighted to get chocolates from Celestia. He’d daren’t ask about it when the pair of them both looked so cross though…

Hagakure, on the other hand, was obliviously checking his crystal ball and writing down predictions (he’d mentioned before that Valentine’s Day was a good time for his ‘business’) and next to him Kuwata was happily opening up a bag that looked like the one Sayaka had given him.

A few tables away from them, Enoshima was talking to Ikusaba, although she was looking at Kuwata’s chocolate with interest. Behind them was where Kyoko and Chihiro were talking, as well as Makoto, who was opening up a thin bar of chocolate that Kiyotaka assumed must be from Kyoko, while Chihiro looked at his with a wide smile. Finally, behind him, Aoi was giving an appreciative Sakura a few of her handmade chocolates.

He walked over to Kyoko, causing her to give Chihiro a wry smile as he approached…

“I, uhh… forgot to say thanks earlier… so thank you for the chocolates!” He bowed.

“O-oh?…You’re welcome?” Kyoko said, hesitantly as she exchanged a concerned look with Chihiro… Why were they worried? He’d just accepted the gift graciously like Kyoko had wanted him to, what was wrong with that?

He sat down in his usual seat. Why were girls so confusing…?

“Hey Kiyotaka, are you alright?” Makoto asked as he did.

“Absolutely! Look at these chocolates I got!” He held them up to show Makoto.

“Sayaka gave you one as well? What shape did you get?” Makoto asked, spotting the clear bag “I got a horseshoe, because she thinks I’m her lucky charm…” He said with a sheepish smile.

“Apparently I’m the _star_ of the class…” He tried to say it humbly as he turned the bag around to give Makoto a clearer view.

“Wait… so those little bags are from _Sayaka?_ ” Enoshima asked, curiously.

“Yes! They were in our pigeon-holes this morning! She must have had someone leave them there for us!” Kiyotaka explained.

“So that _heart_ Leon’s eating is from Sayaka to? Upupupu…” Enoshima teased Kuwata.

“What? No! She’s an _idol!_ She’s not _allowed_ to have a boyfriend…” Kuwata shrugged. “I dunno _who_ this is from!”

“But it’s the exact same packaging…” Enoshima reasoned.

“So? It’s not like she has time to mess about with cellophane and shit… they probably just bought them from the same store or something…”

“That’s true. She _is_ barely keeping ahead of all her work…” Kiyotaka had to admit, as nice as it was to imagine that the idol had taken the time to hand-craft presents, it was very unfeasible.

“Plus, _this_ was left outside my _door_ this morning… You guys said Sayaka left those in your pigeon hole, right?” Kuwata finished.

“Wait, this morning? There wasn’t anything there when I got up this morning…” Kiyotaka remembered.

“Well, I musta got up earlier than you!” Kuwata snapped.

“I left my room exactly as curfew ended!” He countered. “…which means _you_ must have broken curfew! Getting up early to _smoke_ again I expect!” He muttered angrily, reaching for his pad of detention slips…

“ _Kyoudai…”_ Kiyotaka jumped slightly as Mondo sighed warningly at him, he hadn’t noticed his friend’s arrival... “That’s pretty flimsy, y’know… What happened to innocent until proverb guilty or whatever you were talkin’ about last week?”

“Err… It’s _proven_ guilty... But…”

“Besides, if you left your room exactly at the end of curfew, wouldn’t it make more sense if Leon’s secret admirer arrived after _you_ left but before he left his room?” Makoto reasoned.

“I… I guess…” They’d have needed to walk from their room to Leon’s…

“Err… yeah, I mean I got up half seven.” Kuwata muttered.

“See, Kyoudai?” Mondo chided him, “You’ve gotta stop thinking the worst of people just cause they got stupid hair or whatever!” Mondo ruffled his own hair to punctuate the point.

“Dude! _My_ hair’s awesome!” Kuwata snarked at him in response.

Humour aside though, Mondo was _right…_ He’d almost punished someone without making any attempt to properly investigate the matter. “My apologies, Kuwata-kun!” He stood to bow at the baseball player. “I will try to keep Mondo’s advice in mind when dealing with you in the future!”

“Huh… Cool. Thanks…” Kuwata muttered, sounding slightly shocked.

Kiyotaka sat back down and turned to Mondo. “And Good Morning, Kyoudai!” He smiled, “We were just talking about our Valentine’s Day chocolates!” He gestured to the bag and bar currently placed on his desk, “How much have you been given?”

Mondo frowned, “I, uhh, I haven’t got any…” He mumbled.

“None at _all?”_ That couldn’t be right! Why wouldn’t anyone want to give Mondo chocolates? “Have you checked your pigeon hole? That’s where Sayaka left mine…” He suggested.

“Dude, I’ve spoken to Sayaka, like, three times.” Mondo shrugged, “I don’t hang out with chicks, so none of them got me chocolate!”

“I… I guess that’s true…” Kiyotaka conceded, “Although I’m surprised you don’t have any secret admirers like Kuwata…”

“What? Why would I have a secret admirer?” Mondo asked.

“Well, why _wouldn’t_ you!? You’re strong and good looking and _fun_ …” Kiyotaka pointed out. “I bet there’s lots of girls who’d like to date you!”

“Tch… well, doesn’t seem like any of them got me any chocolate! I’ve checked my locker _and_ the storage box on my bike…” Mondo griped.

Was that why he was so late this morning? Was he hoping to have some chocolate that much? “You could have some of mine! Kyoko got me far too much!” He offered the bar to Mondo.

“Uhh… thanks but I can’t stand that dark stuff…” Mondo pushed it back.

“Err… well, what about the star? It’s milk?” He showed the bag to Mondo, who looked at the tag…

“Dude, c’mon! Sayaka picked that out especially for _you_!” Mondo let go of it with a slight grimace. “If I want chocolate _that_ bad I’ll just buy it on clearance…” He sighed, “Just woulda been nice if someone had wanted to give _me_ some, is all…”

Now _that_ was a feeling he understood, in his excitement he’d forgot how miserable it was last year when every boy in his class but himself had been given some… He almost wished _he_ was a girl so he could give Mondo some and cheer him up…

Then again, Mondo had said he’d want chocolates from _someone…_ it didn’t necessarily have to be a _girl_ , did it? It might not be the _same_ but at least it would show _he_ cared, even if there weren’t any _girls_ who did… He could buy one of the chocolate letters the school had in stock for Valentine’s Day after classes ended for the day and give it to Mondo before he left for his date with Tsumiki…

* * *

Alright! Classes were over! Time to go start her plans for a fantastic, despair filled V-Day!

“Heeey Muku! I got you something!” Junko handed a chocolate ‘M’ to her older sister, who was sat cleaning some rifles on her table… she was making a total mess, but it was the least Junko could do for her poor, poor sister, right!? (And Mukuro _knew_ it.)

“Ah! Thank you, Junko!” Mukuro smiled in response.

“Aww… no problem!” She grinned, “They were on clearance so I got, like, a whole bag of ‘em…” She dumped the carrier bag containing all the milk-chocolate ‘M’s and ‘O’s the store had had at lunchtime on the table next to Mukuro. Just in case the hall pendant decided to do something sappy like get his gang loser friend ‘friendship’ chocolates…

“Oh… thanks…” Mukuro muttered.

Junko sat down and fired up the laptop that Shark Teeth had helped her put together… the one that connected to the schools security camera system and monitor what was going on…

She flicked through a few that might be useful, minimising windows and placing them on the desktop so she’d have a sort of ‘control room’ setup on the screen… She could really do with a proper control room, but she had to keep up the act that she was ‘just’ the Ultimate fashionista and a fashionista wouldn’t need to be buying 30 TV monitors for her bedroom.

Maybe she should tell Nevermind’s new pet eco-nut to save her any that got chucked out? She’d probably think she was doing the world such a favour! Aahahaha!

Anyway, let’s see… She’d definitely need the corridor outside Corncob’s room, and the room the LAN party was taking place in. Maybe the dining room as well, even if it meant having the fatass drawing alone on her screen all night. Hmm… She’d also wanna see Captain Hardass’ reaction to Mioda’s concert… and then she’d probably need some space to throw up more windows in case he decided to take Tsumiki somewhere else…

Aaaaand, done! Just in time to go make Hall Booty wear a suit that made good use of it… She picked up the bag containing the suit she taken from Ludenberg and headed across to his room.

The door opened slightly, just enough for him to peek around it. “Ah! Enoshima! Come in! I was worried it might be Mondo…”

“Huh? You guys finally fall out or something?” She asked as she sauntered in. Had all her work been pointless?

“No! Of course not! I’m trying to surprise him with friendship chocolates!” He gestured to his desk, where there was box containing a large, milk chocolate ‘K’ shape.

“The fudge!? You know his name’s _Mondo Oowada_ , right!?” She asked, aggressively. “There’s no ‘K’ in that, mofo!”

“ _Language!_ ” He snapped, dammit, he musta actually _checked_ Urban Dictionary… “And it’s ‘K’ for _‘Kyoudai’_ of course!” He smiled briefly, before a contrite expression replaced it. “Admittedly I’d have preferred an ‘M’ or an ‘O’, but the shop was sold out of both…”

And they’d have been sold out of ‘ _K’s_ as well if she’d thought of _that_ …

“Oh! What do you think of this note I wrote to go with it?” He shoved a piece of paper in her face that was so sappy she almost barfed on it… “Do you think spelling ‘chocolate’ with ‘K’s instead of ‘C’s is a bit much?” He asked.

“Urghh… Is _this_ why you’re not ready for your date with Mikan?” Junko scowled, “You’ve only got 40 minutes left!”

“W-what…? But I _am_ ready… I’ve showered, polished my boots, and this is my _best_ uniform!”

“Are you serious? You can’t wear your school uniform on a _date!_ ” Junko exclaimed, even if it would have better looking than what she had in mind…

“I though women liked a man in uniform?” He asked, probably quoting his old man…

“That’s, like, police or army stuff!” She sighed, “If you just turn up wearing what you always wear, you’ll look like you didn’t even try!”

His lip trembled, “But I don’t _own_ any other clothes…” He muttered.

“I _thought_ you might have had the sense to _get_ some, but I guess not. Good thing Celestia’s got good fashion sense…” She held out the bag.

“What do you…?” He looked at it briefly before putting two and two together. “Wait… are _sure_ I can’t just wear my…?”

“YES I’m sure! Put it on!” Junko snapped.

“Ngh… Ok then… If you’re _sure._ ” He took the bag, then just looked at her.

“Go on then…” She prompted.

“B-but you’re… can you…?” He stuttered.

“Aww, c’mon _sister!_ It’s not like you’re taking your whitey-tighties off!” Junko laughed, “And besides, I gotta make sure you’re putting it on right!”

“Err… Ok then…” His face flushed red and he turned away from her as he crouched down to spend like five goddamn minutes unlacing those stupid boots… Then he spent another two unbuttoning his two shirts and even stopped to _fold_ the stupid things before getting the shirt and jacket out of the bag and putting them on.

Then _finally_ off the trousers came and he bent down to rummage in the bag and _damn_ if only _Matsuba_ had that ass!

And then he found the other pair of trousers and the show was over… “Have I put this on correctly?” He asked, switching his wallet across to his new pair. Although he asked it in a tone that suggested he didn’t think there _was_ an incorrect was to wear it.

“Yep, good job! Now it’s just the shoes!”

“Err… right!” He reached for his boots again…

“No, the _shoes_ … in the bag!”

“You mean the ones with heels…?” He whined, “It’s just I can’t walk in them properly…” He admitted.

“That’s fine! It’s a date, it’s not like you need to be running!” Junko shrugged, “And the boots would look ridiculous with that suit!”

“Personally I think this _suit_ looks ridiculous with this suit…” He muttered under his breath as he reached into the bag and put the shoes on.

“There! All done! You look _great!”_ Junko lied. “Now off you go! Good luck!”

“Ah… _now?_ But I…” He glanced over at the ‘khokolate’ he’d got for Mondo…

“Well, it’ll take you longer to walk to the med centre in those shoes, so _yeah_ now!” Junko snapped, pushing him out of his own room. She watched him stumble a few times in his stupid shoes before heading back into her room to watch the show from there.

* * *

Back leant slightly back… long, slow strides, _gods_ this was embarrassing… More people knew him now than back in November, and having to travel further out from his dorms on a night when everyone was out in force was making him feel as if every student in the school was looking at him and pointing… and he was _sure_ that thin boy with the wild blonde hair and ripped coat was following him…

He finally arrived at the medical centre. To his relief, Tsumiki was already stood outside, at least he wouldn’t have to go in and ask for her! She was dressed in her normal nurse’s outfit and the bandages she seemed to always wear. He assumed they were so she’d have some on hand in the case of an emergency.

He approached her, noticing that she was staring at him nervously. “Good Evening, Tsumiki-chan!” He bowed. “I, err. I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, I guess you might remember looking after me in September?”

“Y-yes! Of course I do!” She exclaimed.

“Oh, r-really?” He’d rather hoped she _didn’t_ … in retrospect he’d been a bit over the top about wanting to leave early. “Do you remember all your patients?” He asked.

“Oh! N-no, of course not! Just you, Ishimaru!” She exclaimed.

“Err… I see…” He frowned. Had he really been _that_ much of a nuisance to her?

“Ah… Are you angry with me!? I’m so sorry!”

“N-no! I’m not angry at all!” He must have been scowling, perhaps he should change the topic... “So, err… Was there anything you wanted to do tonight, in particular?” He asked her.

“N-no! Whatever you want to do is fine!” She smiled nervously at him.

“Ah, well… I have tickets for a concert…” He tried to smile back, hoping she’d be impressed with his organisation at least…

“O-ok then.” She shrugged.

Well… it was a bit much to expect someone to be impressed by getting tickets, he supposed. “It’s this way!” He gestured for Tsumiki to walk with him.

She walked alongside him, twiddling with her hair in nervous silence. He tried to start a conversation. “So, how was your training course?”

“AH!” She gasped, “H-how did you know about that!?” She seemed genuinely frightened.

“Oh… Tanaka told me after I tried to find you on Saturday!” He explained.

“Y-you tried to find me and I wasn’t there?” She cringed, “I’m s-sorry… I shouldn’t have gone to the course, please don’t hate me!”

“What? Of _course_ you should have gone! Extracurricular learning is a vital part of our lives as students!” He exclaimed, “You shouldn’t even be _considering_ avoiding such things just because of romantic affiliations...”

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” She flinched at his outburst. He was going to have to be a lot more careful about controlling his volume around her…

“Err… Please don’t worry it!” He tried to reassure her. “I was just curious if you’d learnt any new techniques while you were there…?”

“Y-yes! Of course! I studied very hard!”

“Err… that’s good then…” _That_ line of conversation trailed off… They walked in silence for a while longer. He hoped Tsumiki would say something, but she didn’t… “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” He asked, in case she was just nervous.

“I don’t mind… Whatever you want to talk about is fine…”

He doubted that, he’d usually discuss the news… but the past few days were all filled with riots and attacks, which were hardly _date_ material…

He tried to listen in on the other couples they were passing for some potential topics…

(“It’s a beautiful night tonight…”) Oh! That was a good one!

“The weather’s nice tonight… it makes everything look better, don’t you think?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Umm… If you say so…” Was Tsumiki’s reply.

(“Hey… What would you like to eat?”)

“What sort of foods do you like?” That should be a nice safe question…

“Ah… I’ll eat anything! Anything you want at all!”

“Well that’s good… but do you have a favourite…?”

“N-no… I’ll really eat absolutely anything you want!” She cried… this seemed to be upsetting her for some reason…

Why had Enoshima picked _him_ for this!? Had she really not known anyone better suited to talking on a date? He couldn’t even tell if Tsumiki was interested in him or not… He hoped Mondo was having a better night that he was…  

* * *

_God…_ how long was it gonna take for something interesting to happen!? So far all she’d had to look at was Fujisaki scurrying around a bunch of monitors and Blubber Boy watching couples and crying into his sketchpad… Well, at least now some people were turning up to the tranny’s party… Including onion loaf hair…

“Hey, Chi! How’s it going?” He asked.

“Umm… I’ve set everything up! We’re just waiting on the last few people… But you can start logging in and picking your weapon…”

Oowada sat down and instantly picked the dude holding the biggest looking gun possible. The last few guys arrived soon after, carrying a few packs of beer.

“Umm… Are those _beers!?”_ Fujisaki asked nervously.

“How’d ya get _those_ into the school?” Oowada asked excitedly.

“Why, so your new _bestie_ can make sure we don’t manage it again?” One of the guys sneered at him.

“What!? Hell no! I want some! I’m sick of having to _walk_ outta the school for a drink…” Oowada griped. Wait, did he actually make sure he didn't drink drive... how desparingly  _lame!_

“Umm… Even so, I’d rather not have any of that _here_ …” Fujisaki pretended to have some semblance of control over the situation…

“Ah, C’mon Chi! It’s a party! What’s it matter if a few of us have a few drinks?” Oowada undermined said control instantly. “Kiyotaka’s on his date so it’s not like we’ll get _caught_ …”

“…The hardass is on a _date!?_ ” Someone asked.

“Yeah… He’s on a date with nurse Tsumiki…” Fujisaki explained. Junko could pretty much _taste_ the despair as a room full of guys wondered how _he_ could get a date if  _they_ couldn’t… What a _shame_ they didn’t know Hardass’ date was probably the most soul-cringingly awkward thing in existence…

* * *

Kiyotaka continued to walk in awkward silence with his date, desperately trying to think of _something_ to say to her that would cause her to say more than a few words, but with no success. He was beginning to think the whole date would consist of them moving in silence when he spotted a familiar couple sat on a bench nearby.

“Ah! Kyoko, Makoto! Hello!” He waved to them, if only to have _something_ to say…

“Uhh… Hi Kiyotaka!” Makoto looked surprised to see him… Of course, the last time they’d spoken about it he’s told the luck boy he _wasn’t_ going on this date.

“How’s _your_ date going?” Kiyotaka asked him quickly, just in case Makoto was planning to mention that he’d almost decided not to come on the date in front of Tsumiki…

“Well, we had the picnic.” Kyoko gestured to a hamper besides the bench, “And that was all Makoto had organised so we’re just talking now.”

Makoto had only organised dinner and nothing else? Honestly the boy was hopeless in that regard... “Well, it just so happens that I have some spare tickets to Mioda’s concert, if you want something to do!” He offered.

Makoto and Kyoko exchanged a quick glance at each other. “That would be great! Thanks, Kiyotaka!” Makoto said as he picked up the hamper and the pair stood up to walk them.

Kiyotaka let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. Having the pair nearby was comforting… and perhaps his classmates could help him keep a conversation going? But what could he start with…?

“Would you mind introducing us?” Kyoko asked, gesturing at Tsumiki.

“AH! Of course! Kyoko, Makoto… This is Mikan Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse!”

“I-I hope we can get along…” Tsumiki told them,

“And this is Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective and Makoto Naegi, my year’s Ultimate Lucky Student!”

Kyoko nodded and Makoto smiled and stretched out his hand to shake Tsumiki’s before they started to walk to the concert hall.

“So… you’re a nurse, Tsumiki?” Makoto asked, “Is that difficult?”

“Ah… no, it’s not difficult…” Tsumiki smiled. “I just learnt how to take care of myself as I was growing up…”

“You learnt to take care of yourself?” Makoto was surprised, “My Mom always took care of me… She even sent me _here_ with a box of my favourite bandages…” He said sheepishly.

“Y-you have a favourite bandage?” Kyoko asked, incredulously.

“They have Batman on them…” Makoto admitted. “They’re probably not actually very good as bandages though. What type of bandages do _you_ use, Tsumiki?”

“Me…? Well, there’s lot of different types… But I prefer the inelastic ones, you can apply pressure with them without having to wrap them too tightly…”

“Where do you usually get them from…?” Makoto continued his conversation with Tsumiki while Kiyotaka wished he had even half the boy’s skill for it.

“How’s your date going?” Kyoko muttered quietly to him.

“I’m doing _appallingly_ …” He admitted. “I can’t seem to make a conversation go beyond a single sentence without upsetting her…”

“Hmm… well at least you won’t have to talk during the concert…” Kyoko smiled slightly at him. That was a little reassuring.

“…I’m so sorry! I’ve been going on too much by myself, haven’t I?” Tsumiki suddenly exclaimed.

“What? No… it’s fine!” Makoto tried to reassure her. At least it wasn’t just _Kiyotaka_ having difficulty speaking to her.

“Oh… well we’re at the concert hall now! Let me give you all your tickets!” Kiyotaka interrupted as he took out his wallet and counted out three of the tickets and handed one to each of the others, Tsumiki, Kyoko and Mak…

A sudden gust of wind appeared to come from nowhere and pulled that third ticket out from between himself and the lucky boy. As it blew through the air it was caught by the blonde boy who’d been following him all evening.

“Uhh… Should I go get that back…?” Makoto asked.

“Err… No it’s alright… I’ve got a fifth ticket…” Kiyotaka muttered as he handed Makoto the extra spare and they stood in line. Maybe if the boy got in line behind them he could ask _why_ he was following him!

As he’d thought the boy came over to them. “Ah… I’m sorry to bother you all, I’m sure you’d rather not talk to trash like me…” He started, “But you dropped this ticket… do you need it back?”

“Oh, uhh, Hi Nagito! You can have it if you want… Kiyotaka here had a spare!” Makoto smiled awkwardly at the boy. “Uhh… This is Nagito Komaeda… He’s the lucky student from year 77!” He introduced the boy.

“Ahahaha! I’m so lucky! Hagakure said if I stuck near you tonight I’d have some great fortune befall me, but I didn’t think I’d get to see the Ultimate Musician in person!”

Hagakure had told him to follow him? Kiyotaka was going to have to have words with the fortune teller about what constituted appropriate advice to give people…

They gradually made their way to the top of the line, where Makoto and Komaeda checked in their picnic hamper and hoodie respectively, before they all headed into the concert hall.

The hall had been decorated in a rather garish mesh of colours, with purple walls and a leopard print curtain on the stage. Huge jets of what he hoped wasn’t _real_ fire were rhythmically shooting out from the walls as well. Mioda certainly had a… unique sense of interior design!

“Peeking!” The musician’s whispering voice came through loudly on the sound system as the curtains on stage rustled. This caused several people to turn their attention to it. Once they had, the musician bounded out onto the stage, guitar in hand. “WooHoo! Thank you _all_ for coming to Ibuki’s concert!” She shouted energetically, “I’m gonna show you lovebirds a rockin’ time! To start with, here’s my smash hit ‘From Me to You!’”

Kiyotaka turned to face the stage and watch. He wondered what sort of music she would be playing. Hopefully with a title like that it would be a love song that was simple to dance to… the last time he’d danced at all was when he his mother was teaching him to waltz. Hopefully the timing would be appropriate for that…

* * *

“What the fuck is wrong with this shitty gun!?” Corncob head was bitching at the game,

“Maybe it’s just the shitty player holding it…” Someone muttered, just before they shot him.

“Oh fuck you!” Oowada snapped, “It’s this gun! How come it’s so slow to aim?”

“Umm… Mondo you’re playing the sniper…” Fujisaki murmured.

“So?”

“So you’re supposed to shot from a distance, dumbass…” Someone gloated. “Like _this!_ ”

“Oh _fuck_ you!” Oowada snapped as his character’s head exploded. “Fine, I’ma find somewhere high up and then we’ll see who the shitty players are…”

Well, now he was just wandering around the screen playing sensibly… that wasn’t fun to watch. Had Ishimaru got to Mioda’s concert yet…?

Wait, _what?_ What were the Lucky Loser and Ice Detective doing, interfering with the lovely date Junko had set up especially for her friends? How could they possibly be _soooo_ inconsiderate as to ruin her plan?

And poor Mukuro had spotted them on the screen and was watching sadly as they held hands and looked at the stage. How wonderfully _horrible_ of them!

_Oooooh_ … Mioda was about to start her first song… The hall pedant was staring at her with intent trepidation, as if preparing for a practical exam…

Well, unless the practical exam was in _turning blue_ then the hardass had failed miserably… Because that’s what he did as soon as Mioda’s _wonderful_ despairingly bad music started to fill the air around him. He stood, staring in shock at her, occasionally bobbing his hand up and down rhythmically… was he trying to _count the time?_ In one of _Mioda’s_ songs? _Ahahahaha!_

Behind her she could hear Mukuro sigh at the sight of the loser practically jumping into the detective’s arms at how scary the song was… Oohh! This was so _good!_

But Mioda’s song was over too soon, as it always was, and the beautiful music of despair was replaced with the sounds of clapping from the students who were already pulled into enough despair to _like_ Mioda’s ‘art’…

* * *

W-w-was that actually _music?_ And what was with those lyrics? And why were so many people _clapping!?_ He looked around… Tsumiki was crying, Makoto looked horrified and even Kyoko was grimacing… At least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t ‘get’ it.

“So grab a partner and slow dance to ‘I squeezed out the baby but I have no idea who the father is!’” Mioda announced the… _interesting_ title of the next song.

But a slow dance? Maybe this would be something he could waltz to? And all the other couples around them were pairing up… “Do you want to dance?” He asked Tsumiki.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to!” She replied. Which… wasn’t exactly a _yes_ , but wouldn’t it be odd if he backed out now when he’d been the one to ask?

He took her left hand in his right. “Err… If you’re alright with me putting my hand on your waist… yours can go on my shoulder?” She nodded and put her hand where he’d asked. He took that as consent and placed his left hand as gently as possible on her waist. She didn’t look happy though…

“Err… do you know how to waltz?” He asked.

“I… I just follow you, r-right?” She said. He nodded, hoping he actually remembered this well enough to lead.

The song started, and so did his ‘dance’. This consisted of desperately trying to figure out the time of the music in amongst the discord of screams and guitar _and_ awkwardly maneuverering his stumbling partner around the floor. Not a particularly easy feat when every couple seemed to be dancing to a different beat and style… He was so focused on having to dodge the students in front of him that he couldn’t even get a chance to see if Tsumiki was enjoying this or not…

Suddenly he spotted a relatively empty spot on the floor, near some fold up tables coated with bunting… He tried to lead Tsumiki towards it… once they got there he’d be relatively safe to actually _look_ at his partner… By some miracle he actually managed to get there unscathed and breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked down at her… she was staring intensely at their feet and he realised she was gripping his shoulder a lot more tightly than when they first started…

“Do you want to stop?” He asked, but his sudden question served only to disrupt her concentration. She jumped at the sound, pushing up into his chest. He tried to quickly step backwards in response, but the heel on his shoe made his foot twist out from under him and then he was falling backwards into the tables with a crash, pulling down Tsumiki in the process…

He couldn’t quite tell what had happened, but he ended up pinned down with his arms behind his back by a collapsed table. With some effort he managed to get his feet into the right position to push it off him with his shoulders, but that just meant he was faced with the embarrassing situation he’s put _Tsumiki_ into…

She had strands of bunting wrapping her wrists and ankles, which were all being pulled up and over her head, meaning her skirt was falling down _away_ from… the part it was _supposed_ to cover…

“Ah! Tsumiki-chan! I…” He started to try and move towards her, only to feel thin rope pulling sharply into his skin… and notice that the bunting tying Tsumiki up was being pulled tighter as he did so…

“Ah! P-please help me!” She cried as her limbs were stretched up higher.

“Stop moving, you’re tied together!” Kyoko stopped at his side briefly to point out the problem he’d just about figured out. “Makoto, see if you can unwrap Kiyotaka, I’ll help Tsumiki…”

Thank goodness he’d given the pair those tickets! Nobody else had even moved to assist them, and from the tittering emanating around him he doubted it was just due to the bystander effect…

“How did you even…?” Makoto muttered in his ear as he pulled at the bunting wrapped around his arms.

“I- I don’t know!” Kiyotaka replied, purposefully staring to the side instead of at poor Tsumiki… How on _Earth_ had he managed to get her in _that_ position! And right in front of her friend and a large crowd of students as well!

A large crowd that was slowly turning away from the stage to look at the ridiculous state he and his poor date were in…

“Heeeey! This is _Ibuki’s_ concert!” The singer complained from her stage, “If _you_ want to put on a show, do it somewhere _else!_ ”

“My apologies!” He replied, as Tsumiki yelled “I’m sorry!”

That only served to make the surrounding crowd laugh harder, to which Mioda growled. “Security! Those two are disturbing Ibuki’s concert!” Out of the corner of his eye Kiyotaka spotted a pair of guards moving towards them, but keeping their distance as they watched Makoto and Kyoko try to free them…

“ _Those_ two!” Ibuki reiterated, then added “Pointing!” as she pointed at him and Tsumiki.

“Is she serious?” Makoto muttered, and he noticed Kyoko look up at the singer in brief annoyance before she bit a strand of the bunting tying the nurse up in half.

Immediately he felt his arms relax as the tight strands untangled and Makoto was able to pull them off him. Meanwhile Kyoko had managed to untie Tsumiki and was gently helping her to her feet with the help of a security guard.

The other guard approached himself and Makoto.

“C’mon Kiyotaka, I think we’d better go…” Makoto muttered. He couldn’t have agreed more, if it hadn’t been for the heels and his own set of rules he’d have probably run out of the room in shame… but instead he let Makoto lead him out, with Kyoko and Tsumiki following close behind…

The set of double doors were shut firmly and pointedly behind them as they were let back into the lobby. What a complete disaster…

* * *

Upupupupupu! Man… she’d thought she was gonna wear out the print screen key for a moment there! Now _there_ was a picture she could submit to the class photo album! Ahahahaha!

But of course the pair of interferers had had to ruin everything… and Mioda had had a sulk at having her audience taken away, so no more fun from the concert… She watched them in the lobby long enough to determine what hall booty’s lame idea of a good time was and then switched back to watching bread head trying to find a sniping position…

“Hehehe…” Wow, subtle Oowada, real subtle!

Still… he had actually found a decent place to snipe from, and was lining up a head shot… Well that was no _fun…_

Junko pressed a button she’d had Souda prepare earlier… That punk nerd was _so_ useful…

“Oh come the _fuck ON!_ ” Biker boy yelled as the power to all the computers went out just before he got his first kill in.

There were similar annoyed complaints around the room…

“Umm… If it’s just the computers it’s probably just a fuse blowing out… I’ll call maintenance and ask them to come replace it…” Fujisaki offered.

“Aww… that’ll takes _ages…_ ” One of the guys moaned. “I’m just gonna go watch TV. Thanks for the game Fujisaki…”

“Yeah… I’m gonna see if I can find any lonely girls… hell if the _hardass_ managed it…”

There was a general consensus of ‘fuck this shit’ around the room, and eventually it was just the girlie-boy and the gang loser left by themselves until the maintenance guy came and fixed Souda’s work…

* * *

Kiyotaka bowed to the nurse…

“Tsumiki, I…” He started

“I’m so sorry!” she said at the same time as he did, which Makoto laughed at.

“Err… _You_ don’t need to apologise, _I_ was the one who dragged you into the tables…” Kiyotaka muttered.

“Either way, it seems as if we’ll not be seeing any more of that concert…” Kyoko sounded relieved. “Makoto, get the hamper so we can leave…”

“Oh! Right, yes!” Makoto headed to the baggage check, leaving him alone with Tsumiki and Kyoko.

“Err.. are you alright, Tsumiki-chan?” Kiyotaka asked his date.

“Please don’t worry about me!” She cried, “How about you… are your wrists alright… if you want I can treat them…”

“Ah, no they’re fine!” Admittedly they were going to be sore tomorrow, but nothing worth bothering her about after the situation he’s just put her in…

“What are you two planning to do now?” Kyoko asked them.

Kiyotaka looked at Tsumiki apologetically. “Err… I suppose after _that_ you’d rather have nothing to do with me…”

“Ah, no! Of course not! Please don’t be angry with me!” She cried timidly.

“I… of course I wouldn’t be angry…” Why on Earth would _he_ be angry when _she_ was the one he’d hurt with his clumsiness? “But… if you don’t mind spending more time with me… would you like to go for a walk? It’s a nice night and…”

“I-I can do anything you want!” She offered. This was starting to worry him… she didn’t seem willing to say _no_ to anything, so how was he supposed to know if she actually meant _yes?_

But then again, perhaps the nurse was just nervously trying to impress him… and he’d promised Enoshima he’d keep her company for the whole evening and he’d hardly filled any of it so far… A walk to the fountain in the reserve department couldn’t exactly hurt her and she might relax once she spent more time with him? Maybe?

He glanced at Kyoko, wondering if she could tell what Tsumiki actually wanted… She was looking between him and his date worriedly. But eventually seemed to make up her mind.

“Where were you planning to walk to? Makoto doesn’t have any plans and I wouldn’t mind some fresh air…Maybe we could come with you.”

A double date? That would be perfect! Makoto was so good at conversation, he’d be sure to help Tsumiki relax and enjoy herself! “I was thinking the fountain on the way to the reserve department, if you want to come along… If that’s alright with Tsumiki of course!” He added.

The nurse just nodded nervously again.

“Well that’s settled then.” Kyoko smiled. “And just in time for Makoto to come back with the...”

She trailed off, Makoto wasn’t carrying the hamper, but instead had a ripped coat in his hand. “I, uhh, I think my claim ticket got mixed up with Nagito's…”

“We’ll have to go in and get it…” Kyoko sighed, “We’ll meet you two at fountain.” She told them before heading back to the concert hall.

“Very well… I’ll meet you there.” He nodded at them and opened the exit door for Tsumiki.

“Well, I guess it’s just us for now!” He laughed nervously once they were outside, “The, err, the fountain's this way…” He gestured up the path.

“O-ok then.” She smiled nervously and started walking alongside him in silence.

He really wished Makoto and Kyoko hadn’t been delayed… He _still_ couldn’t think of anything to say to Tsumiki. At least Makoto had got her talking happily for a little while...

He looked around at some of the other couples walking along the path… most of them were holding hands, some had arms around each other’s waists… they all actually _looked_ like couples. He and Tsumiki, on the other hand, probably looked like they just happened to be going in the same direction.

Should he try to hold her hand? How did one suggest that, exactly? If he just asked her she’d probably say yes regardless of whether she wanted to or not…

He looked around at some of the other couples, wondering how they’d done it and trying to spot any that weren’t holding hands yet so he could see how they went about it. Eventually he noticed a boy gently stretching out a hand to brush his girlfriend’s arm with a few fingers, at which point she responded by entwining her fingers around them and they continued walking hand in hand. Perfect! He should try that…

He’d have to try it on the way back though, while he’d been looking for ideas they’d come up to the fountain…

“The, err… the fountain’s quite nice, isn’t it?” He tried to draw her attention to it.

“If you think so…” Did this girl not have her own opinions?

“…Do you want to watch it for a while?” He asked.

“A-anything you want to do is fine with me!” She smiled timidly again.

“Then let’s do that…” He said awkwardly and turned to look at it…

It _was_ a beautiful sight, the light shining in the water seemed to dance and sparkle as the liquid cascaded down the multiple tiers of the structure, making the light appear to solidify and flow downwards into the basin, where it coalesced into a reflection of the moon that playfully contorted and shifted at their feet.

No wonder his father had always taken his mother somewhere like this… He could just imagine him gently placing his arm over her shoulder and leaning in for a quick kiss on the cheek, before looking forward together at the shimmering moonlight until it got too cold to stay outside and they headed home to warm up, snuggled together…

He felt his body relaxing, he hadn’t realised how _tense_ he’d been! He wondered if the sight would have help Tsumiki relax as well… He glanced over to her… he still couldn’t tell what she was thinking, she looked the same as before, standing still and frowning nervously… Was she not impressed? If only she’d _say_ something!

“Do you… like it?” He asked, lamely.

“We can stay here if _you_ like it!” She offered.

What did _that_ mean? Did _she_ want to stay or not? He suspected it was probably the latter…

“I… I’m sorry!” She exclaimed again… had he started scowling again?

“AH! No! I… You’ve not done anything wrong!” He exclaimed back at her again, “I just… I’m worried you’re not really enjoying this…” He tried to explain.

“I’m sorry…”

“No you… you don’t need to apologise!” He sighed, this was going nowhere… “…Maybe for our next date you can decide what we do! Then I’ll _know_ you’ll be enjoying it!” He suggested without thinking.

“N- _Next_ date…?” Tsumiki asked, her voice trembling.

“Err… I mean! If you _want_ another date, of course! I… I’d be honoured if you _did!_ ” He bowed to her.

“Y-you want to make me do this _again…?”_ Tsumiki suddenly started crying, “W-why _me?_ Did I do something wrong…? I said I was sorry, why won’t you _forgive me!?”_

“Err…” Did she hate the idea of dating him _that_ much? “I... was tonight really _that_ bad? I realise I’m not the best conversationalist and the dancing didn’t work out but otherwise…”

“Y-you… you’ve been _ignoring_ me all _night_ …” She cried.

_Ignoring her?_ No he hadn’t been… Ok, so he’d been looking at other couples for ideas and he’d tried to bring along Makoto and Kyoko to help him out but… but…

Urg… He _had_ been ignoring her, hadn’t he?

“I… I’m sorry! It’s just… I’ve never gone on a date before, and with you saying you didn’t mind what we did or talked about… I didn’t really know what _to_ do! S-so I was looking at other couples for ideas! I didn’t mean to ignore you in the process!” He tried to explain, “B-but if you’d prefer, next time I will make sure I have a defined plan in mind so I’ll be able to give you full attention!” He bowed.

“ _Huh?_ Is that _all_ you can say?” Tsumiki asked, her voice sounding completely hollow and unlike she had done the rest of the night…

“I beg your…?”

“Trying to justify to actions with fancy words… M-making excuses for why it’s not really _your_ fault…” Tsumiki was glaring at him, “E-everyone always treats me like that…”

“Err, n-no I realise I…” _was at fault_ …

“’It’s all _Mikan’s_ fault…’ _right_!? ‘ _She’s_ the one with the problem…’” Tsumiki asked sarcastically before he could finish.

“N-no! Not at all…!”

“Well I’m DONE with that! You hear me!?” Tsumiki shouted, eyes wild and pulling at her hair in anger. “I’M DOOOOOOONE!”

He stepped backwards at the sudden outburst, too shocked at her sudden change in demeanour to try and apologise before she turned away from him and began to walk back to the school…

* * *

“Right… I’ve set us up again now!” Fujisaki said. Well, that was the cue for Junko to unleash the final part of Oowada's shitty evening!

She'd been saving this little trick for a while... A nice little virus in the school servers! Now the programmer would be called up and have to leave the gang loser all by his lonesome... She hit the bid red button in front of her and sat back to watch as the tranny check its phone...

"Alter Ego? Did something happen?" Huh? Who the fuck was _'Alter Ego'!?_

"Hello Master!" A recorded version of Fujisaki's voice came from the phone, "I just wanted to let you know a virus was released on the school system, but I've contained it!"

"Good work, AE! Keep monitoring the system and see if you can find out where it came from!"

"Yes, sir!"

Wait, what? What the fuck happened! She'd spent fucking ages learning all that coding bullshit and it hadn't even distracted the girly-boy for a minute!?

"...You finally ready ta get sniped now?" Bread head asked.

"No... But I _am_ ready to back stab your camping ass, scrub!"

"Hahaha! I have _no_ idea what you just said, but _bring it!"_

NOOOO! _FUCK!_ All that work and her plan had come to nothing because of something she didn't even know existed! This... This was so deliciously awful! Ahahaha!

Now the biker was gonna spend a nice evening with Fujisaki and then probably be back in time to commiserate with Ishimaru on his crappy date... And they'd be even more sickeningly close tomorrow! Uuurrrrggghhhh! Goddammit! Why couldn't she have some luck on her side...? If only Mikan would actually put out or _something._..

* * *

Urg! What a disaster… he hadn’t meant to imply that it was _Tsumiki’s_ fault he’d been such a poor date! He should have been better prepared! Instead he’d ignored her all night and then blamed _her_ and made her _furious_ … And now she’d probably tell Enoshima, and it would go around that he was a terrible date at best and a terrible _person_ at worst…

…He _needed_ to apologise to her and beg for another chance…

“Ts-Tsumiki-chan! Please _wait!_ ” He tried to run after her… Only remembering that he was wearing heels when he _tripped…_

He wasn’t sure what was happening… Other than knowing the Tsumiki was screaming _“_ AAAHHHH!” as he barrelled into her and they both landed on the floor… and his hands were on something soft as heavy footsteps were rapidly approaching…

“Ummm… Please help me!” Tsumiki was crying confusedly…

He opened his eyes felt his face turn red in embarrassment as he’d landed with his face mere inches from the nurses. He quickly used his arms to push himself upwards… which only served to highlight the fact that he’d somehow landed with one hand on her breast and the other on the inside of her thigh, which was pushed up and outwards above her head.

“Oh, _gods, I’m…_ ” He didn’t get a chance to finish saying ‘ _SO SORRY!’_ because he was being dragged up by someone behind him. It turned out to be a male reserve student, presumably on a date with the female one who was now at Tsumiki’s side checking if she was alright…

“I…” He was about to thank the boy who’d help him up… but noticed just in time that he was throwing a punch and dodged it…

“You sick _bastard!_ ” The boy snapped, trying again… although compared to Sakura’s movements he was slow and clumsy and easy to dodge.

“I… I beg your pardon?” All he’d done was trip up…?

“Stay still so I can hit you!” He snapped in frustration.

“I don’t understand _why…”_ Kiyotaka started as he dodged the next punch.

“What’s going on here?” Kyoko’s voice rang out authoritatively, causing the boy to stop his ineffective flurry. She was walking quickly up the path towards them, followed by Komaeda and Makoto, who was having trouble keeping up with a picnic hamper in hand.

“This asshole was trying to rape that girl!” The boy who was attempting to hit him shouted.

“ _WHAT!?”_ Why would he think…? Kiyotaka looked over at Tsumiki, who was still sat on the floor, shouting things like “I’m so sorry!” and “Please forgive me!” over and over in a panic…

“AH!” He finally realised how he must have _looked_ … “No! I… I just tripped up and landed on her!” He tried to explain…

( _“He said he ‘just tripped up and landed on her…’”_ ) He remembered his father telling him about a man who’d been caught assaulting a young woman… and his own response… ( _“Such a feeble excuse! I hope he’s punished to the full extent of the law! That sort of behaviour is despicable!”_ )

He looked at the faces around him… The reserve students were looking at him with open disgust on their faces, Komaeda was looking at the whole scene with distaste that was occasionally giving way to what looked like excitement, Makoto was watching Tsumiki’s condition with worry and Kyoko was running her eyes over the area, analysing it.

“Ahh… I know that sounds like a terrible excuse but...” He started, then trailed off when he realised how pathetic it sounded. “Tsumiki-chan, I’m so sorry I hurt you!” He finally remembered to apologise.

“We should call security.” Kyoko concluded.

“O-of course…”

…

Security came, accompanied by the headmaster, of all people, and Tsumiki was gently taken to the medical centre while statements were taken… Although with some superfluous information thrown in.

“We heard a girl shouting so started making our way over here, then we heard her scream and started to run… When we got here we saw him pushing her leg above her head…” The female reserve student was explaining.

“Kiyotaka wouldn’t have done that!” Makoto insistently repeated again.

“Makoto… I appreciate your willingness to be a character witness for me, but right now they need statements from people who were actually _there…_ ” Kiyotaka tried to explain the procedure to him. “Let them finish and then I’ll have a chance to give my own side of things…”

“Urg…” Makoto sighed irritably and listened to the rest of the pair’s statements with an increasingly annoyed expression.

“Thank you, both of you.” Kirigiri nodded they signed the statement summaries security had written out. “Now, Kiyotaka, your statement, please.”

He tried to keep his statement as to-the-point as possible, stopping to answer questions when asked.

“That’s such an obvious lie…” The male reserve student muttered.

“I _know_ him! He wouldn’t lie about this!” Makoto snapped.

It was nice of him to say… but not very helpful when the two students had seen what very much appeared to be himself assaulting Tsumiki… if only there was some definitive evidence…

“Well, either way, the security footage should show what happened clearly.” Kyoko stated.

“Footage!?” Everyone _but_ her exclaimed.

“Yes… there’s a camera… _there!_ ” She pointed to a nearby lamppost while staring at the security people incredulously.

“Get me the footage from that camera!” The headmaster ordered.

“Yes sir! It’ll be a few minutes sir!” A man from security said.

“If only I hadn’t delayed you two…” The older lucky boy was sighing sadly to Makoto and Kyoko, “Because of me, you’re not able to defend your friend yourselves, and have to waste time waiting for the video… Scum like me shouldn’t have been outside on a day like today!”

“Nonsense! You aren’t _scum!_ ” Kiyotaka walked over to clasp his shoulder. “And besides, I’m sure the video won’t take long at all!”

“Errr…” The security man groaned.

“What is it!?” Kirigiri scowled at him.

“The, errr… The data’s coming up as corrupted…” He grimaced.

* * *

_UPUPUPUPUPU!_ The moral compass accused of groping up the poor little nurse? With no definitive evidence either way? This was too good to be true! Ok, _sure_ , now she had to admit that the scum from class 77 could actually be useful and might actually be _worth_ the effort she was putting into converting him, but this was hilarious!

AND Komaeda's fantastically awful luck was solving her other problem as well, because lady-boy's phone was going off!

"Umm... Can we pause again? I'm getting a phone call from the headmaster!"

"Urg! _Fine!_ " Two tone hair griped as he had to stop playing again.

"Umm... Fujisaki speaking! ... They think _what!?_ ... Video file corruption? I _might_ be able to do something... Depending on the problem I could either fix it straight away or it'll take a few days... Ok I'll come right over, sir!"

"You've gotta _leave?_ " Oowada failed to hide how upset he was.

"I'm sorry Mondo, something really bad's happened!" Fujisaki cringed in response. "You can play the single player mode if you like... And can you tidy up the room when you're done?"

"...Uhh, yeah, sure. Fine." Oowada lied before Fujisaki scurried away.

He sat and played badly for a very short while before getting annoyed and smashing his fist on the table.

"Grrr... Fuck this cheating computer bullshit..." He got up to leave, angrily straightening up chairs and on his way out and cussing up a storm when he stubbed his foot on a six-pack someone had left on the floor...

He stared at it for a while, before picking it up and opening up a can. "Happy fuckin' Valentine's Day, Mondo!" He muttered pathetically before taking a large swing and leaving with the whole pack in hand...

* * *

Chihiro’s frown was deepening as he tapped at his laptop, while the headmaster waited with impatience for some information from him. The rest of the witnesses had been allowed to leave… or in Makoto’s case had been _told_ to leave…

“Umm… This is going to take me a few days to get an answer…” Chihiro finally concluded.

The headmaster’s shoulder’s slumped slightly. “Very well… Please keep working on it and let me know as soon as you have an answer… you’ll be excused from classes in the meantime…”

_Urg…_ That was going to put the programmer behind on his schoolwork! If only Kiyotaka hadn’t been stupid enough to trip! Or upset Tsumiki so much in the first place… “…I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Chihiro… I’ll find some way to make it up to you, I promise!”

“Huh… Kiyotaka… it’s not… that’s not necessary!” Chihiro told him, “You’d do the same to help me, right?”

“Err…” Restore a corrupted data file? He wouldn’t even know where to _start!_

“Don’t worry! I’ll prove you’re innocent!” Chihiro patted his arm. “And I’ll let you know as soon as I do!”

“Ah… alright! Thank you!” He nodded, as Chihiro left to work somewhere more comfortable.

“Well then… Seeming as we’re going to have to wait for more evidence, we’ll have to treat this as an official investigation…” Headmaster Kirigiri sighed. “We’ll send someone to inform your father in person and answer any questions he has.”

He flinched at the thought of his father getting a knock on the door and receiving _that_ news. “May I write a letter to be taken to him as well?”

“Ah, yes… I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.” Kirigiri nodded.

“Err… Is Tsumiki alright?” He asked, “Or at least… less shocked than she was…”

Kirigiri checked his tablet. “Apparently she’s up and about treating patients!” He said in surprise, “But she’s not giving a coherent statement about tonight… she just keeps apologising whenever you’re mentioned…”

“I see… I’m glad she well enough to treat people, at least…” He’d have to avoid the medical centre for now… and class 77 of course. Although that was assuming he’d even be allowed to move around by himself…

 “So… what’s going to happen to me, now?” He asked.

The headmaster looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well… I’m being investigated? Will I be confined or…?”

“ _Confined?_ We’re not _charging_ you with anything!” The headmaster exclaimed. “As far as I’m concerned there’s no reason for you not to continue as you usually do.”

Even though there were eyewitnesses claiming he’d attacked a helpless _nurse?_ “With respect sir, what about the concerns of the students? _You_ might believe I’m innocent but _they_ don’t…”

“All the more reason for you to _act_ innocent… I mean, you _did_ just have an accident, didn’t you?”

“Of course! And of course I intend to _behave_ as such…” Kiyotaka assured him, “But… if the students believe I’ve committed a sexual assault, it doesn’t send a good message to have me wandering around freely, _and_ in charge of discipline!”

“Hrmm…” Kirigiri let out an annoyed sigh. He could see where Kyoko got it from… “I suppose you’ve got a point about the discipline part… Your duties as hall monitor will be revoked, effective immediately and until after the investigation concludes in your favour…”

“… _If_ it does…” Kiyotaka corrected, making a mental note to unpin his armband from his uniform when he got back to his room. He was starting to worry that the headmaster might not be the most impartial judge…

“ _If_ the investigation concludes in your favour…” Kirigiri sighed, “But otherwise you will be free to move around in and outside the school as normal, and I _personally_ expect you to continue your duties as class rep and model student as before.”

“Understood, sir!” He saluted, hoping that the video evidence would be clear cut enough that the headmaster’s obvious bias wouldn’t play into the result…

“You can go now.” Kirigiri dismissed him. “… But, err…Ishimaru?”

“Yes sir?” It must have been the first time he’d ever heard the headmaster hesitate…

“I think you look better in your school uniform.” The headmaster smiled wryly.

“I agree, sir.” He said, almost laughing at the out of place comment.

He headed back to his room, feeling uneasy… Regardless of whether he’d meant to or not, he’d _hurt_ Tsumiki… And there wasn’t really have any evidence that he _hadn’t_ meant to… Shouldn’t the school be taking this all more seriously?

“Ishimaru-dono? What’s wrong, is your ‘Bro’s’ night in’ not going well?” Hifumi asked him as he passed the dining room. "And why are you wearing  _that_ again?"

“Ah… that… We’ve put that off until a different day… I’ve been on a date with Mikan Tsumiki…”

“You _actually_ went on the date? With a _girl?_ ” Hifumi looked unnecessarily shocked, in his opinion. “Well, I suppose she must have enjoyed it… what with you being in your nice tight _suit_ …” He muttered, irritably.

“ _HAH!_! Kiyotaka couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. “No… She _hated_ it… I couldn’t think of a single thing to talk to her about all night, my attempts to dance with her somehow ended up with us tied up in decorations and her spread-eagled on the floor, my request for a second date resulted in her screaming at me and when I tried to run after her to ask for a second chance I tripped up onto her and now I’m being investigated for _assault_ …” Hifumi was just staring at him. “But, regardless! How was _your_ date with Celestia?” He tried to change the topic to something that was hopefully more cheerful…

 “M-MY _WHAT!?_ ” Hifumi squealed, “W-what makes you think she’d…”

“Err…! I’m sorry! I just assumed because she gave you chocolates you two were…” Kiyotaka trailed off awkwardly.

“… _What_ chocolates?”

“Well, I saw her leaving chocolates in front of your door this morning… It was just a small box but the packaging looked expensive enough I thought it was significant.”

“That was _Celestia!?_ ” Hifumi was gobsmacked, “I thought Hagakure-dono had left them!”

“You… you think _Hagakure’s_ interested in you?” He hadn’t known the fortune teller was homosex…

“No! Not like _that!_ They were signed ‘Taeko _Yasuhiro_ ’! I just assumed he’d been too lazy to think of a proper fake name!” Hifumi explained, hurriedly. “But… they’re really from _Celestia…?_ This isn’t some sort of prank, is it? _”_

“Not on _my_ part, I assure you!”

“…But why the fake name?” He mused.

“Perhaps you should go ask her… and make sure to thank her for them as well!”

Hifumi considered it for a while, before nodding with resolve and leaving the room, abandoning his sketch pad and drink as he went.

Kiyotaka sighed, it would have been nice to hear _someone_ had had a good evening… He wondered if Mondo’s had gone well, aside from his causing Chihiro to have to leave early… Perhaps his friend would be back already, and could help him figure out how he’d gone so terribly wrong with Tsumiki?

And he could finally give Mondo the 'khokolate'!

He headed over to the dorms and after a quick stop to finish off the parcel he’d started to prepare earlier, he was stood in front of Mondo’s room hitting the doorbell. But his joy at seeing the door open was short lived, because Mondo’s stumbling presence was accompanied by acrid smells of smoke and beer…

_What!?_ What had _happened?_ Mondo had seemed as if he was going to be perfectly fine this evening! He’d thought his friend would be alright, having fun with the other students at the LAN party while _he_ failed to impress the Ultimate Nurse but instead…

* * *

“Kyoudai, you’ve been _smoking!?_ And _drinking!?”_ Ishimaru voice came through the speakers as he exclaimed at the mess in front of him.

It was a _shame_ how _angry_ he always seemed… if he was just a _bit_ less overbearing his guilt and concern probably would have actually shown up in his tone of voice.

But they didn’t… at least not strong enough to get through the haze of drink and the despair she’d fed Oowada yesterday… the one that transformed his ‘Kyoudai’ from an admiring pillar of support to a scolding nag who not only was using him as a ‘good example’, but had also gone off to get dragged into the bushes by a nympho nurse (judging from the grass stains on his shirt) and was now _bitching_ at him for having had a little cigarette and beer to cheer him up after his own plans had turned into a shitty night…

“Oh… _Fuck you, asshole!”_ Oowada snarled and slammed the door shut.

_Upupupupupu!_ Oh, the _look_ on Ishimaru’s _face!_ The _shock_ at the idea that his ‘ _Kyoudai_ ’ had wanted nothing to do with him. The _guilt_ that he’d left his friend alone on a night when he’d _known_ he’d need support! The _realisation_ that he’d basically just turned up and reprimanded him for having a moment of weakness! The _despair_ that he’d _ruined_ his friendship in a _stupid_ attempt to do a favour he’d been _told_ he wouldn’t be capable of performing!

AHAHAHAHA! Oh it was all _just too GOOD!_

_Haaaaahh…_ But it had been too easy as well… after all, with the trash’s ‘luck’ on her side, he’d not had any chance…

No, wait… he had _one…_ And he’d realised it as well, bending down to gently place the little white box he’d wanted to give earlier outside Mondo’s door. He stared at it intensely for a while, maybe praying for it to make his precious _friend_ like him again, then headed back to his own room, pausing to prop the door open slightly.

Her heart thumped… would the box _work?_ How long would it be before Oowada noticed it was there…? She just couldn’t _wait_ to see what would happen next… This had been _such_ a good night!

It was annoying that Ishimaru had blabbed about Ludenberg’s chocolates though… now the blob was gonna be all annoying and _hopeful_ , bleh! Buuut Oowada probably wasn’t coming out anytime soon. She probably had time to go steal his sketchbook and doodle moustaches on all the pictures or something…

Wooow, there were a lot of pictures of the fake in here… She’d been expecting more of that anime girl and…

_Huh… These_ two pages might be useful! She quickly scanned a copy… Then got a nice new biro and a webpage of different moustache styles…

Two tantalisingly long hours of doodling later, Oowada _finally_ opened his door and accidently kicked the box as he went to leave.

He stared at it in bemusement for a bit, then stooped to pick it up and excitedly ripped open the front, failing to notice that Ishimaru’s door was slowly opening just a little further, as the hall monitor waited desperately to hear his reaction…

… His reaction to being given a chocolate… with _Kiyotaka’s_ initial…

“Fucking smug asshole!” Oowada threw the chocolates behind him in anger, causing a loud thud that resulted in Ishimaru’s door slamming shut, before he stomped of to the kitchen for something…

_Upupupupupu!_ What a _shame_ poor Ishimaru hadn’t put his lovely little note on the _front_ of his ‘ _Kyoudai’s khokolates’_! _AHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ Now they’d both be full of _despair_ … and she wouldn’t want to _puke_ every time she _saw_ them… _UPUPUPUPUPU!!!_

(Or at least, not until this _hack_ of an author has Makoto magically fix everything next chapter… _URRRRGGGHHHHH!)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda feel like I've not done a good job writing Junko or Mikan... which is a pain when this chapter focuses on Junko and Mikan! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, regardless! Next up will be Makoto Naegi! 
> 
> (Also if you're reading this late at night, go to bed!)


	7. The One Where They Move A Couch (Makoto Naegi)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reference to the follow scene from Friends season 5:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2u0sN9stbA  
> Also I realise Friends is a bit of a dated reference for teenagers in 2012 to be making, but I’m almost 30 and have no idea what shows kids watch these days, plus the couch scene was pretty much the entire inspiration for this chapter. Is my family the only one that ends up referencing that every time we move furniture?
> 
> Also at one point I mention it being normal to offer tea and biscuits to visitors, because that’s the case in the UK. Apologies if it’s not so much in America (Or if the American equivalent would be coffee and something else?). (As always this fic is a mishmash of different cultures and I consider it to be set in the Great States of Britmeripan)
> 
> And, as in the last chapter, Class 77 are in various states of despair, so are not quite in character with SDR2.

(Wednesday, 15th February 2012)

Dear Father.

I apologise greatly for the news you've just been given! I assure you I had no intention of hurting nurse Tsumiki but unfortunately I did by accident and ~~now I've ruined everything! What will Enoshima think? Will she tell everyone in school to avoid me?~~ it was unfortunately misinterpreted as an attempt of assault on my part. I'm afraid I can't even begin to explain ~~why Mondo is so upset with me? I know I wasn't there when he needed me, but it was just one night! And why did he hate the chocolate I got him so much!?~~ how it happened, other than the fact that I tripped while attempting to apologise for being such a terrible date ~~and friend, that must be it, right? That would be why Mondo doesn't want to spend time with me anymore, I must be such an awful person even HE’S become  sick of me!~~.

I hope that ~~he'll forgive me, but I don't even know what I did, what should I DO!?~~ the investigation into it will proceed quickly, as I am sure it will be in my favour! I apologise for ~~being such a useless mess~~ causing more shame to our family name in the meantime. I shall do my best to ~~fix this, but HOW!?~~ conduct myself with integrity in the meantime.

Love,

Kiyotaka.

 

~~Kiyotaka~~ Ishimaru looked at the mess he'd spent the night scrawling. It was a mess of crossed out lines, where he'd gone into unnecessary tangents about his problem with Mondo, and smudges from where he'd started crying without realising it. He couldn't send _this_... He rewrote it neatly on a fresh piece of paper and checked the time. It was just before the end of curfew, just enough time to wash up and change back into his uniform... _Without_ his armband.

He left his room just as curfew ended, not wanting to be left alone with his thoughts, only to be greeted with a flagrant disregard for the school rules... The walls were covered with hundreds of photocopies of a set of pictures.

He tutted, posters weren't supposed to be stuck directly to the walls, it was a fire hazard and made the place look untidy to boot! They were _supposed_ to be put in one of the lockable noticeboard cases kept up to date by various student volunteers (of which he was one, of course). He ripped one of the copies down and looked at it, knowing instantly who was responsible as he did so...

On the left was a picture he recognised, the portrait of himself that he'd seen Hifumi drawing back in November. It was titled 'The Mastermind'... That was nice of him, most people often said he wasn't very smart! Although he didn't _quite_ understand why his eye was on fire and half his uniform was black? Maybe it was just a stylistic thing he didn't 'get'? Art had never been his strong suit...

On the right were a couple of pictures of himself in different situations... At the top, in Hifumi's style was a picture of him saving a woman from a mugger, but also one of him giving the mugger some money- presumably he'd only gone to such lengths out of desperation, and Ishimaru was helping him get his life back on track! In a different style was a picture of him treating a man to lunch, and then later making sure the man got medical attention after fainting as he checked some documents... The man's medical records, presumably.

He sighed, what to do? Obviously Hifumi had put these up to make him look good and cheer him up after he'd complained about the assault investigation, but he couldn't just ignore the school rules, even if he _wasn't_ on the disciplinary committee today...

He decided he'd have to take the pictures down, but could put one in his noticeboard and leave the others in piles in a few of the communal rooms so people could pick them up and pass them around if they wanted. _That_ should make sure everyone saw it! Hopefully Hifumi wouldn't be too upset with him for it...

He managed to get the posters organised before too many people started filtering out of their rooms and headed to the kitchen to make himself breakfast. Unfortunately, no one else from his class was around, so he was left alone with nothing but his thoughts and the sound of whispered rumours spreading around him. How had everyone found out about the investigation already? What would they think? Would Enoshima tell them how _useless_ he was, that _that_ was the result of him trying to be a good date?

He was so distracted he barely ate half his breakfast before realising he’d fallen behind schedule, even with the early start. He bagged the rest of it up quickly and headed back to his room to pick up his stationary and the letter to be taken to his father… Only to freeze in place as he came back out of the room and almost ran into _Mondo_.

“I…” He let out a strangled sound as his brain came up with a dozen things he wanted to say at once.

“Tch…” Mondo just grimaced at the sight of him and turned away, walking around him to exit the corridor.

Ishimaru sighed. Why hadn’t he said anything? That would have been the _perfect_ opportunity to apologise for last night! But instead he’d just frozen like a deer at the sight of Mondo’s glare.

He started to walk to the headmaster’s office to drop off the letter and get to class on time… Maybe one of his classmates could help him fix the _mess_ he’d made of his friendship...

* * *

 

Makoto groaned himself awake as his alarm went off at 7am. It had taken ages for him to get to sleep after that business with Kiyotaka... He’d thought either him or Chihrio would have let Kyoko and he know the result of the video, but neither of them had called, which he couldn’t help but assume meant the worst.

Not to mention he was pretty sure he’d _royally_ screwed things up with Kyoko by not planning his _own_ date very well and then using that as an excuse to try and help Kiyotaka out on his own disaster of one… Hah, so much for _that_ plan!

Poor guy… what the _hell_ had Junko been _thinking?_ Kiyotaka was a great friend to have… _inside_ school. But making him socialise with someone _outside_ of that?

Makoto had been _trying_ to get Kiyotaka to come and hang out with the rest of the class for _months_ , but unless it was a study session he’d always refused, insisting he couldn’t spare the time, despite being near the top of every class he had and weeks ahead of his classes (and perfectly happy to give up his time to help _other_ people study...) So Makoto had been overjoyed when he’d asked Kiyotaka if he wanted to go bowling… and Mondo had swooped in and said _yes_ Kiyotaka would come bowling with them all, _wouldn’t he kyoudai?_

Makoto had thought it would be _great!_ A chance to finally see what Kiyotaka was like _outside_ of his school life! Except…

Kiyotaka outside of school was pretty much the same guy as Kiyotaka _inside_ of school… only without the familiar framework of classes to help him associate with everyone else. He’d spent most of the night clutching Mondo’s waist like it was a lifeline and staring in bewilderment at the conversations going on around him. The only time he’d talked was when Hina asked if anyone had seen any good TV shows lately and Kiyotaka had started talking about the European Union, (because apparently his favourite TV ‘show’ was the _news_ ) until it had been his turn to bowl again…

Not that he’d ruined the night or anything (despite his tearful apology for his poor score causing the boys to lose to the girls), but even after a month of Mondo insisting he come and socialise with everyone, Kiyotaka was still not someone who dealt well with social situations…Telling him to go show nurse Tsumiki a good time when she didn’t even seem to like him _at all_ had either been a terrible decision or a cruel joke on Junko’s part… And he had a worrying suspicion it was the latter.

He got himself dressed hurriedly. If he was quick enough he might catch Kiyotaka coming out of his room and ask him what happened with the investigation at least.

He exited the room, no sign of his hall monitor friend, or anyone else for that matter. He tried Kiyotaka’s door, but there was no response… had he left early or was he just sleeping in for once in his life? He wouldn’t blame Kiyotaka for the latter, but it was probably the former…

He tried Chihiro’s room instead, after a short while a slightly gaunt looing programmer opened the door.

“Umm… Makoto? I’m sorry I’m still working on that video for Kiyotaka…” He started.

_Aww, no…_ “Have you been working all _night!?_ ” Makoto asked.

“Yes… I’ve almost finished writing an algorithm to brute force through some possibilities, so I should be able to get some sleep while _that_ processes…” The programmer smiled wearily.

“Uhh… Ok…” Makoto didn’t really get what that meant, other than it meaning Chihiro could sleep for a while soon. “But what about class today?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m being excused from classes until I get the video sorted…” Chihiro frowned. “Although Kiyotaka wasn’t happy about that…”

" _That's_ what he wasn't happy about? Not the delay in his name being cleared...?"

"Well it _is_ Kiyotaka... I can't reach my 'full potential' if I'm ‘wasting time’ preventing him from being charged with _assault_ instead of going to my vitally important _history classes!_ " Chihiro rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I _suppose_ that makes sense..." Makoto sighed back. Kiyotaka would _happily_ run all over the school and give up his _own_ time to help others (and often _did_ , regardless of whether they wanted him to or not), but _balked_ at the mere suggestion of someone 'inconveniencing' themselves for _his_ sake, even if it was something small like buying him a bar of chocolate, or covering his cost of the bowling trip.

It was as if he thought friendships were a bank account that had to be paid into and kept at a positive balance, or else his friends would get annoyed with him... but in _his_ mind his family's debt had already put him in the red before he'd even met them, so he was constantly trying to catch up and couldn't 'afford' to rely on others for help... To be honest it was kinda annoying at times. Having to convince or trick Kiyotaka into accepting little favours was sometimes more work than the favours themselves.

Still, hopefully with time they'd manage to convince him that he was worth helping on occasion. And in the meantime Makoto could try to do him favours without him realising it. For example...

"Have you eaten? Can I get you any food or anything?"

"Umm... Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea..." Chihiro muttered, as if feeding himself was an afterthought. "Can I have some toast and green tea, please?"

Makoto nodded and headed to the dining room. How anyone could stay up working all night like that was beyond him. Even Kiyotaka insisted getting a good night's sleep was vital. But Chihiro was the Ultimate programmer, hopefully he knew his own limits...

People were slowly starting to filter into the dining room... And rumours of Kiyotaka's night were coming in with them...

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently that annoying hall monitor guy was caught trying to feel up the Nurse Tsumiki last night!"

" _What?_ No way!"

"No, seriously! I heard it from Saionji... And it's not like _she'd_ make up someone being attracted to Tsumiki..."

"Wow... What a _creep!_ And he _nerve_ to give me detention for PDA!"

Urg... Makoto couldn't let that this keep going around... No one would take Kiyotaka seriously ever again... "Uhh...Hey! It's not like he meant to do that... He just tripped and landed in an awkward position..." He started, realising how stupid it sounded as he said it. "...Err, I mean, he's in my class and there's no way he'd do something like that!"

"Are you sure…? I mean someone left those pictures of him on the tables..."

" _What_ pictures?" Makoto asked, why did he get the feeling whatever it was about to make his life a lot more complicated?

"These ones."

The hell? It was a sketch of some evil manga version of Kiyotaka sneering with his eye on fire... and paying people to pretend to be muggers and... _poisoning_ a guy...?

"What? This is just a _drawing_ , anyone could have made this!" Although, Mokoto had a reasonable idea who it was, from the style. "It doesn't _mean_ anything!"

"Well, yeah... But obviously someone thinks he's not such an 'Ultimate Moral Compass'... And after last night..." The guy speaking to him trailed off and left with his food.

Urg... What the hell? Why did this have to have to have happened on _today_ of all days... It had better _not_ have been Yamada's doing.

Makoto took Chihiro his food, catching snippets of conversation about Kiyotaka as he went... And not a single one in his defence either...

"Thanks!" Chihiro said as he passed over the tray of food. "Is something wrong?"

"Uhh... Just everyone's badmouthing Kiyotaka..." Makoto admitted.

"Umm, sorry... I'll try to get the video sorted as soon as I can!"

"Huh? Ah, no! I didn't mean it like _that!_ " Makoto tried to explain. "I just meant it's annoying that everyone's instantly believing the worst about him..." He sighed.

"Well, once I get the video then they'll know it's not true..." Chihiro smiled reassuringly.

"Hah! Yeah alright... But take care of yourself as well, ok? Kiyotaka wouldn't want you to push yourself too hard..."

Chihiro rolled his eyes... "I'll be fine... But thanks for the food!" He shut the door.

Makoto tried Kiyotaka’s door again, just in case… Still no answer… Makoto hoped he was alright. Perhaps he’d just gone to Mondo’s room for comfort from his kyoudai? Makoto didn’t dare risk waking the biker in order to find out if that was the case or not…

He didn’t know _how_ Kiyotaka could get on so well with a guy as scary as the gang leader… Mondo had given Makoto a heavy wooden carving of his name in kanji, for his birthday a couple of weeks back. A perfectly nice present... but it would have been _nicer_ if Mondo _hadn't_ exploded into a ball of rage the second he opened it: threatening to beat the crap out of him if he talked shit about it or showed it to everyone and why the _fuck_ was he not _saying_ anything...

In the end Chihiro, Kiyotaka and Leon had to rush over and explain to Mondo that it was a perfectly good present and Makoto just wasn't saying anything because Mondo had frightened him by screaming in his face and Makoto was kind of a pussy like that... And Makoto didn't even get the chance to say that he thought it was actually a pretty awesome paperweight before the biker stormed off...

But however it was that the two of them were friends, it seemed to be doing wonders for _both_ of them! Kiyotaka was gradually becoming more outgoing and Mondo seemed to be getting less angry in turn… Although how long _that_ would last with half the school pointing and speculating about Kiyotaka would have to be seen.

He checked his watch, he needed to get his own breakfast and head to class...

A while later, he was headed towards the classroom, and briefly glanced at the noticeboard so he could tell Kiyotaka that he _had_ checked it like he was always telling him to every day... Only to do a double take and walk back to check he'd seen correctly...

_Urg..._ Yep! _There it was_... The pictures of evil Kiyotaka, put up in a school noticeboard like they were a legitimate thing to display! _What the hell?_ Like there weren't _enough_ people discussing him in a bad light already!

“Hey… Did you hear about Ishimaru?”

Like _this_ for example! It must have been the tenth time he’d overheard this conversation today…

“Hah, yeah! I didn’t think he’d be the type!”

That’s because he _isn’t! Geez!_

“Yeah… but those reserve students said he had one hand up her skirt and the other was squeezing her boob…”

He _tripped!_ And OK that seemed like a terrible excuse but this was _Kiyotaka_ they were talking about…

“Yeah… How far do you think he’d have gone if they hadn’t heard her…”

The guy speaking was interrupted by a low, angry growl that made almost everyone in the hallway jump in fright. Makoto turned to find that it was coming, unsurprisingly, from Mondo, who was stomping past the guys who’d been speaking, glaring at them and clenching his fist as if he wanted nothing better than to punch the living daylights out of them…

He didn’t though, he carried on walking… and a short while later his kyoudai followed… Had Mondo gone ahead of him to scare everyone into not talking about the assault investigation within earshot of him…?

He could understand why… Kiyotaka looked _terrible!_ His eyes looked sunken and red, and bags were forming under them… Either he’d not slept or he’d been crying all night, or both. He was moving slowly to, staring down at the floor just ahead of him instead of around at the students to check for wrongdoing as he’d always done before… probably for the same reason he wasn’t wearing his armband, had he been taken off the disciplinary committee?

Makoto _knew_ he shouldn’t have let Kiyotaka insist he leave with Kyoko last night, but he seemed so calm and composed about the whole thing, like the investigation was just a procedure that had to done for the sake of the school records... Obviously _that_ must have been an act though… either that or having his armband taken away had put it into perspective as to how much trouble he was in!

At least he had _Mondo_ to look after him though! He might be scary, but at least he was using that scariness for a good cause today! Kiyotaka looked miserable enough having his armband taken away, he hardly needed to hear whispers in the corridors suggesting he’d been trying to rape the Ultimate Nurse!

And he also didn’t need to see these horrible pictures depicting him as corrupt either! Makoto stood on tiptoes, trying to look as if he was just checking the noticeboard as normal instead of blocking it with his head as Kiyotaka passed by…

"Good thinking." Kyoko's voice suddenly came from over his shoulder.

" _Nyah!_ Geez, don't sneak up on me like that!" Makoto complained at her. "And why the heck is this picture even _in here?_ Is your dad trying to get everyone in school to hate Kiyotaka?"

"No... He's _furious_ about this. I hope for _his_ sake that Yamada has a good explanation for why he drew these." Kyoko stated. " _These_ boards are each organised by a different student, father's told me to find out which student runs this one."

"Doesn't the school have a list of that?"

"No- they only have the list of volunteers, not who runs each board- that's in the hand of the student who organised them all." Kyoko sighed.

"Well, which student is that? You can just ask them!" Makoto suggested, which just caused Kyoko to smile wryly. "...Its Kiyotaka isn't it?" He asked. She just nodded in response. "Well, what're we supposed to do? Ask Hiro to stand here all the time so Kiyotaka doesn't see it?"

She just barely failed to suppress a snort of laughter. "That's... one thing we could do. We can also ask all the other volunteers which board they run. I was thinking _you'd_ be good at that." She brought out a piece of paper.

"Sure, I'll go through all the people I know..." Makoto agreed and took it... turned out he was at least aware of who most of them were! At least he could help out easily...

"Good." Kyoko nodded. "Now I need to go have a word with _Yamada..."_

"Hmm..." Makoto muttered, trying to figure out when would be best to speak to all these people...

About a minute later he realised they'd not spoken about last night's date... _Ah heck!_ Guess he really _had_ screwed it up...

He headed into his homeroom classroom, a little surprised to see that neither Kiyotaka nor Mondo were there… But that was probably just as well, because Kyoko was in the middle of laying into Yamada about the pictures…

“What _are_ these!? They’re _obviously_ your style.”

“Ah! I… They’re not meant to be taken _seriously!_ I mean, I designed the character when I was annoyed with Ishimaru-dono… and the other two pictures were just from a thought exercise with my cousin! That’s all!” Yamada was explaining in a panic.

“Then why are they all over the school?” Kyoko asked.

“Ah… I didn’t mean for that to happen! Especially not with this assault accusation…” Yamada looked guilty as heck… “It… it was just I got excited about something… and I left my sketchbook out in the dining room!”

“I can confirm this.” Celestia said from next to him, which cause Kyoko to raise her eyebrow at her in response.

“That doesn’t mean anyone took it…” Kyoko frowned.

“Uhh… I know it’s not really proof but… When I came back to get it… all my pictures were like this…” He turned the pages to show picture after picture covered with crudely drawn moustaches... What kind of childish brat would _do_ that!?

“Hmm...” Kyoko took the book and looked closely at the picture. “This is too different from your own drawing style to be your addition…” She said. “I believe you then.” She said. “I’ll just have to proceed through my other investigations…”

“Ah… Ok…” Yamada sighed. “Err… Are you going to tell Ishimaru-dono that this is my work?” He asked, gesturing to the sketches of the ‘mastermind’ in his book.

“I’d say the less Kiyotaka knows about this, the better…” Makoto suggested.

“Agreed.” Kyoko said.

“Ah… Thank you!” Yamada sounded relieved.

The next person to enter the classroom was Mondo, who looked around, scowled at Kiyotaka’s empty seat and then sat in the seat furthest away from the door, instead of his usual one next to Kiyotaka’s desk.

He was closely followed by Leon, who pointed at Mondo and then put a finger to his lips, followed by a dismissive hand wave. Makoto guessed that meant ‘don’t try to talk to Mondo today’.

Almost straight after that, he heard the voices of Hina and Hiro from down the corridor… “Hey, Hiro… Have you heard about Kiyotaka?”

“Uhh… Yeah. Yeah I have…” Hiro was saying awkwardly.

“Well? Have you had any _predictions?_ ” Hina asked, as if that was the only reason she ever spoke to him…

“Uhh… I did but…” Hiro trailed off.

“Well!? Tell us!” Hina insisted.

“…I, uhh, I predicted he’s gonna get found guilty by the investigation…” Hiro admitted.

“Are… Are you _serious!?”_ Hina asked.

“Uhh… But, _you know!_ 30% accuracy!” Hiro added, as he walked through the door with Hina and Sakura.

 Well… hopefully that meant his prediction wasn’t true… But it would have been nice to be able to tell Kiyotaka that Hiro had had a positive prediction for him…

And it would have been _nice_ if Kiyotaka hadn’t walked in _right behind them!_ Hadn’t Hiro checked if he was there before saying that prediction…? Makoto guessed not, from the way the three of them were now avoiding Kiyotaka’s gaze as his eyes swept sadly over the room and landed on Yamada’s notebook...

Which was still open on the mastermind page… _Yamada… Nooo! Why did you leave it open there!?_

Kiyotaka started to walk over, almost looking please to see Yamada’s book was out… And Yamada spotted him approaching and quickly tried to turn the page to a different one so Kiyotaka wouldn’t see his pictures…

But Kiyotaka stopped dead just as he did it… Dammit, he must have seen it just before the page turned!

He didn’t say anything though… He just blinked at the picture of Celestia with a handlebar moustache and walked over to his desk, pulling out his science textbook and starting at it distantly while Mondo occasionally shot him glances that betrayed a mix of worry and anger… Presumably Kiyotaka had asked to be left alone today…

If only Makoto knew what the poor guy was thinking… Or why it had taken him so long to get to class…

* * *

 

“Excuse me… I’m here to see the headmaster…” Ishimaru told the headmaster’s receptionist.

“Ah, yes… Ishimaru…” She looked at him far more coldly that she usually would. “He told me to let you straight in…”

“Thank you!” Ishimaru bowed to her and headed into the office. “Good Morning, Headma…”

Ishimaru’s usual greeting was cut off as he saw the man look up at him with a look of fury he’d never seen on the man’s face before… But then the headmaster turned over the piece of paper he’d been looking at and his expression was closer to concern that the anger he’d shown before…

“Ah, Ishimaru. I take it you’re here to hand in the letter to your father?” The headmaster asked.

“Err… Yes sir!”

“Ah, good! I’m sure he’ll appreciate hearing your version of events!” The headmaster smiled as he patted Ishimaru shoulder. “How are you?”

“Err… I must admit, I’ve not slept well…” Or at all…

“Well, that’s understandable, given the circumstances… But I’m sure Fujisaki will have that video sorted in no time!” The headmaster smiled. “Now… You’d best get to your class, it’ll be starting soon!”

“Ah, yes sir!” He saluted.

“Good lad…” The headmaster smiled, “You’ll be fine… I’m sure you can rise above whatever nonsense people are saying about you!”

“Err… I’ll do my best to!” He promised. “Have a good day, sir!” He bowed as he left the office.

Then he headed to his homeroom class, just in time to hear Hagakure predict that he was going to be found guilty by the investigation… Well, that was _fantastic_ news! Given the fortune teller was only right 30% of the time, which meant he had a 70% chance of the charges being dropped!

He walked into the room and looked around, slightly perturbed by the fact that no one looked back at him as he did so… He’d expected it from Mondo… But not even Makoto was looking at him or saying anything… he was just staring down at Hifumi’s sketchbook…

Ah! Hifumi was showing him the original sketches of the pictures he’d photocopied, he could ask about _them_ , apologise for taking them off the walls and then maybe try and steer the conversation towards his problem with Mondo…

Except, as soon Hifumi looked up and saw him, he quickly flipped the page over, to show a pair of pictures of Celestia, both of which had crude moustaches drawn on top of them, and then looked down away from him, angrily.

Had _he_ drawn those moustaches? _Surely_ not, he cared too much about Celestia to do that! But who else _could_ have? He always carried it with him… well, except for last night when he’d run off to talk to Celestia and left his book on the table… where _he’d_ been stood.

_Oh no_ … had Hifumi expected him to guard it, or put it somewhere safe? He’d been so self-absorbed in his problematic date that the thought hadn’t even _occurred_ to him! But in retrospect, it was so _obvious!_ He should have looked after the book, but he hadn’t, and now Hifumi was angry with him as well as Mondo… And no one else was even _looking_ at him…

He walked over to his desk to sit… How was he supposed to ask for advice about Mondo _now!?_ He’d have to hope that there was a difficult topic that someone wanted advice with and maybe steer it from there…?

…

This was his final chance! All their other classes had been easy, or at least easy enough for everyone else, given no one had asked him about them. Now he just had one more lesson, maths, which might give him the chance to have a conversation with someone.

He just had to hope he was functional enough to understand it himself! The lack of sleep from last night was getting to him, and his eyes ached… Maybe he should just rest them for a bit… Then he’d be able to focus on maths... and when someone asked him for advice he’d ask about Mondo in return… and then he’d know how to fix their friendship… and they go back hugging…each…oth...

Why was his head on the desk? What were these papers on the desk? Where were the rest of his _class!?_ Had they all snuck off while he was resting his eyes! That was _disgraceful!_ The teacher was due to arrive in… in… in…

_Minus…_ ninety… minutes…

He’d slept through _maths class_ … He’d slept through the _entirety_ of _maths class!_

Oh, _gods_ … some model student! He was a disgrace! He’d slept through an _entire class…_ And not even a ‘fun’ class like art… He’d slept through _maths…_ One of the core pillars of education!

Why had no one woken him!? They _knew_ how much he cared about his education… how much harder he had to work to keep close to the Ultimates here! Would it have been that much trouble to have poked him, or thrown something or pointed out to the teacher that his head was on the desk so he could be hit with a ruler!?

Instead all they’d done was leave some papers… Enoshima’s class notes, apparently, written out in pencil… Well, at least he could study these, but it would have been so much _easier_ for him to listen to the teacher! Why couldn’t they have woken him? It was like they didn’t want to have anything to do with him…

Oh…

That… that would make sense… no one had spoken to him all day after all… They must all have heard what a mess he’s made of Enoshima’s favour, how he’d unfairly scolded Mondo and failed to protect Hifumi’s artbook… and now they didn’t like him anymore. After all, they’d only liked him because he _did_ things for them, right? Enoshima had said as much last week… So now he was _failing_ to do things…

He stood up… Classes were over, so he’d best go put his books back in his locker…

How was he going to fix this? He needed to apologise to Mondo and make up for not being there yesterday in order to show his classmates that he could do things for people and get them to talk to him again… but to do _that_ he needed to talk to his classmates to ask for advice on how to apologise to Mondo…

He opened his locker… Why couldn’t he think of an answer? Why did he have to be so usele…

“Hey! _You’re_ that guy who tried to feel up _Mikan!_ ” Came a woman’s voice from behind him…

He turned, flinching slightly at the first person who’d actually confronted him over his actions yesterday… She was the same height as him, tan with unkempt brown hair, and wearing a low-cut blouse and small miniskirt that he was _sure_ would be considered unsuitable cover in any other school.

“Ah! I was not _trying_ to ‘feel up’ Nurse Tsumiki!” He insisted. “I merely tripped and landed on her by accident!”

“You don’t really think I’d believe that, do you?” She snapped, “I mean, guys used to say that when they did it to me, and they were totally lying back then!”

“You… you’ve been assaulted… multiple times?” Ishimaru felt sick thinking about it… poor girl…

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that!”

“Err… Like what?” Had he… leered or something without realising it…?

“Don’t look at me like I’m some small _weakling!_ ” She growled. “I’m the same height as _you!_ ”

“I… I don’t think height has any relation to strength…” Ishimaru pointed out, thinking of Hagakure…

“Tch! Is _that_ your excuse for going after a tiny little thing like Mikan!?” She scowled.

“I… I told you! I wasn’t ‘going after’ her! It was just an accident, and I’m sor…”

“And I already told you I’m not _stupid_ enough to believe that!” She shouted, growing angry. “Guess I’m going to have to teach you a lesson, not to pick on the _little_ _kids!_ ”

She strode quickly towards him, arms raised in a fighting stance… and he immediately panicked and stumbled backwards, feeling a sharp pain in the back of his head as he did so…

“AAAHH!” He clasped a hand to the area as his legs gave out from under him… It felt wet, was he bleeding… That was bad… head wounds had all kinds of side effects…

“What’s going on here…? Akane, what are you _doing!?”_ A male voice he recognised as belonging to coach Nidai boomed across the corridor… Which probably made the woman Akane Owari, both of them from Tsumiki’s class.

“Th-this is that guy! That… ‘Kiyoshi’ guy! The one who hurt Mikan!” Owari tried to introduce him…

“…It’s Kiyotaka…” Ishimaru corrected her, while trying to remember how you could tell if you had concussion…

“So you just came up to him in the hallways and shoved him into a locker!?” Coach Nidai shouted at her. “What were you _thinking?_ I can’t have my team getting into trouble for that kind of thing! They’ll stop you from competing, do you _want_ that?”

“B-but… he…!” She panicked to explain herself.

“No… she didn’t shove me. I fell backwards and hit myself on my own locker, which I failed to close correctly…” Ishimaru managed to piece together what had happened… hopefully _that_ meant he wasn’t going to be brain dead from this…

“Uhh…” Owari seemed confused… perhaps she’d been expecting him to lie and blame her… but what would be the point of that…?

“AHAHAHAHA! Was that all!?” Nidai laughed loudly. “Well, that’s good to hear… Come on Owari… we have training to do!”

“But… but what about K…Kazuhiko!?”

“Don’t you worry about him! If anyone deals with him it’ll have to be done _properly!_ ” Nidai told her.

Presumably he meant his bleeding head would need to be treated by someone with the proper first aid training… Although he was a little surprised the coach didn’t have any. But anyway, he’d best get to the med centre to get patched up by Nurse… Tsumi…

Well… _HE_ had first aid training! He’d best get to the school store… to get some bandages! He looked at the hand he’d been clutching his head with…

_Lots_ of bandages!

* * *

 

Let’s see… He had tissues, pencils, sweets… What _else_ had he been meaning to pick up? It felt like there’d been something he’d meant to pick up every time he came in here but ended up forgetting it and leaving without it… He was pretty sure it wasn’t food…

Togami and Fukawa were in the cleaning aisle... was it a cleaning thing? Polish maybe? No wait… he’d thought that last time so now he already had two cans of polish… But maybe he should check the aisle and see if anything else there sparked his memory…

He nodded at the pair as he entered the aisle, but Togami seemed to be glaring at the products and Fukawa was just staring at Togami, so neither of them responded. Hmm… He was pretty sure it wasn’t anything in here. Dammit, he wasn’t going to remember until tomorrow during class or something, he just knew it…

His ears pricked up at the distinctive sound of heavy boots on the floor, moments before Kiyotaka came power walking into the store room, clutching at the back of his head… He headed straight to the first aid aisle and grabbed a roll of bandages, unwrapping them messily.

“Is he bleeding?” Makoto muttered, noticing that Kiyotaka’s hand had blood on it. How the hell had _that_ happened!? They’d just left him in the classroom to get some, obviously much-needed, sleep! 

“Is _who_ bleeding…?” Togami looked up from the products to look in the direction Makoto was.

“B-b-bloo…!” Fukawa had looked as well, and had started muttering before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

“Ah! Fukawa!” Makoto knelt down beside her, wishing he knew first aid… he knew Kiyotaka did… but he seemed to be preoccupied with his own problem, as he was trying to figure out how to wrap the bandages around the top of the back of his neck…

“ _That_ was it! _Detergent!_ ” Togami snapped his fingers and stepped over Fukawa to get to the boxes on the other side of the aisle.

“Uhh…!” Makoto just stared at him… “Fukawa’s just fainted?” He pointed out, in case the heir somehow hadn’t noticed.

“Oh, she does that all the time.” Togami rolled his eyes. “You don’t want to be around when she wakes up, believe me.”

“O…ok?” Makoto muttered… Maybe he ought to go help Kiyotaka? He seemed to be trying to wrap the bandages around his neck… and although Makoto didn’t know first aid, he didn’t think you were supposed to strangle yourself…

“Ishimaru! There you are!” Makoto was interrupted by the headmaster entering the store room… “What… what are you doing?” He asked, once he saw the state Kiyotaka was in.

“D-dealing with a minor head wound!” Kiyotaka replied, about to tie a knot to tighten the bandages he’d wrapped around his own neck…

“Ahh… _That’s_ probably not the best way to do that… Here, let me…” The headmaster started unwrapping the bandages.

“D-do you have first aid training…?” Kiyotaka asked him.

“..Yes.” The headmaster pointed out, as if it should be obvious. “I _even_ know how to use the _defibrillators!_ ”

Was that Kyoko’s Dad’s idea of a joke?

“Ah! Then you have more advanced training than myself! I’ll allow you to handle this properly!” Huh… Seems like it was his way of getting Kiyotaka to let him sort the injury out… which he did by getting some thick dressing and taping it to the back of Kiyotaka’s neck.

“Err… Th-thank you, sir! And my apologies for ruining some of the school’s bandages!”

“Well, at least _you_ didn’t throw them all over my car like the Ultimate Prankster did when I first came to work here…” Kirigiri muttered, just as Mondo happened to come into the stores and stop dead when he saw the bleeding Kiyotaka kneeling on the floor…

“But, ah… Who did this to you?” Kirigiri asked. _Welp_ , whoever Kiyotaka was about to name was going to die, or at least Makoto assumed so, given the look on Mondo’s face…

“Ah… No one… I mean, it was self-inflicted!” Kiyotaka lied badly…

And it looked like Mondo could tell… his face contorted in anger and he stormed out of the room without Kiyotaka even noticing he was there…

“Well… Why didn’t you go to the med centre?” Kirigiri was continuing his questions…

“Ah… I didn’t want to upset nurse Tsumiki anymore than I already have…” Kiyotaka admitted guiltily.

“What!? Don’t worry about _that!_ If you need medical care, we’ll just set up a separate area for you!” Kirigiri told him jovially, “It’ll be an _annoyance_ , that’s all!”

“I… I’ll keep that in mind, sir!” Kiyotaka said, shakily standing to his feet with the headmaster’s help. “I… I should probably go eat now…” He said, blinking some focus back into his eyes.

“That sounds like a good idea… Just try not to move too quickly until you recover a bit more…” Kirigiri led him out of the room…

“Hmm… I wonder if I’ll need detergent after all?”

Seriously? One of his friend’s faints and another’s bleeding out of the back of his head and Togami was worrying about _detergent?_ “Why would you _not_ need detergent?” He couldn’t help himself but ask…

“Ishimaru is supposed to do my laundry tomorrow morning… It will be _interesting_ to see if he still turns up.” The heir seemed to be smirking at the prospect, as if it was some kind of test.

“Ahh… geez… Can’t you just give him a week off, uhh, although maybe not tell him that exactly...” Kiyotaka would probably be embarrassed to be given a favour... “Maybe justtell him you don’t need it doing this week or something?” Makoto sighed, “You seem like you’d own enough suits for two weeks anyway, and he’d be able to do a double load more easily _next_ week…”

“I own enough suits for _three_ weeks, actually…” Togami corrected him. “Although, it will cause me to be slightly less fashionable for the duration... But I suppose it _would_ be easier than trying to carry back detergent _and_ Fukawa tonight…” The heir put the detergent down and picked up the comatose writer instead. “I appreciate the advice.” He said as he walked out.

…That wasn’t _exactly_ the reason he’d given Togami that advice… but at least either way he’d helped Kiyotaka… even if he still couldn’t remember what else he needed to pick up… Kiyotaka would probably tell him he should have written a list… or put it in the diary he didn’t own or…

Ah! That was it! A diary! Kiyotaka had been saying he needed one for _months_ …

* * *

 

(Thursday, 16th February 2012)

Ishimaru's alarm rang and he flinched at the realisation that he'd not slept again. What was _wrong_ with him? Why did his mind keep running on overdrive with all these questions and worries and regrets...? Why couldn't he just focus enough to actually _solve_ any of his problems...? After all, he'd never had trouble sleeping _before_ he had a friend, or classmates who spoke to him, why was it bothering him _now_?

He tried to rub the tiredness from his eyes... He was supposed to be keeping up the appearance of the model student, as an example to the school. It wouldn't do to be sleeping in just because he'd had a bad night, again.

Especially not as today was Thursday, which meant he had cleaning to get on with… At least the wound he’d clumsily given himself last night seemed to have closed… He’d just have to make his head movements a little more carefully this morning…And avoid injurying himself again, so he didn’t end up _annoying_ the headmaster...

First on his schedule was Princess Nevermind... Assuming she still wanted cleaning for, after what he'd done Tuesday... Still, he was contracted to go and ask, at the very least...

As he entered the corridor her dormitory was on, he instantly noticed a difference from his usual arrangement with the princess... Stood outside, on either side of the door in a manner akin to palace guards, was Tanaka and the mechanic from class 77.

"Tch! He really _did_ have the nerve to show up..." The mechanic snarled as Ishimaru approached the door.

" _Hah_! There is no need to fret!" Tanaka laughed, "He is merely an _animal_ , incapable of controlling his base urges to mate, and therefore controlling him is _completely_ under the purview of my _demonic powers!_ "

"Are you _seriously_ saying you can control sex off...?"

"I... I am _not_ an animal!" Ishimaru countered, "I had _no_ intention of hurting your classmate on Tuesday! And I was _certainly_ not acting under the impulse of any base 'urges'!" He took a deep breath and bowed for the next part... "However, I understand, and regret, that I _did_ hurt your classmate. If her highness has decreed that she doesn't want me to clean for her anymore, I will respect that decision."

"Hmph. If you _are_ an animal, you are cleverly trained... A performing monkey, perhaps." Tanaka mused.

Ishimaru flinched, but said nothing. It was an understandable sentiment when he lacked evidence for his statements...

"However, mortal, you shall not be relinquished from your contract with the dark lady so _easily_!" Tanaka continued.

"Ah!?" Ishimaru stood back up.

"Yeah... She still wants you to clean for her... Even though I offered to do it for _free_..." The mechanic complained. "But just remember that we're going to be _right out here_ , so don't get any funny ideas!" He glared at Ishimaru, baring his shark-like teeth.

"And my All-Seeing Eye can pierce even the veils of _silence_ , so don't think the petty constructions of Kirigiri's realm will hide your deeds..." Tanaka warned.

"I assure you, I have no intention of performing deeds that need to be hidden." He told them as he pressed the doorbell, despite knowing he wouldn't be believed.

The door was opened, not by her highness as he'd expected, but by Hirayama. She was stood awkwardly straight, eyes looking upwards as she nervously balanced a stack of books on top of her head. "Ah... You're here... to clean for... her highness?" She asked, trying to enunciate each word in a manner far more refined than the way she usually spoke.

"I, err, yes..." Ishimaru muttered numbly at the odd sight.

"V-very well..." She turned slowly, faltering slightly when the books almost toppled over. "This way... Please." She walked slowly into the room, with Ishimaru following and watching her with concern as she approached Princess Nevermind and curtsied slowly. "Y-your cleaner... has arr-r-rived!" She announced, only barely stopping herself from tipping over sideways.

"Ah... Ishimaru. You may begin cleaning as usual." Her highness told him, making no mention of the odd behaviour from the reserve council chair. "Please focus on the bookshelves, I intend to do some reading later."

"Understood, your highness." Ishimaru bowed. "And I'd like to also apologise for hurting your classmate... I assure you it was not intentional."

"I shall keep that in mind." The princess answered, in a non-committed tone.

"Err... Also..." He glanced at Hirayama, who was standing back up from her curtsey even more slowly than she'd gone down. "Why is Hirayama here, balancing books on her head?"

"You can answer that, Hirayama. It will be good practise." Her highness told the girl.

Hirayama took a deep, but quiet, breath as she got back up to full standing position. "Her high...ness has gen-er-ous-ly agreed to... tutor me... in leadership... so I will... be taken more... ser-i-ous-ly... by the reserve... students." She told him, in an awkwardly perfect voice.

"Err... well. While I agree that improving you posture and speech will improve people's _impressions_ of you..." Ishimaru conceded, "I find that it's your actions, ideals and work ethic that will get people to trust your leadership capabilities!"

"Is that so?" The princess asked. "Hirayama... of myself and Ishimaru, who is more respected by the reserve students?"

Cur-rent-ly... yourself." She frowned as she answered.

"Why is that?" Her highness asked her.

"... Ish-i-mar-ru is thought... to be a r-rapist... and cor-rupt..." Hirayama looked away from his eyes.

_Corrupt_? Why would he be thought of as _corrupt_!?

"And do you believe that he is?"

"No!" Hirayama looked at him again.

"So, you see... Ishimaru has good actions, ideals and work ethic in spades... but he is still not respected." Princess Nevermore said calmly. "You will fare far better listening to my advice, than his."

"Ngh!" He could hardly refute that... not until the video proving his innocence was sorted and he could make the reserve students trust him again...

"Now, you may begin cleaning as usual." Princess Nevermind told him.

So clean he did, trying to focus on his own task instead on the ridiculous set of exercises the princess was having the chairwoman perform in the sake of becoming 'respectable'.

"I’ve finished." He was finally able to announce, just as the princess was putting a cup of water on top of the stack of books that the now petrified Hirayama was balancing.

Princess Nevermind looked around at his work, idly swiping a finger over her copies of serial killer monthly to check for dust. "Very well, this will suffice." She announced, having found none. "Hirayama, see him out please."

"I can see _myself_ out, thank you!" He bowed and headed out of the door. He was not going to make the poor girl undergo any unnecessary movement in _that_ state.

He left, walking through the glares of the two men from class 77, and was relieved to be going down the stairs to head to Togami's room. At least the heir was unlikely to use his situation as an opportunity to bully one of the reserve course..

He rang the doorbell, shutting his tired eyes as he waited for Togami to open the door. He tried to relax his breathing as well, it wouldn't do to annoy the heir by turning up to clean in an irritated demeanour... He breathed In... 2, 3, 4, Out... 2, 3, 4, In... 2... 3...

"...Ishimaru?"

"AH!" Togami's voice startled him awake. "M-my apologies!" It was only half seven in the morning, how could he be falling asleep already?

"...Why are you here?" Togami asked him.

"Err... to clean for you!"

Togami glared at him through his glasses, "Hmph… Even now...?" he muttered.

"This... this is the time I usually clean for you, is it not?" Surely he hadn't slept that long?

"That's true... But I don't require your services this week."

"Ah... but I always clean for you!" To be frank he was getting rather dependant on the steady income... "You even had me clean during the holidays when you weren't here!"

"Well it isn't convenient this week..." Togami told him.

"Ah... Very well." He hoped his father wouldn't notice the lower amount of money he would have to send back as a result... "May I please have your laundry then?"

"...I don't have laundry today." Togami said.

"How can you not have laundry!?" Surely Togami must have worn some clothes over the last week.

"...I'm buying an all new wardrobe, so I don't need these clothes washed." He explained.

"Oh, well. A-alright then." Ishimaru said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt. He really shouldn't have let himself get so dependent on this side work. "I'll see you next week." He bowed, and Togami shut the door.

Well, perhaps that would give him a chance to get to class and study the lesson he should have been listening to yesterday...

* * *

 

Makoto headed into the homeroom classroom, to find several students already there, most looking worriedly at their class rep, who was snoring heavily into a pile of the class notes Hifumi had written up for him yesterday. The square of guaze he’d needed the night before was sticking straight up into the air for all to see.

"Aww _hell_..." Was Makoto's reaction. "...At least his head's not bleeding anymore though...?"

"You know what happened to him?" Sakura asked.

"Err... not exactly. I saw him talking to the headmaster last night in the storeroom... he went there instead of the med centre so he wouldn't run into nurse Tsumiki..."

"Did he say who did it?" Hina asked.

"No... he just said it was self-inflicted..." Makoto sighed.

"I predict that _that_ was a _lie_!" Hiro stated.

"Yeah... I think Mondo agreed, given how he stormed off right after Kiyotaka said it."

"So he'll be off yelling at peeps until he finds out who did it and can beat the crap outta them..." Leon sighed.

"You think so? Kiyotaka would hate that!" Makoto pointed out.

"Yeah... but all this shit is really pissing him off!" Leon replied. "I tried to ask him about it yesterday and he just told me not to talk to him about it... He seriously looked like he wanted to punch something..."

"Yeesh... I hope Chihiro can get that video ready before he does something that gets him in trouble..." Hina sighed.

"Urg... She doesn't think it'll happen _today_..." Makoto told her, using female pronouns for Chihiro because he was pretty sure Hiro didn't know his secret. "I took her some breakfast this morning and she was really upset because the method she tried yesterday didn't work and then she fell asleep overnight while she was trying to get the next thing ready..."

The sound of sighing permeated the room and they sat watching Kiyotaka drool into his notes with concern until the despondent air was broken by Togami entering the room wearing a white suit instead of his usual black one, and being followed by Fukawa.

"Yo, Toges, what's with the new threads?" Leon asked.

"If you call me _'Toges'_ one more time I will buy controlling shares in PepsiCo and have them change all their formulas just to irritate you." Togami snapped as he sat down.

"...But why _are_ you wearing new clothes? You're not that imposter guy I keep hearing rumours about, are you?" Hina asked.

"Urg... Can you plebeians _really_ not tell the difference between that food obsessed _whale_ and myself?" Togami complained, probably remembering all the trouble he'd had at Christmas when someone had infiltrated his company... "I changed my clothes so I wouldn't end up having them laundered by _him_!" He tilted his head in the direction of their sleeping classmate, who seemed to be having a bad dream from the way his face contorted.

"Ah... That's fair then..." Sakura stated, as Kiyotaka grimaced in his sleep again... Should they wake him? Or was sleeping through a nightmare better than no sleep at all?

That line of thought was interrupted by Kyoko entering the room, briefly scowling as her eyes passed over the desk Kiyotaka was asleep at. Then she headed over to Makoto.

"Good mor..." Makoto tried to start politely, maybe he moght be able to talk to her about the date today…

"How are you doing with the thing I asked you for...?" She interrupted. Still no luck there then.

"I've checked half of them, I've not found the… _target_ yet though." He told her, in code in case Kiyotaka happened to wake up from his nightmare.

"Half already?" She asked, sounding impressed. "So you'll be done by tomorrow?"

"Uhh... No... This was the... Closer half..." His code fell apart. "The others are... further apart. I hope to check them all by the end of Friday, assuming I don't hit the target first."

"Ah, I see... I'll let father know." She nodded. "Incidentally..."

Whatever it was she wanted to talk about was interrupted by a teacher walking into the room, at which point Kiyotaka slowly woke up, and almost burst into tears in the time between their teacher asking for the homework due in today, and her pointing out that he'd submitted _his_ a week in advance...

...

Later on, Makoto watched worriedly as Kiyotaka slowly shuffled out of the kitchen with a burnt slice of toast and an almost black banana, and then sat down at the closest empty table to him and pulled out the notes he'd fallen asleep on top of earlier...

"Do you think we should move over to him?" Hina asked.

"I dunno... if he's trying to study he probably wants some peace and quiet..." Makoto pointed out.

"I suppose..." Hina frowned. "I guess he'd have tried to find Mondo if not."

"...It doesn't look like he's going to get his peace and quiet though..." Kyoko said, worriedly, as a woman in ceremonial dress and a long blonde pony tail sat down next to him.

"Is that Saionji? From Tsumiki's class?" Makoto asked. "Why would _she_ want to sit next to him?"

"Maybe she doesn't know who is he? She's not said anything yet..." Hina observed, as Saionji waved over to another girl, who Makoto recognised as the photographer, Mahiru...

She _did_ recognise Kiyotaka... "Hey, Hiyoko... Why are sitting next to _him_...?"

Kiyotaka's head snapped up from reading his notes... or had he dozed off again? Either way his flicked back and forth between the two girls in panic...

"Ah! I...! I apologise for hurting your your classmate! I assure you I didn't intend to...!"

"Oh, _puhleeease_!" Mahiru groaned, "You don't really expect us to _believe_ that 'you just tripped' nonsense, do you!?"

"The... the school is currently investigating..." Kiyotaka tried to defend himself.

"I believe it!" Saionji smiled, to the surprise of several people in the general vicinity.

"So... She sat next to him as a show of faith...?" Sakura asked.

"Y-you do!?" Mahiru was asking her friend.

"Well, of course I do!" Saionji grinned. "It's not like anyone would actually _want_ to touch that nasty, pig barf, bit..."

" _Oh no_..." Kyoko gasped, as Kiyotaka scowled at the dancer...

"That... that is _not_ an appropriate way to refer to nurse Tsumiki!" Kiyotaka scolded her, loudly. "She is a very lovely and _attractive_ woman who..."

"So you _did_ mean to grope her!" Mahiru shouted at him while Saionji started giggling at what she'd made Kiyotaka do...

" _What!? No!_ " Kiyotaka cried as he realised the implication he'd accidentally made... "Just because I can recognise that she's attractive doesn't mean I would..."

"Urg, as if! You men are all the same!" The photographer snapped. "You can't see a pretty girl and take no for an answer..."

"I... While I admit there are men like that, it certainly is not..." Kiyotaka started treating her accusation as a debate topic.

"C'mon, Hiyoko... You need to get away from this _creep_ before he starts trying to grab _you_...!"

"Well... If you say so, big sis!" Saionji was smirking as she got up...

"Ah, _wait...!_ Please let me... explain..." Kiyotaka's cry trailed off as they left, and he sat staring at his black food and looking as if he was going to cry as whispers started spreading through the dining room...

"Did you hear that... Was he gonna try and grab at the dancer...?"

"Seriously! I knew that goody-two-shoes stuff was bullshit!"

"Hah! There's no way _his_ morals are ultimate!"

"Yeah, seriously... Sooner the loudmouth is gone the better..."

"Yeah... It'll be nice not to worry about detentions for making out..."

"Why hasn't he been expelled yet? He just practically admitted he did it..."

"Oh _come on!_ Saionji totally just baited him into saying that!" Makoto snapped at the guy on the table next to him, who'd said that last part. "Just because he's too nice to let her abuse Tsumiki doesn't mean he wants to..."

"Urg... Dude, just quit it... No one's that perfect!" The guy rolled his eyes. "It's about time that holier-than-thou asshole's bad side came to light!"

"That's not what his bad side _is_!" Makoto insisted, thinking that Kiyotaka’s bad side was his stubborn tendency to assume he knew what was _best_ for everyone... "No one in our class believes for a second he would..."

"So he's a good actor..."

"He really isn't." Kyoko said. "And once the school concludes its investigation, you'll see that."

"Hah! We'll see..." The fricken jerk turned back to his lunch.

"Urg... I hate this... I feel so useless..." Makoto muttered.

"I know... It's like we can't do anything to help except go give Chihiro food so he doesn't starve himself..." Hina sighed.

"Perhaps we should console Kiyotaka?" Sakura suggested, "He's no longer studying..."

"Yeah, you're ri..." Makoto started, but stopped when her saw Junko sit down next to Kiyotaka and make a big deal out of being friendly with him.

Huh, was she doing what they originally thought Saionji was doing? Maybe she hadn't been playing a joke of Kiyotaka with that favour, after all...

* * *

 

Oh, _gods_... How could he be so _stupid_! He was supposed to be acting with integrity, as a good example for the students! But now he'd gone and convinced everyone that he _must_ be guilty... but he could hardly have let that woman insult Tsumiki like that, just to save his own reputation... That would be reprehensible as well! So what _should_ he have done? Why couldn't he ever think of the right thing to say...?

No wonder Togami didn't want him to do his laundry anymore! Who'd want a member of staff who was apparently a sex offender? Or was it because Togami had realised he was useless... He wished the heir had at least explained why he was being fired, but it was unlikely to happen, given he'd only found out because he’d woken up just in time to overhear it while Togami had thought he was asleep...

"Hey... Kiyotaka?" He flinched at the sound of Enoshima's voice... Oh _gods_ , this was the first time they'd spoken since he failed the favour...

"Ah... E-enoshima..." He swallowed nervously...

"Aww... Aren't you calling me by my first name now?" She asked in a sad cutesy voice.

"Err...! Why would I... Or you..." Why would they be on first name basis now...? Even if she _had_ been calling him variations of his first name for months...

"Well... I used your _voucher_!" She shrugged, "And you started calling everyone _else_ who use your voucher by their first name, so I thought that's how it worked..."

"Oh... I see... But... I, I mean... Surely you've heard what happened...?" Ishimaru stammered, "I, I mean... I didn't exactly 'look after her' as you requested..."

"Aww... Don't be so hard on yourself!" Enoshima?... Or Junko? Told him, "You did your _best_ , it's not like I was expecting miracles from you..." She shrugged. "You weren't quite as useless as I expected, even!"

"Oh... Err, thank you?"

"And I'm sure all these rumours and stuff'll blow over, even if you _do_ keep screwing up and adding more scandals to it."

"Ah... That's good..."

"And I'm sure the headmaster won't be _too_ disappointed that you keep falling asleep in class instead of being the good example he _told_ you to be."

"Ngh!" He flinched, "That... That's _not_ something I've been intending to do...!" He tried to explain.

"Then why are you?" She asked.

"Ah... I've not been able to sleep the last two nights..." He admitted.

"Oh... Why not...? You're usually one of those 'Eight hours a night' guys..."

"I... I don't know... I just keep... thinking about everything that's happened to me over and over, even though I can't do anything to fix it, and I spend all night uselessly having the same thoughts over and over! For instance..."

"It sounds like you need sleeping pills." She said, bluntly.

" _Sleeping pills?_ I... I don't know... I don't really like the idea of self-medicating for a quick fix to solve my problems..." He admitted.

"Yeah... But you'll only end up with _more_ problems if you can't sleep at night! Like, it's only been two nights and you've already fallen behind with your classes..." She frowned. "Look, here, I've got an old bottle of them..." She pressed a small brown bottling into his hand. "I only needed to take a few of them before I was feeling better and could sleep without them! Just take them whenever you think you might need to and you'll be fine in no time!" She smiled, " _Trust me!_ "

"Err... I see..." Maybe it _would_ help? He'd think better after a good night's sleep, wouldn't he? Then he’d have the brainpower to solve his problems... "Do they have any side effects?"

"Hah, other than 'may cause drowsiness'?" She laughed.

"You might think that's humorous, but it actually refers to the possibility of remaining drowsy, even after you've woken up!" Ishimaru explained.

"Huh... Well, I never had that problem... It's probably just ass covering!"

"Well, even so, I shall to take such a possibility into account, and make sure I don't have them on a school night!"

"Well, if you think so..." She sighed. "Just... Try one at some point, ok? You'll see it'll make you feel _sooo_ much better..."

"Ah... Alright then! Thank you, Eno..." She glared at him. "...Junko."

"No problem! Upupupupu!" Junko giggled.

...

Ishimaru looked at the bottle as he sat in bed... He shouldn't need them _tonight_ , right? He'd almost dozed off every time his teachers had started talking this afternoon... He should be tired enough to sleep tonight, and then there'd be no risk of feeling drowsy tomorrow...

He put the bottle on his bedside table and laid down... After all, it was foolish to rely on medication to temporarily make himself feel better when focusing his efforts on solving _all_ his problems would make him feel better _permanently_!

But _how_ to solve all his problems? No one but Junko was talking to him and he didn't really know why... The reserve course thought he was corrupt, and again, he didn't know why... And Togami had fired him and he didn't know why...

Well, for starters, he should figure out those whys!

Was it just because of the investigation? But that wouldn't make him corrupt, so why did the reserve students think that!? Because of his grandfather? But surely they knew he wasn't his grandfather... Or did they think it ran in the family? Could he find evidence corruption wasn't hereditary? He'd never heard of any studies into it... Why would there be? The only benefit to studying that would be for corrupt people to prove their children weren't corrupt, and using public funds to research it for that sake would be.... corrupt... So maybe it _had_ been done...

What was he thinking? This line of thought was ridiculous... He didn't even know if that was the reason the reserve course thought he was corrupt, it might just have been some rumour going around... but how would he know if that was the case... Maybe he should ask someone... someone good with people, who paid attention to these things... like Mon...

Oh...

He was getting thirsty, he wouldn't

(Friday, 17th February 2012)

sleep if he was dehydrated, he should get a drink...

Right, he'd had a drink, now to sleep... And then he'd be fresh and able to pay attention in classes tomorrow...

His classes where no one was speaking to him... And he didn't even know why...

Was that just because of the investigation? That... would be nice to think, but Makoto had been so insistent that he wouldn't have hurt Tsumiki on purpse, that he doubted the boy would have have stopped speaking to him because of it… So there must be some _other_ reason...? There was the issue with Hifumi's art book, which he _really_ should have thought to take care of... But was that it? Would they really have hated him for just that one little mistake? Maybe it wasn't just that _one_ mistake... maybe he'd made more and no one had called him on it, after all Hifumi hadn't told him off for the art book yet... But how was he supposed to start fixing his mistakes if everyone was too polite to point the, out? Maybe he could ask someone who'd be honest with him... someone blunt... Someone like Mon...

_Ah_...

This... this wasn't helping him _sleep_... and it was already... Good grief, past 2am!? _Urg_! Just... just stop thinking! Stop keeping himself awake with useless thoughts! He needed to _sleep_!

...Counting sheep... that helped people sleep right...? Just, just, just lie down, nice and comfortable and imagine fluffy little sheep jumping over a nice little fence... One, two, three, four, five. six... sev...

_He hadn't put Togami's laundry on today!_

Oh _gods_ , where had he put it...? He'd have to give himself detention for breaking curfew and...

Oh, wait... Togami had _fired_ him, hadn't he? Or was going to fire him... Or just didn't want him working for him, and he didn't even know _why_... Was that just because of the investigation?  No... It was probably because he was being such a useless example to everyone... after all the heir had standards, and expected his staff to fulfil all their duties properly... And he'd not even managed the easy one the headmaster had requested he do over the last few days... He needed to fix that, to find someone he could be a good example to, as a way to show the headmaster and Togami that he could be a good example again, despite this weeks massive failing... But who to use? Someone who wasn't perfect... a bit rough around the edges... but still receptive to help and criticism... someone like Mon...

_Mondo_...

Everything came back to Mondo, didn't it? That was where all his problems started... He'd had a friend... someone who made him feel like he was on top of the world, like he could do absolutely anything if he just worked hard enough, like he was an actual worthwhile person who deserved respect and could walk with his head held high as a good example to everyone around him...

And then he'd _ruined_ it. Mondo _hated_ him, and he didn't even know _why._..

Was it just because he'd snapped about the cigarettes? But he moaned about cigarettes and alcohol all the time, surely Mondo knew that when they'd become friends... Or had this last month just shown Mondo that Ishimaru wasn't the person he'd thought he was when he'd offered to be Kyoudais... Maybe he'd only offered because he thought Ishimaru would be a better friend then he'd ended up being... maybe he'd expected something different, someone less nagging, or more supportive, or just some other flaw that the biker had been too polite to tell him about until it had been too much for him to put up with anymore and he'd finally lost all his patience and just told him to _fuck off_ out of his life _forever!_

If only he could _think_ of what to _say_ , to apologise and tell Mondo he'd do much better if he was just given some constructive criticism and another chance... But he couldn't think up any words that were good enough... He was too tired and distractible and starting to fall behind with school work and everyone hated him and he just wanted to lie in bed and cry all day but he couldn't because he was supposed to be setting a good example but how could he when he kept falling asleep in classes and _there!_ That was a problem he _could_ fix! He just needed to _sleep_ , just shut his eyes and relax and sle...

BBBRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG

Ishimaru flinched as the sharp noise of his alarm clock pieced his ears. Why was _that_ going off!? It was only...

Seven am.

He groaned... How had the time passed so quickly? Had he fallen asleep at some point without realising it, or had he just spent the entire night awake and uselessly trying to think of ways to solve his problems instead of doing the one thing he actually _needed_ to do to solve his problems, which was just to sleep... He suspected it was the latter.

Well... too late now... He'd just have to make up for it with coffee, lots of coffee...but first a shower so he at least smelt fresh if he didn't feel it... or look it.

The shower was warm and relaxing at least... The warm steam felt nice, like being in the sauna... with Mondo... just before he'd collapsed and then been picked up and Mondo had put his arm around him...

His body suddenly jerked to prevent himself from falling... _Now_ he was able to start sleeping!? What was _wrong_ with him!? He was going to be utterly useless all day, wasn't he...? And feel absolutely terrible from the lack of sleep... why hadn't he just listened to _Junko_ , _Junko_ had been right, he really should make a note to listen to her more often...

He finished his shower and managed to get dressed without dozing off again and checked himself in the mirror... Well, his clothes looked smart, at least, but they were a sharp contrast to his face... He looked like he ought to be dressed in rags and sleeping on the street, not in a gleaming uniform and attending Hope's Peak.

Still, he'd fix that with the sleeping pills, right? And until then, hopefully some coffee would make him more functional...

He opened the door, only to be surprised to see someone standing outside whose immaculate pinstripe suit was matched well by his fresh, young face and short, buzzcut hair... in fact the only issue Ishimaru had with this appearance was he'd shaven an odd pattern into the sides of his hair.

Stood behind him was coach Nidai. Both men were scowling at him, and it occurred to him that they were likely to be in the same class, which meant they were also classmates of Tsumiki.

"Ah... I apologise for hurting your classmate!” He bowed, “I didn’t intend to!” His apologies were getting more pathetic each time…

“Well you did, _dumbass!_ ” The boy in front of him snapped. “Now, not only is she freaking out even more than usual, but the entire school is talking about her…! It’s sickening, listening to them dishonour her, all because of _you!_ ”

“Ngh…!” What could he say? How could he possibly make up for that? Even if he was in a similar position, at least he’d caused his own troubles, poor Tsumiki was stuck in this position through no fault of her own…

“Well… I’m going to take that honour back, out of your _hide!_ ” The boy continued, “I Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, challenge you to a Kendo match, in the name of Mikan Tsumiki!”

“Well… if you’re challenging me for that reason, then I concede victory to you!” Ishimaru said, bowing.

“Tch! You won’t even stand and face me in order to make up for what you did?” Kuzuryu tutted, “I thought you were supposed to have _morals!_ ”

So he wanted to claim physical victory instead of just moral victory…? “Ah… Well… If you’d prefer to physically fight me, then I accept.”

“Then it’s decided… You two will have a Kendo match in name of Mikan Tsumiki…” Coach Nidai stated, “I recommend two, five minute long rounds. Winner based on who scores the most points in that time. Is that acceptable?

Ten minutes of fighting Kuzuryu…? That shouldn’t be too bad… The lad was small and he’d never actually seen him practising Kendo, so Ishimaru would probably be able to block his attacks… “I accept.”

“Yeah, me too.” Kuzuryu agreed.

“Ok then… We have the dojo booked at 8pm tonight.” Nidai told him...

But that was when he’d need to ring his father! “My apologies, but I’m not available at that time… Could it any earlier or later…?”

“Tch, no… The dojo’s booked out for the rest of the week…” Kuzuryu griped, “Is this your way of trying to squirm out of this!?”

“Ah, no! Not at all!” Ishimaru exclaimed, trying to think of a solution to the problem… “Ah! I have the dojo booked from three to four pm on Sunday! Will that be suitable?” It was supposed to be when he’d train with Sakura… But given she’d agreed with Togami that it was fair to want nothing to do with him…

“Well… yeah I guess…” Kuzuryu muttered.

“Alright then, that’s agreed. Two, five minute rounds of Kendo, traditional scoring, at 3pm Sunday.” Nidai summarised, to which they both nodded.

“Guess I’ve gotta go tell Peko the change of plans…” Kuzuryu muttered.

“Pekoyama? Will she be judging us?” Ishimaru asked.

“Ah, no… She’s my weapon.” Kuzuryu smirked.

“What!? You can’t use a _person_ as a weapon!”

“Peko’s not a person… She’s a _tool_.” Kuzuryu shrugged.

“People are _not_ …!” Ishimaru started.

“He _means_ he’s fighting by proxy.” Nidai explained, “As is allowed in the schools guidelines on student challenges. You’re free to do the same.”

“The… the school guidelines…?” Ishimaru muttered blankly… it was in the school rules…? That he had to fight the Ultimate Swordswoman? For _ten minutes?”_

“Ahhahaha! _Yep_!” Nidai laughed, “After all, I said I was gonna make sure we did this _properly_!”

“Ah… Of course… I’ll see you Sunday…” This was going to _hurt_ , and it wasn’t as if anyone was going to want to proxy for _him_. But if it made Tsumiki feel better…

* * *

 

Makoto had just finished talking to the penultimate person on Kyoko's list (who wasn't the culprit either) when he decided to check his pigeon hole because it was pretty close by and he hadn't checked since... Monday, maybe?

He headed over and saw that, amongst the pile of usual ignorable notices about school clubs and such, was a blue envelope, which filled him with a mild sense of unease as soon as he saw it...

The mild sense turned into full on dread when he picked it up and recognised the handwriting- it was his Uncle Daiki... and as much as he loved his scatter-brained uncle, he had an almost Ultimate ability to come up with hare-brained 'favours' that ended up making the recipients lives all the more complicated... So what the heck had he done this time...?

Makoto opened the envelope, which contained a birthday card (for a 13 year old).

Inside the card was a printout of some Google maps directions from Hope's Peak to... someones house, maybe? As well as a simple message: "Happy Birthday Makoto! Congratulations on getting into Hope's Peak! I got you a special present to celebrate, ask your father for details!"

_Oooh_... This was gonna be _bad_ , wasn't it? Well, it was almost time for him to ring his parents anyway, might as well call a bit earlier and find out what fate had thrown at him today...

The phone banks were empty, as they always on Friday evenings, at least until Kiyotaka came to ring his father. Makoto wondered if he'd actually come this week... Given he'd kept alternating between looking like he was going to be sick and falling asleep during all his classes again today, Makoto was hoping he'd stay in his room and sleep instead.

He dialled the home phone, and waited a few rings until it was picked up...

"Hello?" It was his dad's voice.

"Hi Dad, it's me!" Makoto told him.

"Oh, uhh... Hey! Makoto!" His father's voice was a mix of being pleased to hear him and being nervous about the upcoming conversation, "Have you had a letter from your uncle...?"

"Yeah..." Makoto replied, nervously. "It just had a birthday card, a map and instructions to ask you for details about a present?"

"...well at least he told you where it is..." His dad muttered.

Makoto sighed, "What's he _done_?"

"He's bought you a couch for your birthday..."

"A _couch!_? I live in a _dorm_ , where am I going to put a _couch_!?"

"He said he's looked at your room plan and if you get rid of your spare chairs it'll fit between the bed and the TV..." His dad sighed.

"But... but why would I want a _couch_!? The chairs are _fine_!" Makoto cried.

"He said he saw the photos of all your friends out socialising and thought you might want to be able to organise a night in watching TV."

"Uhh..." To be honest that sounded like a nice time, but he doubted the Ultimates would be the sort to sit and vegetate for hours. "Ok... but why does the map he gave me just lead to someone's house instead of a shop?"

"Ah, well... He wanted to surprise you with it... Err, he think's your birthday's _next_ month..."

"He also thinks I'm turning _thirteen_..." Makoto sighed.

There was what sounded like a hand striking a forehead on the other side of the phone. "Well, anyway, he had it delivered to a friend of his who lives near the school, and was going to tell you to pick it up after your birthday, or what he _thought_ was your birthday..."

"Uhh... pick it up _how?_ I can't drive, and I don't think any of my class has a van or truck..."

"He said you could ask a friend to help you walk along with it, as it's only a 20 minute walk..."

"Uhh... Yeah, I mean I guess I could ask Sakura, and Kiyotaka can probably help as well, with the two of them it would pretty easy..." _Too easy_... "Wait, you said he was going to wait until _after_ my 'birthday'... Why's he organising it _now_?"

"Ah, well... His friend is having some furniture of her own delivered tomorrow, so it needs to be picked up in the morning..."

Makoto groaned... Sakura had already left to take part in a competition and wouldn't be back until lunchtime, which left Kiyotaka...

Kiyotaka, who was having the worst week imaginable... he couldn't ask him to come out and carry a couch around, could he? Even with the Personal Favour voucher Kiyotaka had given him, it would be a crappy thing to do to him...

But if not _him_ , who else? Mondo was strong enough, but there was no way he'd dare ask him... Leon would probably say no, seeing as Sayaka was back tonight and he'd not seen her in almost a week, Hina had gone to watch Sakura compete, he hardly ever spoke to Ikusaba... And no one _else_ in their class would be strong enough...

That left Kiyotaka...

"What's wrong, Makoto?" His Dad was asking.

"Uhh... It's just Sakura's away until tomorrow afternoon and Kiyotaka is having the worst week ever and I don't know who else to ask..." Makoto admitted.

"How so?"

"Urg... Everyone at school thinks he's corrupt sex offender..." Makoto complained. "I mean, it's total _nonsense_ , but it's worrying him enough that he's not sleeping..."

"Well, maybe it would do him some good to get out of the school then? Remind him that there's a life _outside_ that building, where no one hates him?" His father suggested. "Isn't he the one you always say studies too much? A bit of physical exercise might clear his mind out!"

"Well... Maybe..." A morning out in the fresh air didn't sound too bad, and it couldn't hurt to get him away from all the whispered rumours for a bit. "Alright, I'll get a chance to talk to him once we've both finished ringing home, so I'll ask him then..."

* * *

 

Kiyotaka's forehead hit the desk for the third time that evening... Why couldn't he focus on his schoolwork! It's not as it mattered that he had to fight the Ultimate Swordswoman tomorrow... Sure, it would _hurt_ , but he'd taken beatings before! So why was it bothering him so much that he didn't have anyone who'd want to proxy for him?

And why was it that every time he stopped worrying about it and the fact that no one had spoken to him in class or at lunch for long enough to pay attention to his work or teachers, he started dozing off...

Some model student _he_ was! He really should have just taken a sleeping pill last night, being drowsy would have been better than almost falling asleep every ten minutes!

He checked his watch to see how much time he'd wasted. It was 7:52... Which meant he...

He had to go talk to his _father_...

His stomach clenched, what would his father say? Would he be disappointed that he was still under suspicion?

He headed to the phones, trying to push his worry from his mind as he dialled the number...

"..." He usual greeting seemed to choke in his throat...

"...Err... Police, Officer Takaaki speaking...?" His father said into the phone hesitantly.

"Ah...F-father... I..." Kiyotaka barely managed to reply.

"Ah _Kiyotaka_! It _is_ you!" His father sounded relieved. "But I take it from your tone that the investigation's still ongoing..." He sighed.

"Ah... Y-yes..." Was he going to be upset?

"Err... Well... I'm _sure_ it will be fine!" He said reassuringly, "After all, only 6 percent of rape allegations end in convictions!"

"That's _not_ a good thing!" Ishimaru snapped, even if it _was_ just an attempt to ease his fears...

"I... Sorry... It's just you sounded so upset, I wanted to try and cheer you up..." His father admitted.

"Ah... I'm not worried about the investigation, it's just... No one likes me anymore..." He sighed, "Or hardly anyone does, at least..." He added, remembering Junko's talk with him at lunch the day before.

Well, public opinion is always fickle... I'm sure once the investigation's in your favour, then people will stop badmouthing you..."

"I... I guess so?" Although it wasn't the badmouthing he minded, it was Mondo and almost all the rest of his class not speaking to him at all...

...

"Err... Oh! You said last week you wanted to hear about your mother, right?" He father said jovially.

His father spent the rest of the call telling him stories about his and his mother's relationship... How'd they first met when he was policing a protest she was part of, and how he'd been secretly disappointed that she'd not caused enough trouble to get arrested, so he didn't learn her name... But then she'd come to the station to bail out a friend of hers who had, and he got into trouble for asking her out while on shift, but he'd not cared because she'd said yes.

Then for their date he'd booked a fancy seafood place, only to discover she was allergic to fish...

"Haha... I thought I'd blown it there, but she suggested we go to a cheap burger joint and spent the night smiling like I'd taken her to the Ritz..." He said fondly. "Always forgiving, your mother..."

"Y-yes..." Kiyotaka agreed sadly, "A shame nurse Tsumiki wasn't..." He sighed.

"Ah... You'll find someone! It'll all work out eventually!" His father reassured him. "You'll find a woman who makes you as happy as your mother made me!"

"Ah... I hope so..." He swallowed, "I just don't see..."

"Err... I've got to go now! Good luck next week!"

"...how... Ah..." He sighed as the line went dead.

He put the phone back down, slowly. Makoto was still talking to his family, but they usually talked together once they’d both finished, so he decided to wait. He… he _really_ wanted to talk to someone again, if only to distract him from what a mess he’d made of everything.

Not that he thought talking to him would do much... Stories of his mother and father’s relationship had always cheered him up in the past, regardless of how low he was feeling… but just now it had just made him feel hollow. Would he ever have that sort of relationship? That deep level of mutual support, that would last through years of love? How _could_ he, when he’d not even been able to keep up with the pressure of a _friendship_ for a month!?

And it was as if all his classmates knew it now as well… aside from Junko, they’d stopped speaking to him, probably realising he wasn’t worth their time, that he couldn’t make enough of an effort to support others when they needed it… If _only_ they’d give him another chance! If only _Mondo_ would give him another chance! He’d make more of an effort this time! He wasn’t quite sure how but he _would_! _Somehow_! He _needed_ to! He _needed_ someone at his side again to help push him forward!

…And that was his problem, wasn’t it? He was _needy_ and wanted someone else to make the effort to move him forward, burdening them with his dead weight and failing to give them even an ounce of support when they really needed it! No _wonder_ no one wanted to talk to him!

Not even Makoto, it seemed… he was still on the phone, a whole five minutes after he usually stopped. That _never_ happened, he usually finished talking before Ishimaru did… Was Makoto delaying the end of his conversation until he went away? Or was that just a paranoid thing to think? Perhaps he should head away to his room in case that was the reason Makoto was taking so long…

He started walking back, rubbing his eyes, he was so _tired_. Was he just being over-sensitive because of the lack of sleep? But how was he supposed to sleep when every little thing that happened made his mind go into overdrive with worried questions and paranoid thoughts and regrets and things he wished he’d done differently and trying to make plans and he just needed it all to _stop_! He just needed the obsessive, over bearing, irritating voice in his mind to _shut up_! But it wouldn’t because it was _him_ and how was he supposed to shut down his own mind…?

“Heey… Kiyotaka?” A concerned voice was speaking to him.

“Oh… Junko!” He jumped, where had she come from? “I… I’m sorry I didn’t notice you…”

Did she just scowl at that? Or maybe he was imagining it… “Bad conversation with your Dad?” She asked him.

“Ah… n-no…” He stammered, it… it might not have helped but it wasn’t bad…

“Really? I’d thought you’d be happier after you spoke to him, but you seem even sadder…” She frowned. “Is he not very good at cheering you up?”

“Err… well he _tries_ … although Mother was usually better at it…” He remembered her coming into his room to hug him whenever he’d had a nightmare, or other children at school had made fun of him… she’d always managed to make every problem he had seem trivial… “I miss her… sometimes I wish _she_ was…”

He suddenly remembered he was speaking out loud and clamped a hand over his mouth… How could he even _think_ of saying that out loud!?

“She was what?” Junko asked.

“Ah… no, I… forget I said that!”

“…Is it a _secret_?” She asked. He nodded, curtly. “…A deep _dark_ secret you don’t want _anyone_ to know? The sort of thing you’d do something _bad_ to stop from getting out?”

“W-well… It depends…” He’d have to weigh up the disappointment his father would feel from knowing versus that of him doing whichever bad thing it was…

“That’s not a good thing to have, y’know!” Junko pointed out, “Especially not if you’re dealing with it yourself… you should really tell someone…”

“Ngh…” She was probably right… “I… would you…?”

“ _I_ wouldn’t tell!” She smiled, “Not even _Mukuro_!”

Not even her sister…? “I… Sometimes, well… most of the time really… I wish she was the parent who was still alive… even if it meant not having my _father_ …” He looked away from Junko’s eyes. It was such a horrible thing to think about the man who’d sacrificed so much to raise him… but he missed his mother so much…

“Is that _all_?” She sighed, “Isn’t that kinda normal? I bet every kid with one dead parent thinks _that_ … you’d probably still think that even if your Dad was the dead one! Hell, I bet there are times _he_ wishes _she_ was alive instead of _you_!”

“AH!” It was… normal to think like that? He’d always thought it was just him…

“But if it was bothering you that much, then I suppose it’ll have to do…” She muttered.

“It’ll have to do for what?” He asked.

“Huh…? I said if it bothers you that much, I’ll keep it _quiet_ for you!” She looked at him in concern. “Geez… You’re seriously not getting enough sleep if you’re mishearing stuff _that_ badly…”

“I… I’m sorry, I’m really not…” He admitted, and he didn’t see himself getting much sleep tonight either…

“Well… there’s always those sleeping pills?” She suggested.

Yes! The sleeping pills!

That’s right… tonight wasn’t a school night, so it wouldn’t matter too much if he was a little drowsy tomorrow… He could just take one, and shut up the voice in his head long enough to get a good night’s sleep, so he could concentrate tomorrow… And maybe he could even take _another_ one tomorrow if it didn’t make him too drowsy and he still hadn’t caught up with the missed sleep… and that way he’d see if they did make him too drowsy for school, after all Junko might be right and it would be ok to take them whenever he felt he needed them…

“Err…yes! Thank you, Junko! I… I’ll make sure to pay you back, somehow!”

“Upupupu… I’m sure you will! Good night, Kiyotaka!” She waved as she walked away. And he headed back to his own room… he’d just have a shower and then take a pill and that would solve _all_ his problems…

* * *

 

_Geez..._ How long was Komaru gonna go on about this dumb manga...? It was like time had crawled to a stop while she was talking... He couldn't wait for when her show was due to start and she hung up and he could go talk to Kiyotaka and ask him about moving this stupid couch tomorrow...

Wait, where _was_ Kiyotaka!? The phone he'd been using was empty and he'd disappeared. "What time is it?" He asked out loud...

"Well it's... What? It's eight thirty _already!?_ " Komaru whined, "What happened to the loud guy?"

"The... loud guy?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah... Like, _every_ week at _exactly_ eight-zero-zero there's a guy who shouts 'Good Evening, Father! I hope you had a good week!'" Komaru pulled off a surprising good impersonation of Kiyotaka, "It's usually my warning that I need to start paying attention to the clock... _Awww_... Now I'm gonna have to wait for the recording to finish before I can start watching it..."

" _Urg_... That guy's Kiyotaka... And he's had the worst week imaginable..." Makoto explained. "I'm kinda surprised he managed to make the phone call at _all_..."

"Oh... really?" Komaru sounded slightly guilty at that. "Do you have any plans to cheer him up...?"

"Uhh... Not unless moving a couch across town tomorrow will cheer him up..." Makoto admitted.

"Are you _serious?_ Is there no one _else_ you can ask?" Komaru sighed. "What about that martial artist?"

"She's at a competition..."

"The big biker guy?"

" _Mondo?_ He's scary as _hell_ , I can't ask _him!_ "

"Uhh... The baseball guy?"

"No... He's kind of a flake..." And he'd probably want to spend the time with Sayaka... Not that he was going to tell his blabbermouth sister that Sayaka had a boyfriend...

"Uhh... Ask the rich guy to hire you a van?"

"Also scary as hell... In a different way." Makoto said.

"Urg... You're such a _wimp!_ " Komaru sounded like she was rolling her eyes. "I've seen his picture, he doesn't look _that_ strong..."

"No... but he'd probably buy Kellogg's and get them to stop selling chocolate Poptarts..."

"He can _do_ that!?" Komaru sounded terrified.

"He keeps _threatening_ to do stuff like it..."

"Yeesh... Hope's Peak is _scary!_ "

"Aww... It's not _that_ bad... There's a lot of good people here!" Makoto smiled. "But anyway... I've gotta go catch up with Kiyotaka! Love ya, Komaru!"

"Yeah, yeah... Love you to bro!" She said flippantly before he put the phone down and rushed to room to rummage through the drawers for the set of vouchers Kiyotaka had awkwardly rushed to hand him before he'd chased off after Mondo when the biker had stormed out of his party...

Then he was in front of Kiyotaka's room, hoping he wouldn't be waking him up or that he was actually _in_ there and not Mondo's room...

Kiyotaka opened the door, looking haggard and slightly dazed from the lack of sleep, although he still smiled faintly upon seeing him. "Ah, Mokoto... You _did_ want to talk to me..."

"Uhh, yeah..." Makoto cringed, "I need to ask a favour!" He held up the little voucher, noticing that Kiyotaka's eyes widened and he stiffened slightly when he saw it. "Uhh... Don't worry if you can't! It's just my Uncle ordered a couch for me, but had it delivered to a friend’s house... It's not far! Just twenty minutes walk!" He held up the map for Kiyotaka. "Uhh... But his friend kinda needs it taking out of her house tomorrow morning, so I was wondering if you'd be able to help me bring it here?" He smiled desperately, " _Please?_ "

"M-move a couch... tomorrow?" Kiyotaka blinked heavily as he tried to focus his tired eyes on the papers Makoto had been waving at him...

... _What the hell was he doing!?_ Kiyotaka hadn't had a good night's sleep in _three days_ , was in the middle of being accused of _assault_ and also having someone try to assassinate his character _at the same time_ and here _he_ was trying to badger the poor guy into moving a flipping _couch_ across town! _What the hell was wrong with him?_

"Uhh... You know what? Never mind! This isn't a good time for you, is it? I'm sorry I asked..." Makoto sighed, "I'll go and let you get some sleep! I'm sure I can find someone _else_ to help..."

* * *

 

Moving a couch? And Makoto would even _help?_ That was _easy!_ That was the sort of thing he'd imagined people asking for when he'd made the vouchers! It didn't require him to wear embarrassing clothes, learn some new skill or interact with a stranger. All he'd have to do was get some of the trolleys from the physics room and tie them together and they'd have a moving platform to just _push_ it along! He didn't even have to worry about where they were going because Makoto had a map already! It was a chance to redeem himself to his classmates so _easily_ and Makoto was _apologising_ for it!?

"Don't be ridiculous! Of _course_ I can help with that! It's no problem at _all_!"

"Uhh... Are you sure?" Makoto seemed startled by his sudden declaration, "I don't want to cause you any trouble, you've got enough at the moment already!"

" _Nonsense!_ It's no trouble at all! It'll be _nice_ to get out of the school for a bit!" Not that he really _believed_ that last bit, but _anything_ to get Makoto to trust him with this!

"Uhh... I guess so..." Makoto muttered. "What time should we meet up tomorrow?"

Hmm... If he managed to get the trolley ready _now_ , all he'd have to do would be his usual morning routine... "I can meet you at the front entrance around 8am!"

"Uhh... That's a bit early... Maybe make it 10am? You look _really_ tired..." Makoto looked worriedly at him.

"Err... Well, I am at the moment... But tomorrow I'll be _fine!_ I _promise!_ I'll get a good night's sleep tonight and be ready to go tomorrow! _Trust me!_ " He barely stopped himself from adding a pathetic sounding 'please' to the end of that sentence. "Just leave everything to me!" He started to lead Makoto out of the room before he did anything stupid to change the boys mind.

"Ha... Well, Ok Kiyotaka!" Makoto laughed, making him smile as well, he'd missed hearing laughter. "I'll see you tomorrow at 10 then!"

" _Absolutely!_ " He agreed again as Makoto passed the threshold of the door. "I hope you have a good night sleep yourself!" He quickly, but politely, shut the door.

This was it... _This was his chance!_ He'd help Makoto and Makoto was popular enough in their class that he could tell everyone that he'd been helpful and it was worth speaking to him again... And then maybe even Mondo would as well and they'd go back to giving each other warm hugs and...

He felt himself tipping forward and jerked... Had he been about to fall asleep? He hadn't even taken the sleeping pill! Which was just as well, really. He had to help Makoto tomorrow morning, he couldn't risk being drowsy all day! And besides, he couldn't go to sleep yet... he had to go get the platform ready!

An hour later, he was wheeling his awkward construction through the hallway, making sure it ran smoothly across the thin carpet... He should probably check it fit up the staircase to the floor their dorms were on as well...

It did... just. Although, it did need to be lifted above the handrails in order to get around the part where the stairs double back on each other. Still, the ceiling was high enough that it should still be possible with the sofa on top... It would just require a temporary bit of exertion from both their parts!

He put the platform back down and was about to push it up the stairs when he saw Sayaka behind him, holding a suitcase and watching patiently. She must have just got back from her concert and now he was blocking the stairs!

"Ah! S-sayaka! I'm sorry! I'll get out of way!" He almost tripped up on himself trying to move the platform as quickly as possible.

"Ah, It's Ok! I was just wondering how sturdy that is?" She asked.

"Err... I hope it's sturdy enough to hold a couch... But I've not actually checked..." Good thing Sayaka had asked! What a disaster it would be to discover it wasn't strong enough when he and Makoto were already halfway across town with a sofa in tow!

"Well, can I try something?" She asked, once he'd pushed it the remainder of the way up the stairs and onto the landing.

"Err... by all means!" He saluted.

She bent down and locked the brakes on the contraption, then cautiously tested it with her foot before she stepped on it and walked across the length of it.

"Ah... I don't think you're a heavy as the couch will be..."

"Ah hah hah! That's not what I wanted to try..." She giggled. "I wanted to practise this..." She walked a few paces away from the platform and then started singing softly to herself. As she walked towards and across the platform, expertly spinning and dancing as she did so.

She danced long enough that Ishimaru started to learn the tune of the song, finding it catchy enough that he started humming along without meaning to as he rested his eyes...

"La la laa, la la la la laa laaa..."

"Hm hm hrm, hm hm hm hm... hrm... hrmm... Ah!" He jumped as he suddenly felt himself tipping over again.

"Huh? Are you alright?" Sayaka stopped dancing to ask.

"Ah! My apologies! I started to fall asleep and then startled myself awake!" He explained, then realised that might be insulting to Sayaka's dance. "N-not that your performance was sleep-inducing! It's just I haven't been able to sleep the last three nights..."

"You _haven't?_ Did something happen?" She asked, concerned.

"Er-err!" He seized up, _of course_ , she didn't know yet what a _mess_ he'd made of everything yet... and he was too _selfish_ to admit it and cause her to stop talking to him...

"Well... You don't need to talk about if you don't want to..." She smiled gently. "But have you tried anything to help, like...cocoa?"

"Ah... No, I don't have any cocoa." He frowned, it was a shame... _that_ wouldn't have risked making him too drowsy to help tomorrow...

"Well... This platform you've made would really help me practise my new dance... I'll give you some cocoa if you let me have it once you're done with it!"

"Ah... You don't have to do that..." Ishimaru started, "That would save me the trouble of dismantling it once I was done..."

"Well, then I'll give you cocoa in exchange for taking it apart for me once I'm done!" She suggested.

"Ah, well... That seems fair..." He muttered.

"Great! You go put the platform away, and get ready for bed, and I'll go make us some!" She smiled.

He nodded and returned to his room, carefully tilting the platform against the wall and then taking off his boots... before remembering that he didn't own pyjamas and therefore getting anymore 'ready for bed' before she came in would be... inappropriate. So instead he just paced nervously around the room until the doorbell rang.

Sayaka was stood outside the room with two cups- one with just cocoa and the other with a mass of sickly looking cream on top. She looked slightly surprised at his appearance when he opened the door. "Does it _really_ take you that long to take off your boots?"

"Err..."

She laughed, "Never mind! Anyway, I figured you'd prefer yours plain..." She said, holding out the nicer looking cup to him.

"Ah, yes, thank you!" He bowed his head as he took it from her.

He'd expected her to leave at that point, but instead she stayed in front of the door and started blowing her drink cool in front of him.

"Ah... Did you want to sit down...?" He gestured to the chair inside his room, although more out of politeness than any real belief that she'd actually _want_ to come into his room...

"Sure! Thanks, Kiyotaka!" She smiled and headed inside, slipping off her shoes and placing them next to his before taking the seat by his desk and placing it so it was facing the bed... Which was where he'd have to sit, seeming as he'd never bought himself any spare furniture, and Mondo kept offering to _make_ him a spare chair instead.

Although _that_ wouldn't happen now.

And there was no guarantee he'd ever _need_ one again, anyway...

"Hehe... I should come in here to study sometime..." Sayaka said as she looked around the posters and charts he'd put up around the room.

"Ah... Well feel free to come anytime, if it would help!" He offered. " _Or_ I could prepare some charts for your _own_ room, if you'd like!" _Anything_ to reduce the inevitable disappointment she'd feel once she found out what had happened on Tuesday...

"Oh... Thanks? I'll think about what I want..." Her smile looked slightly sad for a moment... had he upset her or was he being paranoid again...? "...Anyway, try the cocoa before it goes cold!"

"Ah! Of course!" He took a deep sniff as she looked around his room... It certainly _smelt_ delicious enough! He took a drink... "MMMMM! This is _delicious,_ thank you!"

"Your... welcome..." She replied hesitantly, as he carried on drinking. "...You take _sleeping pills?_ " She suddenly asked.

Ishimaru looked up from his drink to see that she was looking at the bottle of pills Junko had given him. "Err... Not yet..." He told her, "I thought they might help me stop thinking so much, but I didn't want to risk being drowsy on a school day or while I'm helping Makoto tomorrow, so I'll wait until tomorrow to try one." He took another gulp of the drink.

"Hmm... I get the feeling you won't need it..." She smiled as he tipped his head back to get the last of the cocoa out.

"Ah... I hope that's true!" Ishimaru replied. "...but even if not, that was lovely!" He smiled as he put the cup down.

"Thanks!" She smiled. "...Umm, would you mind helping me _try_ something?" She asked.

"Certainly! How can I help?"

"Well... It might seem a bit odd, but could you lie down and close your eyes?"

"Err... Ok..." He did as she asked, hoping he wouldn't end up falling asleep in this position...

"Ok... Now I'm going to hum something, and I'd like you to copy me!" She said brightly. "Like you did earlier!"

"Err... I can try?" He offered, he really wasn't good at music...

"Ok then!" She took a little breath. “Hmm hmm hmmmmm hm hmm, hmm hmm hm hmmmm..."

"Hrm hrm hrrmmm hm hrm, hrm hrm hm hrrmm...". Why did that seem familiar?

"Hmm hmm hmm hmmmmm, hm hm hm hm hm..."

"Hrm hrm hrm hrrmmm, hm hm hm hm hm..." It reminded him of his mother...

"Hmm hmm hmm hmmmmm, hm hm hm hm hmmm..."

"Hrm hrm hrm hrrmmm, hm hm hm hm hrmm..." ...those times she'd tuck him into bed and hum a lullaby...

"Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmm-hmm, hm hm hm hmmm!"

...And kiss his forehead and tell him it wasn't as bad as he thought... "Hrm hrm... hrm... Hrmmm _mmmmmmmm..."_

* * *

 

Well, at least he'd managed to sort out the couch business! Kiyotaka seemed to have perked up at the idea even, so maybe his dad had been right... But _now_ he was left with the other unpleasant task he'd had planned for the evening... asking _Pekoyama_ which notice board she ran... as if he didn't already know the answer. He'd asked everyone _else_ on the list except for Kiyotaka, so it _had_ to be her!

It should have been _obvious_ really... The notice board in question was one of the best organised ones, and Pekoyama was one of the most diligent students on the list... _and_ had a reason to be upset with Kiyotaka as well. Makoto _really_ should have gone to her _first_... he'd have sorted this out two days ago if he hadn't put it off because he was scared of her.

Still, he'd sort it out now... He took a deep breath to steady himself and entered the dojo, taking some small comfort in the fact that she was easy to find...

Pekoyama was sat meditating, sword in hand across her lap. If she'd noticed his entrance she didn't respond to it. "Umm... _Excuse me?_ " His voice raised in pitch instead of just in volume as he'd intended as he tried to get her attention.

"Do you wish to challenge my master?" She asked, in that monotone voice she always spoke with.

" _No!_ No not at all!" He wouldn't even want to challenge _her_ , let alone the guy who taught her! "I, uhh, I just wondered which notice board you're in charge of keeping up to date!"

"On behalf of my master, I post notices there." She quickly swung her sword to point in the direction of a notice board on the wall of the dojo. Alongside the normal school notices, it contained the dojo's rules and details of victories the school's students (mostly Sakura and Pekoyama) had had outside of the school.

"Ah, well _that_ makes sense..." Makoto muttered as he wrote it down, she was in here all the time after all... "Wait, that can't be right..." He muttered as he realised that that would mean _Kiyotaka_ was the person who put up that picture of him!?

"You doubt me?" Pekoyama asked. "I have proof." She threw something over to him.

Makoto dropped the sheet of paper on the floor as he fumbled to catch it. It was a small key, which did manage to unlock the notice board. "Uhh... _Ok then!_ " He carefully locked it back up, picked up his paper, and then cautiously moved a few steps closer to Pekoyama.

"Uhh... _Catch!_ " He threw it back over to her... or at least tried to, she ended up having to use the tip of her sword to catch the ring.

"Did you have any other business with my master?"

"Uhh... _No!_ I'll leave you alone now!" He practically ran out of the dojo...

He looked over the sheet again, making sure there wasn't anyone he'd missed, or that there were no duplications where someone had lied... But no, they were all different boards and the only empty name left was Kiyotaka's... Had he _really_ put the picture up? Why would he _do_ that?

Perhaps he didn't realise the pictures were an insult? Maybe he'd just seen Yamada had drawn a picture of him and decided to showcase it without looking too closely? Or he'd assumed no one would take a drawing seriously?

Well, either way, he'd best let Kyoko know the results...

As he reached the dorm entrance, he spotted Sayaka stood outside Kiyotaka's door, frowning in concern at a small brown bottle. "Hi, Sayaka! Uhh... what's that you're looking at?"

"Oh, Makoto! She jumped a little. "They're sleeping pills... Junko's, apparently... I was wondering if I should give them back or not..."

"Why _wouldn't_ you?" Makoto asked, surely Sayaka wouldn't be thinking of _stealing_...

"Ah... It's just these types can get a bit addictive if you're not careful..." Sayaka frowned, "I know a few people in the pop business who've ended up taking the maximum dose every night or they get withdrawal symptoms..."

"Yeesh! That sounds _awful!_ " Makoto cringed, he'd always been lucky enough to sleep easily... A little _too_ easily even... "Maybe you should warn Junko when you give them back?" He suggested.

"Hmm... Maybe..." She frowned again, "Umm, also... I just saw Kiyotaka. He looks _terrible!_ What happened to him?"

"Urg... Don't get me _started!_ " Although he did end up 'getting started' and explaining everything that had happened to him...

"... And he's not really speaking to anyone, not even Mondo, we guess he just wants to be left alone?"

"Are you _sure?_ " Sayaka pursed her lips, "He spoke to me just now..."

"Huh... Actually he spoke to me earlier as well..." Makoto realised, "Maybe he's getting better?"

"Umm... I got the feeling he might have wanted to talk to people all week..." Her brow furrowed.

"But... but he's not said _anything_ to _anyone!_ " Makoto cried. "He's got plenty of friends... If he'd wanted to talk he could have just _asked_..."

"I always get the impression he doesn't like bothering anyone with his problems though..." Sayaka frowned. "Even just now, he only told me he's not been sleeping because he thought I'd be insulted by him dozing off while I was dancing..."

Makoto groaned, she was _right_ and in hindsight it was so _obvious_... "I should have asked him if he needed anything, instead of just trying to guess..."

"He'd have probably just said he was fine though... Otherwise Mondo would be talking to him, right?" Sayaka pointed out.

"Uhh, yeah that's true..." Letting everyone worry about him would mean making a 'withdrawal' from his supposedly 'overdrawn' 'account', "I wish he had a better idea of how friendships work..."

"Well, maybe you should try to explain it to him while he's helping you tomorrow!" Sayaka suggested.

"Yeah... Good idea!" Makoto agreed. "But for now I've gotta talk to Kyoko about something..."

" _Oh_ _really?_ " Sayaka grinned conspiratorially. "I won't keep you then!" She winked before walking off...

Guess he'd have to leave explaining how he'd messed up his _date_ for another time...

He headed for Kyoko's door, which was opened pretty soon after he'd hit the doorbell.

"Ah, Makoto." She glanced at the paper on his hand. "I assume you know whose notice board it is then?"

"Uhh... Maybe?" He stammered, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "I asked everyone but Kiyotaka and none of them said that one." He explained. "And no one came out with a duplication either!"

"You mean you didn't get _proof_ when you asked?" She sighed. "Well, it's obvious what they've done. They must have realised _why_ you were asking and told you they were in charge of Kiyotaka's board. We just have to ask him which his one is and we'll know who did it."

"Ah... Yeah that seems pretty obvious! I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Good." Kyoko nodded. "...Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, sounding a little irritated.

"Huh? Oh, no that was all!" Makoto decided to get out of her hair, she'd probably been getting ready for bed at this time, right? "Have a good night!"

"Hmm..." She exhaled and shut the door as he turned to go. Guess she was still mad about the crappy date...

 

(Saturday, 18th February 2012)

And this morning, _Kiyotaka_ was going to be mad at him for being _late!_ How the heck had he set his alarm for Ten instead of Nine!?

"S-sorry I'm late!" He announced as he got to the entrance hall... Only for it to be empty... That... That was weird, he was over ten minutes late and Kiyotaka wasn't here yet?

_Urg_... He'd probably turned up on time, then got annoyed and gone back to his room...

Makoto ran back to the dorms, he'd have to really apologise for messing him around...

He hit the doorbell to Kiyotaka's room, only to get no response at first. Was he ignoring him now? Oh _crap_ , what was he going to do if Kiyotaka had decided not to help after all...?

Luckily for Makoto, the door did eventually open... "Kiyotaka! I... Uhh... Are you alright...?" His intended apology got turned into confusion, as the normally immaculate hall monitor had opened the door with mussed up hair, dishevelled clothes and no boots.

"Err... Makoto...? C-can I help you?" Kiyotaka blinked groggily at him.

"Uhh... Well, it's just it's gone Ten and we said we'd meet up in the entrance hall..."

Kiyotaka's eyes widened. " _AAAHHH! Makoto! I'm so, so sorry!_ I feel asleep before I remembered to set my alarm!" He cried in apology as he pulled at his hair in a way that looked pretty painful...

"Uhh... _Hey!_ Don't worry about it! You look a lot better for it!" Makoto tried smile reassuringly, it was true... His face looked a lot less haggard this morning, even if he was panicking and his clothes were a mess...

"B-but I'm supposed to be helping you and I've let you down!" He looked like he was going to burst into tears, "And I was in the middle of doing something for Sayaka when I feel asleep as well!" His shoulders slumped, "She's going to _hate_ me..."

" _What!?_ No! She's not going to hate you!" Why on Earth would he think _that!?_ "And you've not let me down! We'll just get to get to my uncle's friends a little later than intended! She won't mind, as long as we're there by the afternoon." He shrugged, and then remembered Sayaka's advice from last night... "It's no, problem! Friends forgive each for being late on occasion!" He smiled.

"Oh..." Kiyotaka sighed. "But still... I'll get dressed as fast as I can and we'll set out immediately!" He nodded.

"What about breakfast? You can't push a couch across town on an empty stomach!" Makoto pointed out. "I'll just go chat to Chihiro while you get ready and then we can go eat together!"

"Err... I suppose you're right... but I'll eat as fast as possible!" Kiyotaka promised and shut the door firmly.

He headed over to the programmers room and hit the doorbell, hoping he wasn't waking Chihiro up from a much needed nap...

"Ah... Makoto..." Chihiro yawned, once he'd finally opened the door. "Good timing, an automated bit just finished!" He smiled.

"So... does that mean you have the video?" Makoto asked hopefully.

"No... Not yet..." Chihrio sighed, "But I think I should be able to get it today, so long as I don't fall asleep again!" He nodded. "Speaking of which, can you get me some coffee and something sugary for breakfast... like pop tarts maybe?"

"Sure... no problem!" Makoto headed to the kitchen and threw a few pop tarts in the toaster for himself and Chihiro, and brewed the coffee while he was waiting for those.

Should he make Kiyotaka some? Somehow he didn't think the hall monitor would approve of (what was pretty much just) sugar for breakfast... Still, he could at least set the rice cooker going for him...

Kiyotaka came out of his room, looking as prim and proper as normal this time, just as Makoto had finished handing Chihiro the tray with his food and drink on it.

"See you soon, hopefully!" The programmer smiled as he closed the door.

"Ah...did you make him breakfast?" Kiyotaka asked, worriedly. "B-because he's busy with the video?"

"Uhh... Well he wanted the same thing I did so..." Makoto shrugged, as they started walking towards the kitchen. "It's no big deal... Friends help make each food occasionally, y'know?" He added, as a way to pre-empt Kiyotaka getting embarrassed about the next thing he was going to say: "Also, I set the rice cooker going for your breakfast."

"Ah! My apologies for the trouble!" Kiyotaka completely missed his point. "I'll go get my food ready now!" He strode off to the kitchen in a panic.

Makoto sighed and followed, picking up the remaining Poptarts, while Kiyotaka rushed to make himself some tea, and took them into the dining room, breaking them open to test if they'd cooled down enough to eat yet, which of course they weren't because these things took forever to cool down...

After a while Kiyotaka came through with his usual breakfast and immediately grabbed a chunck of steaming hot rice and went to eat it.

" _Geez Kiyotaka!_ Don't you need to let that cool a bit!?"

"B-but I've already made us _late!_ And you've got less to eat than me!" He insisted.

"Like I said before, we're not _late_... We're just... not early..." Kiyotaka cringed, "And besides, these will take forever to cool down..."

"I... I see..." He muttered, stirring his rice up to mix in the dashi... or help it cool maybe. Makoto blew on his poptart to try and get it to cool a bit quicker as well. "...What _are_ those?" Kiyotaka suddenly asked, starting intensely at Makoto's crappy breakfast.

"Huh? These are poptarts." Makoto explained, "Have you never had them?"

"Err... No... I tend to just eat the things that I know I like, instead of risking making a whole meal and it going to waste if I don't."

"Ah... Well I always find eating with friends helps with that, because we all share each other’s food!" Makoto explained, "Do you..."

"Ah... Well I guess I'll just stick to my rice and dashi..." Kiyotaka interrupted his attempt to offer a piece of poptart... Guess he was right that Kiyotaka wouldn't want sugar for breakfast!

After a while Kyoko came into the dining room and Makoto remembered he was supposed to be asking Kiyotaka something... "Oh, Kiyotaka? You're one of the people who organises a notice board, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's correct!" Kiyotaka nodded, as he scooped up the last of his rice.

"Which notice board are you in charge of?" Makoto asked, and noticed Kyoko was walking towards them to overhear the answer.

"I manage the one you all check... From here on the way to our classroom!" Kiyotaka said. "Why? Is there a problem with it? I haven't been able to check it the last few days because Hagakure always seems to be reading it whenever I try to check it..."

So... Kiyotaka really had put that picture up? "Well, it's not a problem, but..."

"There's no problem at all, not with that one." Kyoko suddenly interrupted. "But my father noticed some of the boards aren't being well maintained, so he asked me to find out who was responsible for them."

"Err... But then why did _Makoto_ ask me?" Kiyotaka looked confused, "And also why are you the one who being expected to check maintenance of the boards... _I'm_ the one who organised the volunteers, so it should be _my_ responsibility..."

"Well... Sometimes friends end up doing bits of each other’s work... It's no big deal." Makoto shrugged... as if Kiyotaka didn't have enough on his plate without worrying that the other volunteers weren't keep stuff up to date...

"Ngh..." Kiyotaka flinched. "I... I see. Well... I need to go and get the platform from my room. I'll meet you at the entrance way!" Kiyotaka stood and left the room.

Wait... _platform!?_

"His key must have been stolen..." Kyoko muttered

"Uhh... What was that?"

"Kiyotaka's key to his notice board... It must have been stolen when Yamada's sketchbook was. That's why he doesn't know about the picture."

"Oh, uhh... That makes more sense than _my_ theory..." Makoto admitted.

"Which was what?" Kyoko asked.

"Uhh... I thought maybe _he'd_ put it up because he didn't realise it was supposed to be an insult..."

"What!? How would he not realise...?" Kyoko stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Well... He's pretty _naive!_ He might have thought it was showing him helping a down-on-his-luck guy away from a life of crime by giving him a handout!"

"Not even _he's_ that naive!" Kyoko sighed, "But anyway, I guess I best go make an appointment with father to explain the result... And that it's unlikely we'll find the culprit now..."

"Yeah... I'd best not keep Kiyotaka waiting either..." Makoto shoved the last of his poptart into his mouth and stood up to leave the dining room... Only to almost trip up over what appeared to be several trolleys tied together with rope.

"Ah! C-careful!" Kiyotaka shouted at him from the other end of the construction, as he was knelt on the floor pushing it forward, with a loop of rope around his body. "Err... I'm sorry! I should have put warning signs on it..."

Makoto just blinked, when the heck had he made _this?_

"Err... Do you not think it will be suitable for pushing the couch?" Kiyotaka asked nervously. "I... I couldn't think of a better idea..."

"Ah, no! It's a _great_ idea!" Makoto laughed, "I was just imagining we'd lift it..."

"Ah... Well there is one point where we'll have to do that..." Kiyotaka muttered. "But for the most part we should be able to just push it along..."

"Great!" Makoto grinned. "Let's pick this up and get going then..."

" _Pick it up...?_ You don't have to..." Kiyotaka balked at the idea of Makoto inconveniencing himself...

"It'll be easier that way, and probably quicker than you having to crouch to push it, right?"

"Ah... Of course..." Kiyotaka frowned, "My apologies for making us late... Otherwise you wouldn't be needing to make the effort to make up for it..."

Urg... Friendship was going to take a lot of explaining to Kiyotaka, wasn't it?

...

Once they'd got outside, Kiyotaka had insisted on taking the map in one hand and the front of the platform in the other, in order to make this as ‘easy on Makoto’ as possible... And easy it _was!_ Kiyotaka was strong enough that even with just one arm, he barely needed Makoto to hold up the back end as he marched along the route marked out on the map.

They managed to find the house without any trouble and after knocking on the door, discovered that it was even the right house marked on the map!

"Ah... You must Daiki's nephew..." The woman answering smiled. "I was worried you'd turn out to be like _him_ and not turn up at all..."

"Yeah... That... sounds like something he'd do..." Makoto admitted.

"Do you boys want to come in for some tea and biscuits?"

"That would be _great! Thanks!_ " Makoto nodded as she headed inside.

"Err... Makoto... Is that a good idea?" Kiyotaka grabbed his shoulder and asked, quietly "I... My parents always told me not to accept food from _strangers_..."

"Uhh... She's not really a stranger though... She's a friend of my family!" Makoto pointed out, "It's normal to offer tea and biscuits when you have friends visit..."

" _It is_...?" Kiyotaka looked shocked.

"Yeah... C'mon, we're keeping her waiting..."

"Ah, r-right!" Kiyotaka nodded and headed inside, taking so long to undo his boots that the tea was ready before they actually got into the guest room.

It was a nice break, Makoto had several biscuits and swapped stories about his uncle with the man's friend... Although he couldn't help but notice that Kiyotaka barely poured himself half a cup of tea (which he was gripping and staring at as if his life depended on it) and kept awkwardly insisting he was fine whenever offered a biscuit... Guess he was still worried about stranger danger...

After a while they were shown the couch... Was that thing _really_ going to fit in his room? It must have been big enough for about five people!

"Are you _sure_ just the two of you will manage this...?" His uncle's friend asked.

Kiyotaka experimentally lifted up one side of it, "Once it's on the platform it shouldn't be an issue..." He concluded.

"Well... let's get it on the platform then!" Makoto nodded... It had looked easy enough for Kiyotaka to lift it...

"Ok... We'll lift on three..." Kiyotaka ordered, "One, two, three!"

_Gah!_ How the heck did Kiyotaka lift this thing so _easily!?_ Makoto could barely get it an inch off the floor... Luckily Kiyotaka moved fast enough that it was on the platform before his arms gave out completely, and Makoto had a chance to catch his breath while Kiyotaka used the ropes to tie the couch to the platform, and also create a handle of sorts...

"I think it will be easiest if you steer from the front, while I push." Kiyotaka told him.

Well... That sounded easier for _Makoto_ , at least... "Ok... but let me know if you need to switch..."

"Wait... Hold on a moment!" His uncle's friend suddenly stopped them and gave Makoto a slip of paper. "Here's my phone number... Let me know if you have any trouble!"

"Ah, thanks... I'm sure we'll be fine though! There are no hills at least!" Makoto tried to reassure her before she shut the door.

He turned to find Kiyotaka looking at the slip of paper in confusion. "What's the point in us telling her if we have trouble... Wouldn't it just upset her?" He asked.

"Uhh... I think she means so she can come and help us out if we need it..." Makoto tried to explain. "After all, that's what _friends_ do! They give each other phone numbers so they can ring each other whenever they need to talk or ask for help!"

" _Ah!_ " Kiyotaka sounded shocked. Hopefully that meant he'd remembered when they'd all given Kiyotaka their phone numbers over Christmas and was starting to get the idea that it was alright to let people _help him_...

* * *

 

Ishimaru felt like he'd been stabbed, _again_... There was yet _another_ thing that friends did for each other that he'd _never_ done for Mondo, or anyone _else_... After all, he didn't even _have_ a home phone... No wonder his now-ex kyoudai thought he was an _asshole_... If he'd had one of those mobile phones Mondo could have rung him when he felt tempted to smoke instead of having given in and becoming annoyed with him...

Still, at least Makoto was _telling_ him all these things! Hopefully once they got the couch moved back to the school, he'd tell everyone to trust him again, and this time he'd make sure to offer people his food and not get so uptight if they were late for things and, _urg_... maybe even do their _homework_... occasionally... or _bits_ of it perhaps...

"Kiyotaka, are you _sure_ you're alright?" Makoto was already holding the reins, waiting for him to get on with pushing the couch.

"Ah! Of course, my apologies!" He rushed to the back end and started to push...

Luckily his conjoined trolleys served their purpose... Aside from a few awkward moments going around corners, where it became easier to lift the couch to move it sideways, they managed to get it back to the school problem free in half an hour!

He was starting to breath heavily as they wheeled it through the ground floor of the school... pushing was tiring, but it would be _worth it_... He could practically _see_ his classmates smiling faces as he entered the classroom on Monday after Makoto told them all how helpful he'd been and...

"Uhh... How do we get this up to the next floor...?" Makoto asked, anxiously.

"Ah... We'll be able to get it up the stairs..." Kiyotaka answered, snapping back to the current moment. "If you pull it using the handle from the top, I can push it upwards from the bottom..."

"Uhh... Well I guess we can _try_..." Makoto muttered.

"It will be easiest for me to brace it against my back going up the stairs, so could you please let me know when you get to the turn in the stairwell?"

"Yeah, sure..." Makoto sounded worried as he started to climb the stairs and pulled the handle upwards... He just about managed to lift it onto the first few steps, but he was obviously struggling... Had Ishimaru not been pushing hard enough on the way here?

Well, he'd have to make up for that now! Once Makoto was high enough, he braced his shoulders under the armrest and used it to lift his end of the couch upwards, helping to push it up the stairs faster...

"Ah! That's enough! We're at the turn now!" Makoto shouted. "What next... I think the couch is too big to turn sideways..."

"It won't be if we lift it above the handrails!" Kiyotaka explained.

"What!? Life it _that_ high!? We can't do _that_ with just the two of us!"

"Ah, nonsense! It's not as difficult as you'd think! I'll show you!" Kiyotaka insisted, turning his upper body sideways so he could grab a hold of the underside of the couch and lift it up above his head...

Or try to at least... He didn't even get it to shoulder height before his arms started trembling...

"Hey, Kiyotaka! _Stop!_ You _can't_...!"

"No, I'm fine! I can _do_ this!" He _needed_ to do this! Even if it did feel like his legs were about to collapse...

" _No!_ Kiyotaka _STOP!_ Before you _hurt_ _yourself!_ "

Ah... Because if he hurt himself he'd have to go to the med centre and that would _annoy the headmaster_...

"I... S-sorry..." He muttered, as he lowered the couch back down and rested it against his shoulders... What had _happened_ to him? Was he really so weak he couldn't life a piece of furniture, even with help?

"So... Any other ideas...?" Makoto asked.

"No...I think we're stuck here..." Ishimaru admitted shamefully.

“ _Ah!_ H _ahaha!_ " Makoto started laughing at the futility of it... "Pivot! Piiivoot!”

Turn the couch? “I… I don’t think that will help… as you said, it's too big to turn... We need to lift the couch over the railing more, but…” He tried once more to brace his arms against the side of the sofa and lift it higher… but to no avail, he just didn’t have any _strength_ … why had he thought he’d be able to do this? He really was _useless,_ no wonder he had no friends…

“No I… Friends…” Makoto said something he couldn't quite hear... But something about _friends?_

“I beg your pardon?” Had he misheard? After all, why would Makoto be talking about _friends_ when it was just the two of them here?

“Y’know, _Friends!_ ” Makoto said again, then suddenly broke into song… “I’ll be there for yooouuu… when the rain staaarts to fall…”

“ _W-what_!?” …Was he _serious?_ Did he _mean_ that…? Makoto wanted to be his _friend_ …? To the extent that he even had a _song prepared!?_

“…Have you _really_ never seen that show?” Makoto asked, incredulously.

_Show?_

His heart sank… of _course_ Makoto didn't want to be his _friend_ , why _would_ he when he'd done such an abysmal job of being _Mondo's!_ He'd just been quoting a television show… “N-no… I haven’t seen that show…” He admitted.

“Ah, well… there’s this show called Friends, which has a bit where a guy asks his friends to help him move a couch up some stairs… but it gets stuck and he just keeps yelling “PIVOT!” at them over and over…” Makoto laughed. “Err…it’s probably funnier if you’ve actually watched it…” He trailed off.

“Is… is that another thing friends do for each other… move couches, I mean?"

“Haha! Yes, exactly!” Makoto laughed.

“…If only _I_ had friends…” Ishimaru said out loud, without really meaning to. If he did he could ask _them_ for help and he wouldn’t be stuck in this mess…

“What!? What do you _mean?_ ” Makoto asked, incredulously “What about _Mondo_ , for star...?”

Ishimaru flinched at the reminder… “I… I _ruined_ that. Mondo’s not spoken to me since I yelled at him for smoking on Tuesday night…” He admitted, “I… at least I _think_ that was it, I’m not sure… I don’t know if it _was_ that, or if it’s just that I wasn't a very good friend in general…? I-I mean, I don't do _any_ of the things you've been talking about today!” He felt tears welling up in his eyes… "And now I can't stop wondering if I'm _ever_ going to have a friend again?" He tried breath heavily to calm himself down... “But how _could_ I, when I'm so _useless!_ I mean, I couldn't even manage to help you move a _couch!_ I... I'm _sorry!_ "

There was silence.

“ _Makoto…?"_

* * *

 

Makoto was stood in front of Mondo’s door, where he'd run the second Kiyotaka had said Mondo hadn't been speaking to him, hitting the doorbell repeatedly.

_This stupid freaking biker!_ They’d all been _ignoring_ Kiyotaka because they trusted that if the guy wanted attention, his _kyoudai_ would be the one giving it to him, and not only had that been _wrong_ , but now it turned out he was _half_ the reason Kiyotaka was so _miserable_ in the first place!

What the hell was _wrong_ with him! Sulking for three days just because Kiyotaka had snapped at him, even though he obviously would have just been _worried_ about him! And what the hell was wrong with _Makoto_ for not noticing it sooner!

“He’s probably with Kiyotaka…” Kyoko’s voice came from beside him.

“He’s not spoken to Kiytoaka since _Tuesday_.” Makoto told her, bitterly.

Her eyes widened and she moved to the door, unlocking it with an unfamiliar, thin black key. She then opened the door and pushed Makoto through it ahead of her…

The room was a mess; bits of wood were strewn all over, some carved or chiselled into barely recognisable shapes, some obvious off-cuts. They mingled with the occasional empty cigarette box and beer can on the floor, overflowing from the small waste paper bin in the corner.

The rush of insults Makoto had intended to throw at the biker died in his throat as he choked on the combination of cigarette smoke and the huge amount of sawdust in the air, which gave Mondo the opportunity to snap at him instead…

“How the _fuck_ did you two get in here!?” Mondo angrily slammed down a chisel and stood up from his desk to face them… he looked _terrible_. His hair was dishevelled and hung in limp, greasy strands against his wife-beater, which was coated in sweat, sawdust and cigarette ash... Had he not washed since _Wednesday!?_

"Makoto just pushed on the door and it opened, you must not have shut it properly." Kyoko lied cooly as she started picking her way around the floor, apparently analysing the mess.

"Alright, _fine_... Why the fuck are ya tryin ta blow up my damn doorbell, Makoto!"

What the hell was Mondo doing in here...? Even before he'd been friends with Kiyotaka he'd never drank or smoked _this_ much, had he? But here he was, having apparently spent the last few days doing nothing _but_ those things and getting upset with his woodwork!?

"Mondo... What _happened_ to you?" Was all he could think to say to mess in front of him.

"Nothing fuckin' happened..."

"Don't give me that _crap,_ look at this place... Look at _you!_ " Makoto cried, "You look like you're going through a break-up!"

" _Fuck you, Makoto_ , it ain't a damn _breakup!_ " Mondo shouted. "Just cause I realised that asshole's been playin' me for a _month_..." He grabbed a can off the table and took a swig...

"...Playing you...? Who are you...?"

"Oh don't _you_ gimme _that_ crap! You know who I mean! That asshole Ki... _Ishimaru!_ T-telling me I need ta quit smoking cause he's _worried_ about me when he actually just wants me ta get everyone else ta follow the _rules_... And saying I'm really _good_ and just need ta _practise_ at this carpentry bullshit when I _fucking suck_ at it!" Mondo paused to pick up whatever he'd been working on and hurl it across the room.

" _You don't suck at carpentry!_ " Makoto told him. "That paper weight you made for me was really good!"

" _Bullshit!_ That was a piece of crap! He's just told ya to come in here and say that 'cause he knows I'm on ta him, _didn't he!?"_

"No... That's _wrong!_ " Makoto snapped, "I came in here because he was on the verge of _tears_ when he told me you've not spoken to him since Tuesday..."

"Why the fuck would he _care!?_ He's off doing kinky, self-harm, bandage shit with his nympho girlfriend who apparently gives him so much chocolate he can dump some of it in front of my door to show off that girls actually _like_ him..."

“You mean this chocolate? The one wrapped in printer paper?” Kyoko suddenly piped up. She was standing next to Mondo’s bin, half the contents of which were on the floor, calmly unwrapping a white, cigarette stained box.

"What the fuck!? Don't go through my stuff you klepto bitch!" Mondo snapped. “But yeah, it's _that_ one! Fucking smug _asshole_ left it in front of my door after he came back covered in grass stains and yelled at me for…”

Kyoko finished unwrapping the box and pulled a note out from the back of it… “Dear Kyoudai…” She read.

“... _What!?”_ Mondo exclaimed.

“Dear _Kyoudai_ …” She repeated. “I hope you enjoy this…” She scowled at the next word. “ _Urg_... Just read it yourselves…” She sighed and held it out to them.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35796908682/in/dateposted-public/)

“ _What…?”_ Mondo just stared at it.

“…He got you _friendship_ chocolates…” Makoto observed.

“...I didn’t know! It’s a letter ‘K’! It makes more sense that it’s _to_ him from that nympho nurse than _from_ him!” Mondo snapped.

“…Why do you keep calling her a nymphomaniac?” Kyoko asked.

“Tch! What, you’ve not _heard?_ Seems like everywhere I go everyone’s talking about how he had one hand up her skirt and the other on her chest…” Mondo griped bitterly. "Fucking pissing me off... Everyone talking about him and they're probably all laughin' at me 'cause I can't even make _friends_ with girls let alone find one that wants ta...!"

Was he for real? How had he not heard? “Mondo… She didn't _want_ him to do that! Their date was _terrible!_ He could barely _talk_ to her! The only reason he ended up touching her was because he tripped up into her and _landed_ like that!" Makoto explained rapidly, "And the reason everyone's talking about it is because he’s being accused of _assaulting_ her!"

Mondo just blinked at him. " _Assault?_ Fuck off, there's no way Kiyo... _Ishimaru_ would _do_ that..."

"I know... And we've been _trying_ to tell everyone that... But they just know him as the annoying shouty guy who gives them detention for running in the halls... They love the idea that he's secretly worse than them..."

"Well... How come no one told me!?" Mondo snapped, "How come every time I've tried ta talk ta Chi he's just told me he's too busy working on some video for Kiyota... _Ishimaru!?_ Like I ain't got few enough friends at this school without that asshole _stealin'_ 'em..."

"He's trying to uncorrupt the video that would prove Kiyotaka's innocence." Kyoko stated. "And given that Kiyotaka's been kicked off the disciplinary committee, and is being attacked in the corridors, not 'off doing kinky bandage stuff with his nympho girlfriend' until that video gets sorted out, it's understandable that he's prioritising it over you." Kyoko shrugged. "Especially as we all thought you'd also want to see Kiyotaka proclaimed innocent as much as the rest of us do."

"Well, Leon didn't say anything either!"

"You told him not to talk to you about it!" Makoto snapped, "He thought it's been pissing you off so much you didn't want to hear anymore about it..."

"Well... Well then why the fuck has Kiyotak... _Ishimaru_ not said a damn word to me since Tuesday then!? I even went ta classes on Wednesday to give him a chance ta explain why he bitched at me or maybe overhear what he was saying ta everyone else and he didn't say a _fuckin'_ thing about it ta _anyone!_ "

"Well... What was the last thing you guys talked about...?" Makoto asked, given he'd left Kiyotaka before he'd finished explaining it.

"He turned up and bitched at me for smoking so I... I... I... _shit_..." Mondo's anger trailed off.

"You, what?" Kyoko asked.

"I called him an asshole and told him ta fuck off..." Mondo said, guiltily.

"Yeah, _there_ you go, _that's_ why... He thinks he 'ruined' your friendship..." Makoto said quietly. "He's been so miserable he barely spoke for three days... and he's not sleeping at night, so he keeps falling asleep in class..."

"Are... are you guys _serious_...?" Mondo asked, looking like he was so scared he was going to throw up... "D-does... does Kiyotaka really actually _give a shit_ about me...?"

"Yes." Makoto said.

"Obviously!" Kyoko sighed.

"He's your 'kyoudai' after all!" Makoto added.

"Well... Where the hell _is_ he then?" Mondo asked with a determined look.

"I left him holding up a couch on the stairs up to this floor..." Makoto said cheerfully, pointing in the general direction.

They both just stared at him.

"...You did _what!?"_ Kyoko asked incredulously.

"Err..." Oh _crap!_ He hadn't expected to be gone this long... And he hadn't told Kiyotaka where he was going... Or even that he _was_ going...

 "You fuckin' _dumbass_..." Mondo swore and bolted out of the door...

* * *

 

" _M-MAKOTO!?"_

He really _had_ gone... Ishimaru wasn't sure how long it had been... Long enough that his arms and legs were becoming tired... Was Makoto even planning to come _back_ or had he just given up on him completely?

Either way... he couldn't keep holding up this couch forever... For starters people were going to want to use the stairs at some point...

He took a deep breath and tried to take a step downwards... Only for his exhausted leg to give way at the knee and cause him to fall forwards...

His eyes squeezed shut... _Oh gods_ , he was about to get crushed by a _couch_ , which meant he'd have to go to the medical centre and they'd have to set up a separate area so he wouldn't upset nurse Tsumiki and the _headmaster_ was going to think he was a _useless annoyance_...

Except suddenly the weight of the couch wasn't behind him anymore, and then he was caught and being held upright by...

"Ah... _Aoi!_ " He gasped as he opened his eyes... then realised he was practically draped over her. "Ah! I'm sorry, I...!"

"It's fine! I _gotcha!_ You're not _that_ heavy!" She chuckled, ducking out from under his arms and lowering him to sit on the stairs.

"Err... but, the couch?" He turned to look, expecting to see it barrelling towards them, only to instead see Sakura stood, easily keeping it where it was by leaning on it with one hand.

"Do not worry, I have it..." She smiled. "But why were you trying to hold this by yourself?"

"I was helping Makoto, but he went somewhere..."

" _What!?_ And he didn't say _where!?"_ Aoi exclaimed. "Or help you get back down first!? What could be so important he just _ran off on you?"_

"Err... I don't _know_... I started going on about how I don't have any friends and then I realised he was gone."

" _What?_ " Sakura uttered. "What do you mean, you don't have friends?"

"Oh... I... I upset Mondo on Tuesday and he's not spoken to me since, s-so I don't have a f-friend anymore..." He admitted, shakily.

There was a brief moment of silence as Aoi and Sakura both looked at him.

"Kiyotaka..." Aoi sighed. "I have _literally_ been calling you my _swimming_ _buddy_ for a _MONTH_ now!"

Wait, what? He knew that, but how was it relevant? After all...

"But... But you _said_ that was just sharing exercise tips and training together!"

"Well, _yeah_ but... But I thought it would be obvious by now that it isn't _just_ that!" Aoi laughed, "I mean, did you need me to come out and say 'Kiyotaka, you are my friend and you can always ask me for help whenever you need it!' Or something?"

Did... Did she _mean_ that or was she joking...?

"Kiyotaka..." Sakura bent down and put her free hand on his shoulder. "You _are_ our friend, and you _can_ always ask us for help, _whenever_ you need it."

"Ah... _R-really!?_ I err..."

He didn't know what to _say_... To think he still had _friends_ he could rely on, even if they weren't his...

" _KYOUDAI!_ " Ishimaru's head snapped up as heard Mondo's voice from the hallway above him. "Makoto, what the _fuck_ were you thinking, leaving him holding up _that_ by himself!?"

"I was thinking _someone_ needed to have words with an _idiot_ who wasn't speaking to his _friend!_ " Makoto replied, sarcastically. "... And also that you'd probably be able to lift it above the railing, because I sure as heck couldn't..." He added.

"Tch! Fine, but only 'cause it's in my way..." Mondo griped.

Within moments the couch had been transported up the stairs and Mondo was at his side holding his shoulder and looking into his eyes, "Hey, _Kyoudai_... Are you alright!?"

" _I..._ " All the words he'd been wanting to say all started to come out at once: "I'm sorry I wasn't there on Valentine's and I yelled at you about the smoking and that I didn't give you very good chocolate and I've never done any of the things friends are supposed to and I'm not very useful and I didn't make enough of an effort to be your friend and I..."

He was interrupted by Mondo pulling him forward into a tight hug. "Kyoudai, ya needed to apologise for, like, _one_ of those things..." He sighed. "And given I've been a total _ass_ to you about it I'm not sure ya even need ta do _that._.."

"...What do you mean?" He didn't understand what was going on, except that Mondo wasn't upset with him anymore?

"...I was being an idiot. I let people convince me that you were just pretending to be my friend so I'd convince people to listen to your advice because I'm 'cool'." He started, "And then I got jealous that _you_ were on a date and I wasn't so I didn't even _consider_ the idea that you might not have had the fantastic night with Tsumiki that I was imagining." He sighed. "So when ya turned up with grass stains on your clothes and bitched at me for smoking I was convinced both those things were true and that you'd just been playing me this whole time! Which fuckin' sucked 'cause this last month has been the first time I thought I might actually be _good_ for something other than beating the shit outta people and making a mess and without _that_ I've just been shut up in my room pissing myself off!"

...Mondo had been _that_ upset at the idea that they weren't friends?

" _K-kyoudai_..." Gods, he forgot how _good_ it felt to say that out loud! "I... I _knew_ Valentine's was going to be upsetting for you, regardless of what plans we'd made... But I got so worried about Junko's request, and the idea that she might turn everyone against me if I _didn't_ do it, that I ended up more-or-less _ignoring_ you... Even though Makoto _told_ me going along with it was a terrible idea!" He started to explain. "...So then when I came back and found you looking so _unhappy_ and in such a mess... I felt like it was all _my_ fault, because I should have been _there_ for you! I... I didn't _mean_ to snap... and if I seemed angry it was because I was upset with _myself_ , not _you_...!" He admitted. "And I know I should have just apologised straight away, but I couldn't think of any words that seemed good enough... and then _everyone_ seemed to stop talking to me, so then I thought it must be that I wasn't good enough to be your, or _anyone's_ , friend and how could I possibly fix _that_?"

" _Shit_... Well, I shoulda given ya a chance to explain yourself instead of stomping away like a bratty kid when I first saw ya..."

"Well, _I_ should have chased after _you_ when you did! Or asked for help from our classmates instead of just assuming I needed to deal with it by _myself_..."

"Well, _I_ ain't exactly been dealin' with this sensibly!" Mondo snapped.

"You've _both_ been idiots..." Kyoko sighed.

"Idiots who need a _shower_..." Aoi concurred.

"Uhh... Yeah that's probably fair..." Mondo muttered. "I kinda haven't changed since Thursday..."

"Ah... And pushing the couch was rather more exerting than I expected..." He admitted. "Oh! But speaking of which, I should finish my favour first!" He went to stand, wobbling a little on his tired legs...

"I'll help as well..." Mondo, Aoi and Sakura all said at the same time.

In the end Makoto and he didn't even get to hold onto the couch as it was wheeled into Makoto’s room, with barely enough space for it to squeeze between the bed and the television, even after Makoto's spare chairs were taken out.

"Seriously... Why the _fuck_ do ya need such a big couch?" Mondo asked as they all looked at it.

"Urg... My uncle thought I'd want to invite all my friends over to watch TV shows..." Makoto rolled his eyes.

"Hehe! Well, maybe we should do that now, so at least it gets done _once_..." Aoi suggested, to which Sakura and Kyoko nodded.

"Yeah, alright! And I know _just_ what to watch..." Makoto grinned.

Well... Seemed like they were all going to have a good time... "I'll, err... I'll see you all on Monday then!" He saluted.

"Kyoudai, c'mon... I keep _telling_ ya to quit refusing to come to social things..." Mondo chided him. "And ya don't even have ta _pay_ for this one!"

"But... but I'm not Makoto's friend..." He explained.

" _WHAT!?_ " Makoto cried, looking like he'd been hurt. "What do you mean we're _not friends_...? Do you not _like_ _me!?_ "

"O-of course I _like_ you! But... but all the things you said friends do, like forgiving each other for being late, or sharing their food, they're all things I _never_ do!" He pointed out.

"Huh? _No!_ That's not what I meant at _all!_ " Makoto waved his arms in a panic. "I was saying all that stuff because I thought you _knew_ we were friends... but you're always acting like we'll _stop_ being your friend if you're not constantly doing things for us! So, I was trying to point out things we can do for you in return, that you can let us do without feeling guilty or worried about them, _because_ we're friends!"

"But... I thought people only liked me _because_ I do things for them... Why would you want to be friends with me, otherwise?" He looked around the group of silent faces around him. "I-I don't really understand why _any_ of you want to be friends with me..." He admitted.

"Well... Because you're _you_... And we _like_ you!" Mondo shrugged, and the others nodded.

"That... That isn't a very specific answer!"

"Well... Why do _you_ wanna be friends with _us?_ " Mondo asked.

"Well... I... I enjoy talking to you all, it... it makes me feel, happier...?"

" _Because...?_ " Makoto prompted.

"Because... I enjoy your company?" He guessed.

"That's just a fancy way of saying _you like us!_ " Aoi huffed.

"I... I suppose it is..." He admitted, with a smile. " _Hahaha!_ To think, I have _four_ friends and I don't even understand _why!_ " He laughed.

"...Seven." Kyoko stated, irritably.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have _seven_ friends." She repeated, " _At least_."

"Err... Well, I know Mondo, Makoto, Aoi and Sakura..." He listed, "But who are the other three?"

"Well, there's _me_ for starters!" Kyoko snapped.

"What? Last time we discussed it you said you were just _considering_ the possibility!"

"That was _months_ ago!"

"And you didn't update me on the matter so I assumed it was a negatory answer!" He snapped.

"I thought even _you_ would have realised we were friends at _some_ point, without me having to spell it out for you!" She sighed.

"Oh..." Were friendships supposed to be that obvious? "Well then... Who are the other two?"

"...Chihiro's been working non-stop getting that video sorted for you and you didn't realise you were friends?" Makoto asked, incredulously.

"Ah... He has? I haven't spoken to him... I thought I had caused him enough inconvenience without me pestering him while he was working..." He admitted.

Most of the others sighed at that.

"You talking to us isn't an inconvenience, Kiyotaka... Not even when you start going on about _politics!_ " Makoto smiled. "You're our friend, and we care about what you _think!_ "

"Yeah, and we've all been _worried_ about you the last few days..." Aoi agreed, "If you'd just told us what was upsetting you we could have sorted it out and we'd all have been happier much faster."

"Ah! I... Y-you're right..." He would have had this all sorted out on _Wednesday_ if he'd just spoken to someone... "My apologies! I... I'll try to talk to you all more in future... and _listen_ to you as well!" That led to happy smiles all around him. "But, err, who was the last person I'm friends with?"

"Sayaka.", "Yamada." Makoto and Kyoko answered, respectively, before looking sideways at each other.

"She was worried about him last night... And she called him the star of the class on Valentine's!" Makoto explained.

"Ah... Eight then." Kyoko shrugged. "I wasn't sure if she was just using him to submit homework for her or not..."

" _What!?_ No she's not _like_ that...!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Err... But, Hifumi?" He asked, partly to stop what looked like an upcoming argument.

"You train together frequently." Sakura pointed out.

"And he keeps saying he's your _sidekick_!" Mondo gently cuffed the back of his head. "That's almost as obvious as Asahina and all her 'swimming buddy' talk..."

"Yeah... He didn't pick up on that either..." Aoi smiled wryly.

"But... but regardless! I believe Hifumi is upset with me because I failed to protect his sketchbook when he left it out, and then took down all his pictures!" He explained. "He's not spoken to me or trained with me since..."

"What pictures?" Mondo asked.

"Err, he drew three pictures of me... Although I'm in a black and white uniform and my eye is on fire for some reason..."

"Wait, what do you mean, 'took down'?" Kyoko asked.

"Ah! Well, when I left my room on Wednesday, I found he'd stuck them to the walls." He explained, "But that's against school rules so I took them all down, put one in my notice board and then placed the others in communal areas, so they could be distributed amongst the students!" His shoulders slumped, "But Hifumi's still upset with me..."

"That was _you!?"_ Kyoko asked, gaping at him like he was an idiot.

" _See!_ I _told_ you he's too naive to spot the insult!" Makoto said back at her.

"What? What insult?" He asked, "It shows me helping a desperate man out of a life of crime and making sure someone gets medical attention!"

"What? No... It shows you bribing an actor to pretend to mug someone so you can look good rescuing them, and then poisoning someone to get hold of some information!" Kyoko snapped.

"And it's called 'The Mastermind'!" Aoi added. "That's such an evil name!"

"It is...? I just thought he was saying I was smart..." He admitted sadly.

"Wait... If he _drew_ that shit, and put it up on the walls, why d'ya think he's friends with Kiyotaka?" Mondo asked.

"Uhh... Yamada first drew 'The Mastermind' back in November when he was annoyed with Kiyotaka... The other two pictures were from a discussion he had at home about what an evil version of Kiyotaka would be like..." Makoto explained.

"And then someone stole his sketch book Tuesday night and must have photocopied them and put them on the walls before Kiyotaka came out." Kyoko added.

"Yeah... The reason Yamada's not been talking to you is because he thinks you're angry with him after you saw the pictures in his sketchbook..." Aoi explained.

"He's been quite upset with himself for it..." Sakura added.

"Oh... I see..." To think he'd been making Hifumi feel the same way he'd felt about Mondo these last few days... "I'll make sure to explain the truth to him as soon as possible, then!"

"Yeah... Maybe after we have our showers..." Mondo suggested as he put his arm over his shoulders.

"But before you come back and watch TV with us!" Makoto added.

~~Ishimaru~~ Kiyotaka smiled as he put his arm back into its comfortable position around Mondo's waist. "Absolutely!"

* * *

 

Wow… To think pushing a couch across town really _had_ cheered Kiyotaka up!

Well, or _caused_ the conversation that _did_ cheer him up, at least…

“Did you guys even _shower_ together?” Hina asked, as the two, now clean, kyoudais walked, full of laughter, back into his room in the exact same position they’d walked out of it in.

“ _Of course not!_ ” Kiyotaka looked scandalised at the suggestion. “W-we just happened to meet up outside!”

“Geez… I was joking…” Hina rolled her eyes. “Hey, so what show are we watch…”

“Kiyotaka! _There_ you are!” She was interrupted by Chihiro shouting from outside of the door. “I’ve been looking for you for an _hour!_ ”

“Ah! Chihiro I… You look _terrible!_ Are you alright? What _happened!?_ ” Kiyotaka cried in dismay at Chihiro’s sleep-deprived appearance, although he was hardly one to talk…

“Huh? Umm… This is just because I‘ve not been sleeping sensibly…” Chihiro muttered, “But it’s fine! Because I got the video sorted out!” He almost bounced with joy…

“You… you’ve not been sleeping properly? Because of me?” Kiyotaka looked like he might cry, “Chihiro, I’m _so sorry!_ ” He bowed.

“What? No… It’s not _that_ bad… I might even be able to patent some of the algorithms I came up with!” Chihiro tried to reassure him. “But anyway! I’ve shown the video to the headmaster and the school board has decided that, as it _clearly_ shows you just tripped up, you will not be charged with assaulting nurse Tsumiki, and can resume your position on the disciplinary committee!” He smiled brightly.

“ _Really!?_ That’s great news!” Makoto laughed.

“That is most fortunate…” Sakura commented.

“Now we’ve not got to worry anymore!” Hina agreed.

Kiyotaka was looking around the room in… in dismay!? “Why are you all so _surprised!?_ ” He asked, with a hurt look.

“Uhh… Well… because the investigation’s gone in your favour now!” Makoto said.

“You say that as if there was any doubt it _wouldn’t!_ ” Kiyotaka scowled.

“Umm… But what if I hadn’t managed to get the video file uncorrupted?” Chihiro asked him.

“Then I suspect I’d have been cleared due to a lack of reasonable evidence to prove my _guilt_ …” Kiyotaka frowned. “My main worry would have been that the _student body_ wouldn’t have believed I was innocent… So thank you for having worked on the evidence to prove it to _them!_ ” He bowed. “But I’d have thought all of _you_ would have trusted me!”

“Well… of course we _trusted_ you!” Makoto cried, “But you’ve been so miserable the last few days we thought you were worried about how it was going to go…”

“Oh? I see…” Kiyotaka muttered, “No… that was never a concern for me... After all, Hagakure confirmed I wasn’t likely to be found guilty!”

What? Had he misheard Hiro’s prediction?

“Umm… Hiro predicted you _would_ be found gulty…” Chihiro pointed out.

“Yes! _Exactly!_ ” Kiyotaka grinned.

“Ah… You’re working on the basis that he’s wrong more often than right…” Kyoko realised.

“Yes… don’t you _all?”_ Kiyotaka asked. “I mean he told us the percentages, so it’s simple statistics...”

“Uhh…” Mondo looked like he didn’t want to admit that that _wasn’t_ how he thought about Hiro’s predictions… “Well, if it wasn’t _that,_ what _was_ botherin’ ya then?” Mondo changed the subject.

“Err… In retrospect I was probably just misinterpreting everything…” Kiyotaka mumbled, “It would take too long to explain.”

“Well… Tell us anyway!” Makoto said, “We’re your friends, we want to know what you think…”

Kiyotaka sighed and explained everything that had been upsetting him… most of which was the fact that Mondo and the rest of them hadn’t spoken to him, but also his worry that the headmaster would be disappointed with him for falling asleep in classes (which Kyoko assured him he wasn’t) some issues with the reserve students thinking he was corrupt (likely due to Yamada’s pictures), class 77 insulting him (which he hoped would stop now the video was available) and…

“And Togami no longer wants me to clean for him… I realise that it’s a small amount, but I’d become quite used to that extra bit of money…”

“Uhh… Togami still wants you to clean for him…” Makoto said.

“But he bought an entire new wardrobe and said it was so he wouldn’t have to get me to launder his other clothes!”

“You heard that? We thought you were asleep!” Hina cried.

“Ahh… That’s my fault.” Makoto admitted, “I told Togami to give you a week off, but not _tell_ you he was giving you a week off because I thought you’d be embarrassed if he _did_ …”

“So… long story short, everyone in our class but Chihiro fucked up, the end!” Mondo summarised. “Unless there’s anything else, Kyoudai?”

“Err… I don’t think so? I feel like I’ve forgot something though…”

“Well, if it’s important you’ll remember it!” Hina said.

“I guess…” Kiyotaka muttered, “Err… Actually, I’m getting hungry… Would you mind waiting for five minutes while I make my lunch?”

“Uhh… Yeah I kinda haven’t eaten properly in three days…” Mondo muttered.

“Same…” Chihiro realised.

“Oh! Why don’t we all get pizza to celebrate!?” Hina suggested.

“Ah… That sounds nice!” Kiyotaka smiled as he went to walk out... “I’ll go get mine ready while you all…”

Mondo rolled his eyes and grabbed Kiyotaka by the back of his collar. “Get back here; you’re having pizza with the rest of us…”

“Err… but I can’t really afford…”

“I won’t all eat a whole pizza, you can my leftovers!” Chihiro piped up, to the agreement of the rest of them… Kiyotaka still didn’t look convinced though…

“Friends share food with each other?” Makoto tried.

“Ah!” Kiyotaka went slightly red. “Err, well… I suppose if I make you all some food at a later date then…”

And so pizzas were ordered, they all sat squeezed up on the couch (which included him being squashed up next to Kyoko and he _really_ hoped she didn’t mind that…) and Makoto started the DVD he’d prepared earlier...

“ _So no one told you life was gonna be this way…”_

“This? _Really?_ ” Hina sighed.

“It’s a _classic!_ ” Makoto defended himself.

“That’s just a fancy way of saying it’s _old…_ ”

“ _I'll be there for you… When the rain starts to fall…_ ”

“AH! It’s that show! With the couch!” Kiyotaka shouted excitedly, “The one you were talking about!”

“ _Yes!_ ” Makoto grinned at the sight of an excited Kiyotaka bouncing on the couch, before settling down and staring intently at the TV once the episode started…

And he stayed in that position until the pizza’s arrived 10 minutes later…

“Why does your box only have half of your surname on it?” Kiyotaka asked, looking at Hina’s pizza.

“Huh… Oh, I just gave them my nickname instead of my full name…” She replied. “Speaking of which… I’d kinda prefer it if you called me Hina as well, instead of Aoi?”

“Ah, alright then!” Kiyotaka looked over the moon at the suggestion, “And on a similar basis, you may call me ‘Maru’ if you wish!” He smiled eagerly.

The reactions to that ranged from politely raised eyebrows, awkward coughs and:

“Kyoudai, that’s a fuckin’ _terrible_ nickname!” Mondo mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.

“Ah… O-ok then…n-never mind…” Kiyotaka slumped… Geez, he must have liked the idea of having a nickname… and just thought he could copy the way Hina came up with hers…

“…What about ‘Taka’?” Makoto suggested, “It’s the same thing, but with your first name, not your second?”

“Taka…?” Kiyotaka tried it out… “Hmm.. ‘Taka’… ’My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru… but my _friends_ call me _Taka!_ ’ Hahaha!” He tried out a new introduction with a broad grin on his face… before suddenly remembering he was in a room full of people and flinching… “Err…!”

“Heh… Taka it is!” Mondo threw an arm over ~~Kiyo~~ Taka’s shoulder.

“Yeah, now have some pizza _Taka!_ ” Hina dropped a slice in front of him.

“Ah! Thank you… _Hina!”_ He grinned like a little kid who’d been giving sweets…

“Now let’s carry on watching the show…” Makoto suggested, unpausing the episode…

They were about halfway through eating the pizza when the episode finished…

“Err… Did I fall asleep?” Taka asked.

“No…? Not unless I did at the same time…” Mondo told him.

“But where was the bit with the couch?” Taka asked, confusedly.

What? Did he think Friends was just one episode long…? “That… that happens in a different episode… I _think_ it’s in season five?”

“ _Season?”_ Kiyotaka asked.

“A season is a group of episodes…” Kyoko explained, “Friends had about 24 in each season…”

“And there were _five_ seasons?” Taka looked horrified…

“Weren’t there ten seasons in the end?” Hina asked.

“But… That would be two hundred and forty episodes, each at 21 minutes… That… That’s _eighty four hours!_ You mean to say you spent _three and a half whole days_ watching this!?” Taka gaped. “Do… do you have any idea how much _studying_ you could done in that amount of time!?”

“Well… it’s not like I watched all of it _at once!_ ” Makoto decided not to mention that some people actually did that, or that he pretty much spent the rest of his free time doing similar activities at home, instead of extra studying. “I just watched one episode a night and then it gave me something to talk about with my friends at school who’d watched it…”

“Ah… Oh, I see. I never had anything like that… I guess that’s why I never made friends before?” Taka frowned, “But it still seems like quite a big time commitment…”

“Well, why don’t we watch the next one, as we’re still eating, and see if you want to watch anymore after that?” Makoto suggested, to which Taka nodded.

…Although given that Taka ate pizza for five more minutes and then promptly fell asleep on Mondo’s shoulder, Makoto didn’t think he’d be likely to want to watch anymore… The same was probably true for Mondo (who fell asleep with his head on the back of the couch) and Chihiro (who was curled up against the armrest).

“Hah… Guess the TV party’s over!” Makoto sighed once the episode finished, it had been nice while it lasted…

“Hmm… I think I prefer to be able to have discussions while I eat…” Sakura observed, standing to leave.

“Yeah… and if I have to sit around watching anymore TV I’m gonna explode!” Hina added, joining her. “See you in class Monday!”

“See you!” Makoto replied, then looked at Kyoko, who was still slowly eating. “I guess Friend’s probably isn’t your kind of thing either…” He scratched his head awkwardly.

“I would have liked to watch a few more episodes…” She smiled ever-so-slightly, “…But perhaps not with that noise…” She nodded to their three snoring classmates. “Perhaps we should organise it for a different time?”

“Sure! It’ll be a date!” Makoto agreed.

“…Will it?” Kyoko asked.

“Uuhhh…” Makoto’s brain froze… he hadn’t _meant_ it like that… but if she _wanted_ it to be like that… but _did_ she want it to be like that or was she just wanting confirmation that it _wouldn’t_ be like that…

“…I ask because you haven’t spoken about our date at all.” She explained… or _didn’t_ explain because that answered _none_ of his questions!

“Well… I didn’t speak to you because I thought you were annoyed that I only planned enough stuff for half a date and then spent the rest of it trying to save Taka from his terrible one…” Makoto admitted.

“Is that so?” She _almost_ smiled as she raised one eyebrow, “I thought you were annoyed that I insulted your plan to sit in the moonlight and talk on _our_ date in order to bait Kiyotaka into letting us join him for _his_ , because he was _clearly_ desperate for help…

…So she’d had the same idea as him? And the same reason for not talking about it?

“Soo… it’ll be a _date_ then?” He asked.

“…Yes, I’m willing to try another date with you… a whole one this time.” She nodded.

“So… are we actually _dating_ now?” She had only agreed to _one_ date before…

“…I’m considering it.” She said, before standing, brushing crumbs off of her dress onto the floor and leaving the room.

“…Make sure you get a status update on that…” Taka mumbled.

…Was he awake again? He didn’t look it…

“I’ll put it in my new _diary!_ ” Makoto joked…

“…Diary? _Good_ … _!_ Need to be... organised…” Hmm. Not awake… just a very coherent sleep-talker…

“Maybe you’ll help me with that...” Whether Makoto _wanted_ him to or not…

“Yes…! _Friends_ … _!_ ” Taka smiled in his sleep…

Makoto should probably go get a blanket for these three… and some earplugs for himself…

* * *

 

(Sunday, 19th February 2012)

Kiyotaka strode through the school, (having woken up under a blanket on Makoto’s couch, with an urge to get the boy some paper trays for him to sort his different pieces of schoolwork into) keeping an eye out for troublemakers with a smile on his face... Although given it was a Sunday morning, the hallways were almost devoid of students so his walk was uninterrupted.

Although not so devoid that he wasn't subjected to a swirl of whispers as he walked.

"Hahaha! It's Ishimaru... Did you see the video...?"

"Pft! Yeah... Hope it doesn't trip while he's walking!"

"Did you see the shoes he was wearing?"

"I heard he lost a bet with the gambler chick..."

"Why'd the school take so with the investigation when they had video evidence...?"

"Guess they wanted to do it properly..."

"Or _he_ did... I heard he even insisted they take his armband..."

He sighed... Public opinion really _was_ a fickle creature... Of course there were no apologies to him personally. Just laughter and positive-sounding whispers instead of negative ones, and _those_ would disappear once he had to give a few detentions and everyone remembered why they'd been so keen to badmouth him in the first place...

Regardless, he hoped that would happen sooner rather than later. Then they’d all lose interest and move on to the next piece of gossip… Hopefully that would help nurse Tsumiki move on from it as well, even if it did make him unpopular.  

Hmm, well _somewhat_ unpopular, anyway. After all, he had friends now... _Eight_ of them, _at least!_

...One of whom was standing worriedly in front of his notice board...

"Ah! Hifumi!" Kiyotaka waved to him, "Did you get my note?"

"Ah! Ishimaru-dono! So Hagakure was correct..." Hifumi muttered, "Ah, but, yes! I did get your note! So... you're not upset with me?"

"No! I'm sorry I didn't talk to you before! I thought you were upset that I left your artbook alone and allowed someone to draw moustaches on it..." He bowed. "...I just thought it was nice that someone had cared to draw a picture of me..." He admitted, "But apparently, people have been using it as evidence to say to say I'm corrupt, so I'd best stop showcasing it now..." He sighed as he unlocked his notice board and unpinned the artwork, he’d need to show it to Hirayama and explain why it had been drawn as well. Hopefully she could convince the rest of the reserve students with that information…

"Ah! That was you!?" Hifumi looked shocked.

"Err... Yes!" Had he forgot to put that in the note? "I didn't realise it was showing me as corrupt... Not that it would have mattered anyway, I mean, it's just a picture! It ridiculous that people took it so seriously..."

"Well... If you're willing to showcase my art... Would you mind helping me with something?"

"Of course... We're... friends, after all... _Right?_ " Kiyotaka asked nervously, hoping Kyoko was correct.

" _Ah!_ Haha! Yes, Ishimaru-dono! O-Of _course!_ " Hifumi said, although he sounded surprised, "A-after all our adventures together, of course we have become friends!"

"Ah... So you can call me by my first name... Or just _Taka!_ "

"Taka... Warrior of justice..." Hifumi frowned as he muttered it, "Hmm... No, I think Ishimaru sounds better..." He decided, "Ah, but please wait here for a moment, Ishimaru-dono!"

Warrior of justice? He supposed _that_ was a nickname, in a way...

A while later, Hifumi returned with a sheet of paper. "I... I'd like people to see this..." He said, handing it over.

It was a picture of a young woman with short, dark hair, wearing a simple, practical dress and smiling nervously at the onlooker. It was titled 'Taeko'.

"Is this a character you made yourself?" Kiyotaka asked, "It looks a little like Celestia..." He stopped himself from adding 'without her wigs'. Gods knows what she'd do if he blabbed about _that!_

"You noticed?" Hifumi muttered, "Ah... I can't really explain it, I just need people to look at this picture..." He shuffled awkwardly.

"Then I shall do my best to make it gets seen by everyone in school!" He slapped Hifumi's shoulder and started to pin up the artwork...

...

Later that day, he was going through warm-up exercises with Sakura, although he had a nagging feeling there was something he'd forgot about...

At least, until the door opened and Kuzuryu walked in, followed by Pekoyama, coach Nidai and Owari.

"Huh, so you _weren't_ just trying to squirm out of this..." Kuzuryu smirked at him, "You've got guts to take on Peko, I'll give you that... No brains, but plenty of guts... Or were you hoping maybe I'd drop out just because that video makes you look like a bigger klutz than _Mikan?_ "

"I don't get why you _can't_ just drop it..." Owari muttered, "It's not like this really _matters_ now..."

"Ah... No, a challenge is a challenge, and I'll see it through regardless of the outcome..." Kiyotaka told them as he took a shinai off the wall… Even if the outcome was likely to leave him aching for weeks...

"Kiyotaka... What is going on?" Sakura asked him, looking over the group worriedly.

"Oh! Kuzuryu challenged me to Kendo." He explained.

"...So why are you fighting Peko?"

"He's fighting by proxy." Kiyotaka stated, watching nervously as Pekoyama was being given one of coach Nidai's famous massages... This was _really_ going to hurt, wasn't it? If only he had a prox...

"...Is there anything you want to say to me before this starts?" Sakura asked.

"Err..." He swallowed... Well... She'd said he could always ask her for help, didn't she? "W-well... Umm, as you're a better fighter than me and, err, if it's not too much _trouble_... I don't suppose you'd mind being my proxy?" He remembered his manners and bowed, " _Please!?"_

"Of course." The words had a slight touch of laughter to them as she took his sword.

...Well... That had been easy... And she didn't seem _annoyed_ with him...

But he'd have to make sure he paid her _back_ at some point...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn’t think of a way to actually write it into the chapter without it seeming clunky (and this was long enough already, seriously someone stop me having ideas for subplots please!), but Makoto gives his spare chairs to Taka.  
> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Next up will be Chihiro! 
> 
> (Also, for future reference, the next two chapters are sort of linked (not another cliffhanger: Chapter 9 takes places during a time skip in Chapter 8) so if they’re both up and you’re thinking ‘just one more chapter’ you might want to reconsider that.)


	8. The Turing Test (Chihiro Fujisaki)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another long chapter, but hopefully this will be the longest chapter in the fic! (...Did I say that last chapter as well?)  
> I also apologise for not quite getting it done in the four weeks I've been aiming for, this is partly due to it being so long and partly because I've been worrying that parts of it will come off as me being obnoxious. Apologies for the board games sequence in particular, because what was supposed to be a short section of Taka reacting to my favourite hobby somehow turned into over 7000 words of references that might not make sense to anyone...  
> As I said in chapter 6, all Chihiro gender head-canons are acceptable and this is just my own. Apologies if I've done a rubbish job of portraying it though.  
> Now for more specific notes:  
> I'm ignoring several aspects of DR3, most important for this chapter is the whole 'Chiaki was an actual student' thing, because I prefer the idea of Chihiro being a good enough programmer that he made her from scratch.  
> I'm also ignoring the whole "students don't have tests or have to pass classes unrelated to their talent" and replacing it with "Students have a mid-year set of exams and have to show a basic ability in Maths, Science and English to stay on to the next year" (I'm thinking a C at GSCE level, and they get points from coursework towards it as well, for those who don't do well in exam conditions). I figure Hope's Peak would want it's graduates to at least be able to function in the normal world. (This will come into play more next chapter)  
> My thinking for Matsuda is that he's super lazy when it comes to stuff he'd not interested in, which is why he comes off as a bit of a slacker in this.  
> Also I figure that, as a geeky sort, Chihiro and his Dad have dabbled with things like Roleplaying and Boardgames clubs before he went to Hope's Peak.  
> The boardgames being played at (in order) Sentinels of the Multiverse by Great Than Games, Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder and Trains by AEG. (The first two are available on mobile devices if you're interested)

(Monday, 12th March 2012)

“Umm, hello?” Chihiro knocked nervously on the door to the biophysics laboratory, slightly nervous at the sight of the two unfamiliar students looking over data and complaining at each other.

On one side, the most noticeable of the pair, was the Ultimate Therapist, Maiya Gekkogahara. The blue-haired senior student was, as always, bundled up in a red scarf and heavy coat despite the ambient temperature. She was notorious throughout the school for refusing to talk to anyone, except through the white bunny rabbit crudely displayed on a screen in front of her mechanised wheelchair, and the conversation she was having now appeared to be no exception.

This was to the obvious annoyance of the slim, unkempt guy she was ‘talking’ to. Yasuke Matsuda, the Ultimate Neurologist, was wearing a baggy shirt and half undone tie and was barely paying attention to the rabbit on the screen as it attempted to talk to him, instead looking over the sheets of data with a bored expression.

“See! All these problems are because no one trusts the supervisors!” The white magical bunny on Gekkogahara’s screen was saying, “We need to make them friendlier! Usami can help them talk to people!”

“Nobody _likes_ that creepy thing. It’s uglier than _you…_ ” Matsuda rolled his eyes. “And the supervisors are _fine!_ I’ll just have to find a way to supress the subject’s suspicion responses so they don’t notice how ugly your virtual world is….”

“Umm… Excuse me?” Chihiro tried to get their attention again… He’d been told to come and help them, after all…

“We can’t just suppress people’s feelings or the program won’t work!” The bunny snapped back at him, “We need people to _want_ to interact with the supervisors!”

“So we need something that’s the _opposite_ of that annoying whiny thing _you_ use…”

“She is _not_ annoying and whiny!”

“ _Umm… Excuse me!”_ Chihiro raised his voice, it coming out a lot shriller and whinier than he’s meant it to.

The two older students turned to look at him… Although in Gekkogahara’s case, it was more that she _rotated_ her chair.

“What are you doing here? I don’t recall ordering a maid service…” Matsuda barely looked at Chihiro before dismissing him…

“Uhh… The headmaster said you two needed help with a project…” Chihiro explained, “…and he thought I’d be able to help.”

“Help _how…?”_ The bunny asked. “What do _you_ do?”

“Oh, right! I’m Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate programmer!” He introduced himself. “What’s the problem you’re stuck on?”

“We’re not _stuck_ … this is just something I have to bypass…” Matsuda said, as much to his pieces of paper as to Chihiro.

“You’ve been trying that for two months and it doesn’t work!” Gekkogahara’s screen piped up. “Show him the data! I’m sure he’ll agree with me that you’re _wrong!”_

“Tch… stupid old man, getting people involved when this is _supposed_ to be _confidential…_ ” Matsuda muttered irritably as he passed over a stack of papers.

“As if you haven’t blabbed to that girl…” The rabbit started nagging him again.

Chihiro looked through them while the pair bickered. From what he could tell, they were supposed to be creating a therapy that would allow people to overwrite traumatic memories with more favourable ones, but to overwrite the old ones, the patients actually had to experience, and _believe_ they’d experienced, a new memory… which they were _trying_ to do with a virtual reality, but from what he could tell their programming of it was pretty basic and the npc constructs they’d created to direct the new memories were so obviously not human that anyone who tried to use the machine instantly became suspicious of the whole thing and started looking at their surroundings more closely and noticing all the faults… and there were a lot of faults.

“So you need a better AI _and_ a virtual world that doesn’t fall apart as soon as people start poking at it.” Chihiro summarised. “I can do that!”

“You can!?” The rabbit on the screen switched to a smiling face. “That’s great! Start with the AI!”

“Urg, you’re so stubborn…” Matsuda rolled his eyes at her. “If she really _can_ help she should start on the environment. The AI would have to be indistinguishable from a human before it could be used and that would take forever…”

“Uhh… Actually I already have an AI that’s at that level.” Chihiro pointed out. “It’s why I’m _here._ ”

“Do you really expect us to believe that?” Matsuda was sceptical, “If there was an AI that good it’s be all over the news…”

“It _does_ seem a little too good to be true…” The rabbit switched to a frowning face.

“Well…I have to keep it confidential as part of my work contract.” Chihiro explained, “But if you don’t believe me, perhaps I could set up a Turing test? My AI and one person, and if you can’t tell which is which then you’ll let me help?”

“That sounds like it could be fun!” Gekkogahara’s rabbit replied.

“It sounds like a waste of time… But I guess you’ll waste more time trying to convince us if we don’t.” Matsuda sighed. “When are we doing this?”

The resulting squabble over timetables resulted in Matsuda and Gekkogahara choosing Wednesday evening, after which Matsuda took all his notes and wandered out, claiming he had better things to do than talk to _them_.

Chihiro was starting to wonder if he even wanted to _be_ on this project…

“Oh! Don’t worry! He’s not so bad to actually _work_ with!” The bunny suddenly told him. “Once he sees what you can _do_ he’ll stop treating you like a useless little… kid.”

What was that pause? Chihiro looked up at the girl behind the screen, who turned her eyes away awkwardly.

Well, he shouldn’t really have been surprised… she _was_ the Ultimate _Therapist_ , she ought to be able to pick up on things… “I’m a boy.” He clarified.

Her eyes shifted to the other side, as if wondering how to phrase a question.

“I’m a boy both physically _and_ mentally.” He added.

“So you just like wearing a dress?” The bunny asked.

“Uhh… not really…” He admitted. “I mean, I don’t mind it, and I have some really nice ones, but…” He trailed off, not really wanting to admit the problem because it seemed like it was such an easy fix.

“But you want to be treated like a boy?”

“Well… yes…” He admitted, which was probably going to lead to her saying to just get over himself and wear a suit…

“So… do you feel that you can’t wear boy’s clothing then?”

“Ah… yes!” He replied, a little surprised she’d figured it out so quickly. “I… I get picked on for being weak as a boy… but if I’m dressed as a girl everyone thinks it’s normal.” He admitted, finding it easier to talk to the rabbit in the screen than it would have been to talk to a person.

“Weak? You don’t _seem_ weak…” The rabbit gave a surprising reply.

“Uhh… Well, I’ve been working out for 5 months?” Chihiro told her, “Maybe that’s made me stronger…”

“So maybe you don’t need to hide behind the dress anymore?” The rabbit shrugged, “After all, if you don’t like how people treat the mask, maybe it’s time to throw it away?”

“But now everyone here would know I’ve been wearing a dress and I’d probably get picked on for _that._ ” Chihiro sighed. “What would _you_ do?” He asked the rabbit.

There was a pause while she thought about it. “… _Usami_ would say it’s not healthy to hide who you are! It’s always better to show the version of you that _you_ love, regardless of what other’s think of it! Because you yourself are your biggest supporter!”

“Uhh… _Usami…?_ ” Chihiro asked. “I thought your name was Miaya…?”

The rabbit shook its head. “Miaya’s up there…” It pointed upwards, towards the bundled up, half-hidden Gekkogahara…

“Oh…” Chihiro realised the reason for the distinction. _Gekkogahara_ had been here over three years already… and was still hiding behind a rabbit on a screen…

“Oh! I have a patient to get to!” The rabbit suddenly changed the topic. “I’ll see you on Wednesday for the test!”

“Ah, yes!” Chihiro remembered, “I’ll see you then!”

He’d almost forgot about the test… he’d best set a reminder for it… Let’s see, this Wednesday… the 14th…

Oops! That was his birthday! The rest of his class (either encouraged by Makoto and Hina or cajoled by Taka) would have probably organised a party for him, if it was anything like the rest of their birthdays so far. But hopefully no one would mind him heading out of the room briefly to set up the test…

Maybe he could even take one of them with him to act as the human control… Though it’d be a bit mean to make one of them talk to _Matsuda_ while all the others were having a party, he’d end up owing them a huge favour in return for _that…_

Unless he picked someone who _already_ owed him a favour… a ‘ _Personal Favour’_ …

Hmm... _That_ would work, assuming Taka actually _did_ give him the favour vouchers he gave everyone else in their year so far… It would be easy for Taka to do, for once, but also different enough from his usual helpfulness that he’d actually _take_ the voucher for it...

And if he didn’t, then Chihiro could always exchange it for a day where Taka didn’t argue with _Leon..._

* * *

(Wednesday, March 14th 2012)

Food: Check! Drinks: Check! Decorations: Check! One booklet of vouchers: Check!

Everything was ready for Chihiro’s birthday party! That meant he could relax and talk to Mondo for a bit before Chihiro arrived.

If only his Kyoudai wasn’t already talking to _Kuwata…_

Honestly, he couldn’t understand how his Kyoudai _or_ Chihiro both got on so well with the flaky layabout. Both of _them_ had worked hard at their respective talents to get here, whereas Kuwata had never even _practised_ the talent that got him into the school, and had then proceeded to drop it instantly in favour of one that he deemed to be ‘ _cooler’_ … which he didn’t seem to practise at either…

And yet whenever he saw the three of them together, they all seemed to be laughing and joking and horsing around in a way that they never seemed to want to do with _him…_

Then again, it had always been that way in middle school as well… The _cool_ boys made lots of friends, even though all they seemed to do was hang around in fancy clothes and make fun of the less ‘cool’ students like himself…

And even though Mondo kept insisting that Kuwata wasn’t like that, he’d seen little evidence to the contrary over the first two terms of school. He’d instantly taken a dislike to Hifumi and had soon after started resenting Kiyotaka for the number of detentions he earnt for himself. And although Maizono had convinced Kuwata to stop being so rude to the former and Mondo was trying to solve the latter problem, Kuwata still insisted on making it clear that he didn’t _like_ either of them…

And if _that_ wasn’t bad enough, he had completely ignored all the homework he’d been set over the last two terms, even the coursework that counted towards their final grades! And all Kiyotaka’s attempts to convince him to complete even _some_ of it had done was to result in them uselessly arguing about it, to the point where Mondo and Chihiro had asked him to stop talking to Kuwata about it at all.

Which was why he’d left a note in Kuwata’s pigeon hole this morning instead.

But regardless, Kuwata was friends with Mondo and Chihiro… Surely he must have _some_ redeemable qualities! And perhaps talking to him at a party, as opposed to in class, might result in them managing to have a conversation that was not discipline-based.

He headed over to the pair, smiling and waving as Mondo spotted him coming over.

“Hey, Kyoudai! Everything OK?”

“Yes! Everything’s prepared for when Chihiro comes!” Kiyotaka smiles. “And Good Evening, Kuwata!” He tried to be polite to the baseball player.

“Hey, Chairman.” Was Kuwata’s nonchalant reply.

Kiyotaka tried to suppress the scowl that flashed over his face. _Why_ did that irritate him so much? It wasn’t as if it was a disrespectful way to refer to him, and it was certainly an improvement from when the baseball player used to call him ‘hardass’ all the time, but in Kuwata’s voice it still sounded like an insult.

“…I’m not actually a chairman of anything…” He pointed out, hoping it would make Kuwata would switch to just calling him by name.

“What about the disciplinary committee?” Kuwata asked.

“Ah, that was at my old school! We just have school appointed Hall Monitors here!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Cool. I’ll call ya ‘Monitor’ then…”

Urg, that just made him sound like a computer accessory…

“…You _could_ just call me by my name…” Kiyotaka suggested.

“No, I reckon ‘Monitor’ fits pretty well…” Kuwata grinned smugly.

“Leon, c’mon…” Mondo sighed at him.

“Well, if he’s gonna keep _monitoring_ how much homework I’ve done…”

“Dude, you said weren’t gonna…” Mondo started at the same time as Kiyotaka tried to explain himself.

“I don’t ‘monitor’ how much homework you do.” He told Kuwata. “It’s just that your teachers keep actively _telling_ me that you’ve failed to do _any_ of it!”

“Kyoudai, can ya not…?”

“Well, maybe you can do me a _favour…_ ” Kuwata brought out the accursed piece of paper Kiyotaka had naively given him before he left for the winter holidays, “And tell them to go stuff themselves because I don’t need fricken _science_ or _maths_ to be a guitarist!”

“Urg, Leon, for fuck’s…”

Kiyotaka’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the voucher, _again…_ Kuwata had taken to carrying it around and shoving it in his face every time he needed to have any sort of discussion about the layabout’s behaviour…

“Allowing you to slovenly fall behind on your homework is _not_ a _favour!_ ” He snapped, “You might not think it, but _everyone_ needs a basic understanding of Maths, English and Science… Unless you intend to just laze about as a drain to society for the rest of your…”

“ _Kyoudai…_ I’ve told you he…”

“I’ll just _pay_ someone to do all that boring shit for me once I’m a world-famous rock baseballer!” Kuwata said, delusionary. “Maybe an annoying, washed up _hardass_ like…”

“ _ALRIGHT BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!”_ Mondo’s shout stopped both of them short, and caused several of their classmates to stare at them. “…Seriously, you two, can’t you even keep it civil for _Chi’s birthday…?”_

Kiyotaka felt a stab of guilt at that… what if Chihiro had arrived with Makoto at that moment...?

“Well, he started it with that fuckin’ note in my pigeon hole…” Kuwata apparently didn’t feel guilt.

“You could have replied in writing.” Kiyotaka pointed out. “Rather than using it as reason to give me an insulting…”

“Alright, time out you two!” Mondo snapped, recognising the beginning of another argument. “Kyoudai, c’mon, we’re gonna have a talk… Leon, you wait there!”

Wait… _Kuwata_ was the one being insulting in response to his attempts to help… Why was _he_ being the one dragged away for a talk like a naughty child?

“Kyoudai, seriously, will ya _please_ quit bugging him about his homework?” Mondo asked in exasperation once they were out of earshot of Kuwata.

”But… _every single one_ of his teachers complained about it to me today! He’s got to the point where if he hasn’t done well enough in the exams then he’s going to fail the entire _year!_ ” Kiyotaka explained, “If he just did some of the coursework at least…”

“Yeah, I know…” Mondo sighed, “But you’ve got at him so much about it that he’s just getting irritated at you instead of listening…”

“But if he just _did it_ then I wouldn’t _have_ to…”

“Well… you _don’t_ have to…” Mondo shrugged. “It’s not your job to make him do his homework!”

“It’s my duty as a class rep to…” Kiyotaka started.

“Kyoudai, I’ve read the job description for the class reps…” Mondo rolled his eyes. “Your only duty is to go moan at the student council or headmaster on our behalf if we need ya to! There’s nothing in there about making sure we all get our homework submitted.”

“Ngh…” He flinched, he hadn’t expected _Mondo_ of all people to actually track down and _read_ that document. “...I just want to see everyone do well…”

“I know, Kyoudai.” Mondo rubbed his hair affectionately, “And it’s great that you’re willing to help people who wanna do it, like me and Maizono so much! But Leon’s got to the point where he’s not doing it just to annoy ya…”

“What!? So by trying to help I’ve actively discouraged him!?” That was terrible!

“Well… I mean, I dunno if he’d do it if ya stopped…” Mondo affectionate rub turned into an awkward scratch, “But he _definitely_ ain’t gonna do if it your keep getting at him every single time ya talk to him!”

“Ahh… I suppose not.” In retrospect he must have been very irritating, “But I don’t know what else to talk to him about… He doesn’t seem interested in me at all outside of what I do for the class…”

“Huh!? What the hell makes you think that?” Mondo asked.

“Well, he never refers to me by my name.” Kiyotaka pointed out, “It’s always ‘Chairman’ or ‘Class rep’ or ‘Monitor’… or ‘Hardass’.” He scowled.

“Uhh… I guess?” Mondo shrugged. “But that’s cause your name is long.”

What sort of a reason was _that!?_ “Pronouncing four syllables is hardly an onerous task!” Kiyotaka snapped, “But if that’s _truly_ the reason, then he could call me by my nickname…” He added as a concession.

“Alright then! So he calls ya by your nickname, and you quit bitchin’ about his homework… sound good?” Mondo put a warm arm over his shoulder and smiled at him.

It didn't sound good at all. Leon _needed_ to start getting on with that work, and a nickname was hardly a concession!

But then, he wasn’t helping Leon by complaining anyway, and Mondo looked so pleased at the idea of them not arguing all the time…

“Deal.” He shook Mondo’s hand, unable to suppress the urge to copy Mondo’s smile.

“Thanks man! I owe ya!” Mondo slapped the shoulder his hand was resting on. “I’ll go talk ta Leon about it, ok?” He rushed over to the baseball player before Kiyotaka got a chance to respond.

Hmm… Now who could he talk to…?

* * *

Chihiro finished setting up the pair of booths for the Turing test and headed over to the dining room, which was probably where his classmates had set up his birthday party, assuming they followed the same pattern as usual.

And he’d guessed correctly! There were several balloons and banners hanging around the table, which was covered in several of his favourite foods. Most of the class had were already there, talking amongst themselves… although Makoto was missing, which was odd. He was usually one of the more reliable people…

Oh well, might as well start enjoying the party. He helped himself to some food and considered talking to Taka and asking about the favour, but he seemed to be in the middle of giving Sayaka a bunch of instructions from her teachers, so Chihiro went over to Mondo and Leon instead.

“Can’t ya just… try not ta let it get to ya?” Mondo was sighing at Leon. “He’s just worried ya might fail the year and he doesn’t want that ta happen!”

“It’s not just the nagging, it’s the way he thinks every stupid tiny thing is so fucking _important_ all the time _…_ ” Leon complained back, “And he keeps flirting with Sayaka!” He added.

“…What!? When!?” Mondo gaped at him.

“Oh, I dunno, like _right fucking now!?”_ Leon pointed to Taka and Sayaka.

“Umm… He’s just passing on messages from her teachers because she missed some of her classes today…” Chihiro pointed out.

“Yeah… Chi’s right dude, Sayaka’s just a friend ta him!” Mondo added. “And even if he _was_ flirting with her, Sayaka’s _nuts_ about you, man! You’ve not got anything to worry about!”

“She wouldn’t be taking you to play at her concert if she _didn’t_ like you, would she?” Chihiro asked. “And you’ve been doing all that practise with her every week, right?”

“Uhh…” Leon looked slightly guilty, and a little panicked…

“You _have_ been practising with her, _right?_ ” Chihiro asked.

“Well… I might have skipped a few sessions…” Leon muttered. “But it’s not like I dunno the song! I’ll be fine…!”

“How many sessions is ‘a few’?” Chihiro had a suspicion that it was…

“…Like, all of them…” Yep! Guessed correctly!

“…Taka’s right, you’re a fucking idiot…” Mondo sighed at him.

“Oh, fuck you, I’ll be fine!” Leon snapped, “And he’ll have to eat his words when the exam results come out next Wednesday and I’ve passed _them_ as well…! Assuming he isn’t a stubborn hardass and doesn’t bitch that I coulda done _better_ if I’d _studied…_ ”

“Umm… Well, you probably could have…” Chihiro tried to point out to him. Leon could be pretty smart when he put his mind to it, but he’d only barely paid attention to their classes all year…

“Urg… not you _to_ Chi!” Leon griped. “It’s like he’s turned everyone I know into nerds just to piss me off!”

“Chi was already a nerd…” Mondo joked. “And besides, you do shit just to piss him off as well…”

“Like what?” Leon asked.

“Like refusing to call him by his name!” Mondo answered.

“Urg, his name’s like _four_ syllables long- both of them!” Leon complained.

“Well… he said you could call him Taka.” Mondo told him. “And I got him to promise he’d quit bitchin’ about the homework if ya _did…”_

Wow… Taka must be really be willing to bury the hatchet… assuming he actually _had_ said that and Mondo wasn’t just making things up to get them to stop arguing like he’d unsuccessfully tried to do before Christmas.

“Dude, no. I’m not calling him ‘Taka’” Leon scowled, “His _‘friends’_ call him ‘Taka’!” Leon sarcastically quoted the new introduction Taka had been using for the last month.

“Urg… C’mon, Leon!” Mondo sighed. “He just wants ya ta stop calling him by shitty nicknames and use the _nice_ nickname we came up with… Is that really so hard?”

“Yeah, well, the second I _do_ he’ll start expecting me to be all organised and shit…” Leon griped. “And probably expect me to waste time sitting and doing homework with him… and then bitch at me when I _don’t!”_

“Fine! But… just call him by some string of letters that are actually _in_ his actual goddamn _name!_ ” Mondo snapped. “And then he’ll quit bitching at you about the homework!”

“Alright, _fine._ ” Leon rolled his eyes and headed over to Sayaka and Taka.

“…You realise he’s just going to call Taka something stupid like ‘Shma’ or ‘Yota’ now, right?” Chihiro pointed out.

“If he does Imma fuckin’ _punch_ him…” Mondo growled, “I think I _finally_ got Taka to realise he needs ta quit being such a hardass about his coursework…”

Wait, Leon hadn’t done his _coursework?_ That… seemed like something that was actually worth getting at him about…

“…and I’m getting ready to knock their heads together if they keep this up…” Mondo continued.

“Well, now you know how I felt before your sauna competition!” Chihiro teased him.

“Seriously? Were me and Taka _really_ that bad!?” Mondo asked.

“Well... _yes_ …” Chihiro admitted, “And at least Taka isn’t likely to get into a _fight_ with Leon… when he was arguing with _you_ I kept expecting one or other of you to come in with a black eye the next day!”

“Uhh… sorry ‘bout that…” Mondo mumbled. “Also, I dunno if I ever said it, but thanks for tellin’ me ta be nicer to him… it probably stopped me from hittin’ a coupla times…”

“Only a couple?” Chihiro grinned. “You guys were arguing _constantly!_ It _must_ have been more than a couple…”

“Well… _Urg_ … speaking of _constantly arguing…_ ” Mondo sighed, looking over his shoulder to where Taka was frowning at Leon.

“I… I beg your pardon… _what_ did you call me, just now?”

“’Shma’! Like… the middle letters of your surname…” Leon was grinning at him.

“Oh for the…” Mondo growled and started heading over to the pair of them.

“Wait, _I’ll_ go…” Chihiro offered. “I need to talk to Taka anyway…”

“Hi Taka, Hi Sayaka!” He said brightly, just as Leon was asking him if he’d prefer ‘Yota’ instead…

“Hi Chihiro!” Sayaka smiled, “Happy Birthday!” She added, as they hadn’t seen each other all day.

“Ah! Good Evening… Chihiro…” Taka started his greeting as usual, then trailed off. “Wait… _Chihiro!?_ When did you get here!? M-Makoto was supposed to meet you after class and let us know when to get ready to surprise you…!” He cried, hiding the envelope he was holding behind his back.

“Ohh… I needed to set something up in a different room for a project, so I left class early.” He admitted. “I’ll let Makoto know I’m here so he can enjoy the party!” Chihiro got his phone out and sent a quick text to their supposedly lucky classmate.

“Ahh… but now the surprise is ruined…” Taka said sadly, “I’m so sorry! I should have been paying attention to the door so that…”

“Taka, really, it’s fine!” Chihiro laughed, trying to stave off one of his usual over-reactions to having ‘failed’ to do something for a friend...

“Yeah… it’s not like it wasn’t obvious you weren’t gonna do the _exact same thing_ you did for everyone _else_ who had a birthday during term time…” Leon rolled his eyes. “It’s not much of a surprise when he’s the third person you’ve done it for!”

“Err… I guess, but still…”

“…And you might as well give him the cheap vouchers you’ve made him while you’re being predictable as well!” Leon continued, earning him a scowl and light smack on the arm from Sayaka.

Chihiro couldn’t blame her, that had been a low blow from Leon, and now Taka was left standing with one hand awkwardly behind his back, obviously wondering if he should actually bother to hand over ‘cheap’ present he’d spent his time making instead of lazily getting something computer related out of the school store like Leon had done…

“Umm, actually there was something I really need to use the voucher for _now…_ ” Chihiro admitted to him.

“Ah!” Taka perked up, “Well… Happy Birthday, then!” He held out the envelope, “What can I help you with?”

* * *

Apparently, what he could help with was sitting in a dark cubical, with a computer, and answering questions on it for 30 minutes without letting the asker know who he was. That didn’t seem like a particularly strenuous favour, to be honest. Surely this couldn’t be _all_ Chihiro wanted, could it?

He sat and waited for a while, quietly. He could hear Chihito talking to a couple of people- a bored sounding man and a cheerful sounding woman. Apparently they were going to be the ones talking to him, but they were going to be taking it in turns. Why not have them arrive at different times, then? Instead of making one wait for the other to finish talking to him…

Eventually, there was the sound of someone moving into the cubical, on the other side of the wall he was facing, and letters slowly made their way across the screen.

_so asl_

The letters showed up after a while, but ‘asl’? What did _that_ mean? “Are you having trouble with your keyboard?” He typed back.

_no it means age/sex/location_

So it had been a question? But wasn’t he supposed to be keeping his identity hidden? “I’d rather not say.”

_so lazy_

“Excuse me?” Who were they calling lazy? _Him!?_ “At least I’m bothering to type correctly! You’re barely understandable!”

_i mean that reason_

_that’s the sort of thing a noob would program_

“My apologies, but I don’t know the word ‘noob’” Kiyotaka admitted. “I’m not very familiar with slang terms.”

_of course not_

_it means someone who new and sucks at something_

“Sucks at what?” He asked.

_the thing theyre new at_

“Do you mean ‘sucks’ as in ‘performs badly at’?” Kiyotaka asked, “My apologies, I’m not very familiar with slang terms.”

_whatever_

_lets pretend ur real_

_do you have a hobby_

Why wouldn’t he be _real?_ Was this more slang he didn’t understand? Well, regardless…

“I study.”

_wow she didn’t even bother to add that_

_what about TV shows, music, books etc_

_know any of those_

“I’ve watched a few episode of Friends, and I like mystery novels.” He typed. “And I am familiar with the books listed on the school syllabus, of course!”

_is that all you know_

_what do you talk to ppl about_

“Sorry, I’m not very familiar with slang terms, so I don’t know what ‘ppl’ means.” He admitted again. He was starting to sound like a broken record.

_forget it ive read enough_

“Read enough of what?” Kiyotaka asked.

There was no reply. Whoever he’d been communicating with had apparently decided to give him the silent treatment. How annoying… if he’d know this in advance he could have bought some notes to study while he was sat in here for another nine minutes...

* * *

Right, it was almost time for them to switch… How was Alter Ego getting on with Gekkogahara…

Ahh… this wasn’t good, it looked like Alter Ego had just kept trying to get Gekkogahara to talk about herself, and vice versa… and the therapist had even started asking questions like ‘Do you wish your creator had programmed you differently?’ maybe he’d been a bit cocky saying it was indistinguishable from a human…

Hopefully it’d have better luck with Matsuda…

“Ok, it’ been fifteen minutes. Please switch around now!”

Matsuda walked out of his booth first with a smirk on his face. Weird, had he got Taka to admit something embarrassing in there or something? On the other hand, Gekkogahara’s rabbit was illustrated in a thoughtful pose as she wheeled her way out of Alter Ego’s booth and into Taka’s one…

* * *

Well, at least _that_ waste of time was over! Now he just had one more left. Hopefully _this_ person would be less rude than the other one!

_Let’s just start with a generic question:_

The words shot across the screen far faster than the other persons had.

_What do you do in your free time?_

“I study.” He typed in, again.

_Study what?_

“Schoolwork takes priority. But outside of that I try to learn about political and economic systems.”

_Trying to become a politician?_

“Yes. It’s very important to me.” He admitted.

_What’s most important to you?_

_Most_ important to him?

“My kyoudai.” The words were typed and submitted before he really thought about it.

_Your brother?_

“Well… he’s not really my brother, we’re friends. We just call each other that.”

_I see._

_So you put him above your career?_

Did he? He’d thought of Mondo first, but… “Both are important to me.”

_That didn’t answer my question._

_Spin doctors would be proud._

Urg! He hated that side of politics… He’d always wanted to avoid being like that… “Sorry. It’s just I’m not sure what the answer is.”

_Understandable. Few people really know what’s important to them until they lose it._

_Is Mondo your only friend?_

“No. I have eight of them altogether!” He corrected the person.

_That’s quite a lot, if they’re good friends._

_You must be someone likeable._

Was he!? “I don’t think I am.”

_Why not?_

“Most people I interact with dislike me.” He typed. “My friends are an exception.”

_But you talent means you have to tell people off a lot, doesn’t it?_

_And no one likes being told off._

“I suppose.” He answered, then remembered the conversation he’d had about Leon. “Do you think I should stop?”

_Stop what?_

“Stop telling people off so much.” He clarified, “I’m worried that most of the time it doesn’t help. I just feel like all I’m doing is irritating people.”

_Would you be happy if you did stop?_

Now _there_ was an interesting question… it might help him get along with people but… “I don’t know. I think I’d feel bad if I wasn’t trying to help people do their best… but I also don’t think I am helping most of the time.”

_Most of the time? So it does help on occasion?_

“It has done. It’s helped my friends. But I think it’s only them.”

_Personally, I find it’s hard to really help people unless they like you enough to listen. It seems like you’re having the same problem._

Whoever he was talking to was very insightful... and made a lot of sense as well. “But how do I get them to like me? Most people find me irritating, and I’m trying to work on that but hardly anyone outside of my class is willing to talk to me.”

_That might be because you’ve tried too hard previously, and now they’re irritated with you._

“That’s probably true. I’ve messed everything up completely, haven’t I?” Not that he needed the confirmation.

_I wouldn’t go that far. It’s a setback, but not an insurmountable one._

_People’s opinions are fluid, if you leave them for a while they’re liable to forget what it was that irritated them about you._

_In the meantime, I’d suggest you try to meet new people, ones you’ve not associated with before._

_Maybe a club outside the school, I could send you a list of ones I know about._

_Although it’s a small list and I’m not sure there’s anything you’d be interested in on it..._

“Does it have to be completely outside the school?” He asked, “Or would the clubs in the Reserve department be far enough?”

_Can we go to those?_

“Yes, of course!” Why did everyone think Ultimates were barred from their side of the school… he knew the reverse was true, unless invited by an Ultimate, but still… “They’ve even sent me a list of all the clubs they have on offer so I can advertise them!”

_Really!? Could you send me it, please?_

“Certainly! What’s your email address?”

_I’ve emailed you my list, replying to that’ll be easier for you than typing out my name._

_Anyway, I think our time’s almost up. But I have a question I’d like you to think about._

_Ishimaru, do you like yourself?_

What!? Why wouldn’t he like himself? He _was_ him! Alright, he was a little awkward and he probably worried a bit too much about little things and needed to learn to relax more often instead of letting himself get stupidly worked up about things and he wished dearly that he was smarter and got on better with people and…

_Feel free to email me the answer once you’ve thought about it._

“Ok! Time’s up! Matsuda and Gekkogahara, come out and let me know who you think the AI was!”

And then Kiyotaka was left in the room with the computer, wondering if there was a way to copy the conversation for future reference…

* * *

Chihiro tried to hide his grin as Matsuda sauntered out of the cubical. He’d started the conversation with Alter Ego by complaining about how bad ‘Alter Ego’ was at talking, then had let the AI bait him into talking about himself and his work for the remaining twelve minutes. Chihiro was really going to have to thank Taka for _that…_

Maybe he’d even be extra lucky and even Gekkogahara would be confused as to which was which now!

 _“_ So… who did you think the AI was?” He asked, trying to look innocent.

“Do I really need to answer that?” Matsuda rolled his eyes. “It didn’t have it’s own sense of identity, it couldn’t recognise unusual syntaxes, and kept repeating the same excuses over and over for not being able to do so. It’s knowledge of popular culture was almost non-existent and it’s style of speech was ridiculously formal.”

“But just to clarify, we’re talking about…?”

“The first ‘person’ I spoke to, obviously.” Matsuda sneered.

“No, that was Ishimaru.” Usami’s voice piped up as Gekkogahara wheeled her chair over to them. Darn it, he really shouldn’t have expected to be able to trick an Ultimate Therapist so easily…

“What!?” Matsuda was startled. “No, it _can’t_ be… the person I spoke to…”

“It just asked you about yourself the whole time, didn’t it?” Gekkogahara’s rabbit said, slightly smugly, “Did you even bother to try asking it anything about itself? It was pretty obvious once you did _that_ that it was an AI…”

He still didn’t look quite convinced… but as they’d both guessed at an answer… “Ok, Taka, you can come out now!”

Kiyotaka came out of the back of his cubical, looking thoughtful.

“Well…” Matsuda sighed, “Congratulations on finding the one _human_ who can _fail_ the _Turing test!”_ He griped, causing Taka to flinch in shock behind him.

“Oh, don’t be such a sore loser!” Usami snapped at him. “You believed the AI was a person, so we’ll let Chihiro make one for us.”

“Umm... you still want me to help? Even though _you_ knew which was which?” Chihiro asked her.

“Well... it had problems, of course... I understand you’re trying to get it to grow by making it want to learn about people, but that’s ended up meaning that it doesn’t have its own interests, or much of an identity. I think it would work better if you made one with a basic personality and interests and let it grow from there...” Usami started talking as Gekkogahara’s hands flew across her keyboard. “But, from what I could see, it _was_ starting to develop its own sense of identity, which is far better than the ones Matsuda programmed!”

 “I still think the main problem is the ugly virtual world _she_ made...” Matsuda pointed at Gekkogahara. “So as long as you fix _that_ I guess your AI will work as well...” He shrugged and started to wander off, “I’ll email you my files for the project and then we can organise a time to meet up once you’ve made the first adjustments...”

Usami sighed heavily, something Chihiro was a little surprised to see Gekkogahara had programmed into her. “...I can send you my files as well... Oh! And let me know if you need any help deciphering any of it, it took me forever to figure out Matsuda’s annotations!”

“Ah! Thank you!” Chihiro was slightly relieved for the offer of help. “I’m really looking forward to working on this!”

“Me to!” Usami replied excitedly. “I’ll see you soon!” Usami waved from her screen as Gekkogahara wheeled around to face Taka. “And please don’t forget to send that list!”

“Ahh… O-of course…” Taka said, distractedly. “Oh! And thank you for the advice!”

“No problem! And feel free to email me if you want anymore!” Usami told him.

“Ah! R-really!?” Taka asked excitedly, before bowing to her. “Thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome!” Usami chirped as Gekkogahara wheeled herself out of the room.

“She gave you some advice?” Chihiro asked Taka. “So this was useful for you then?” It was nice to think he’d not made Taka miss the party and have a _completely_ horrible time instead…

He wasn’t expecting Taka to cringe guiltily in response to the question though. “Ah… Chihiro, I’m _so sorry!_ I… I didn’t even realise it was test and…”

Urg, of course Matsuda’s comment had upset him. “Ah! No, Taka, it’s not like that! I wasn’t testing _you_ I was testing a computer program I made… so I didn’t need _you_ to pass the test…” He reassured him. “

“But… what was I actually being tested on then?” Taka asked, confused, “I’ve never heard of this ‘Turing test’”

“Oh, really?” Chihiro thought that was common knowledge, but then again, Taka’s knowledge wasn’t always of the common sort… “It’s a test for Artificial Intelligence- the idea is that you have people speak to a human and an AI, without telling them which is which, and if they can’t tell which is the computer then it’s considered to have passed the test!”

Taka’s forehead was furrowed in confusion. “Err… Artificial Intelligence…?” He asked, sheepishly.

“Uhh… It’s... It’s a type of computer program that can learn by itself, like humans can, by talking to people…”

Taka nodded slowly, “And… you made one of these… AIs?” He checked, “And you were testing if it was… more human than me?”

“Uhh… Not exactly… I just wanted to prove to Matsuda that it was reasonably advanced…” Chihiro explained. “What he said about you failing was just him being a jerk because he didn’t want to admit he was wrong…”

“But… it’s true I have trouble speaking to people… and you taught a computer to speak…” Taka mused, “Would you be able to teach _me_ to speak to people!?” He asked excitedly.

Urrgg… He’d completely misunderstood, but he looked so desperate for help as well…

“Uhh… That’s not exactly what I did…” Chihiro tried to explain. “All I did was create something capable of learning, then let it talk to lots of people… that’s pretty much how humans learn to communicate as well…”

“Ahh… so it _would_ just be best to join a club in the reserve department…” He nodded to himself.

“The reserve department has clubs?”

Taka’s shoulders slumped as he scowled irritably at the question. “There’s over _two thousand_ students over there, of course some of them have formed clubs!” He snapped. “I even put a list up in the notice board two days ago!”

Oops… he hadn’t checked it in half a week… “Well, alright but… why do you need to go to the reserve department? Why not just talk to people here?”

“Err… Well… I think I’ve annoyed so many people while acting as Hall Monitor that they won’t speak to me…” He sighed, “But Hirayama’s said that most of the students in the reserve course have forgot about the issue with Tsumiki already, so I should be alright to go over there to make a fresh start!”

 _A fresh start?_ Meeting people who’d never spoken to him before…?

_People who wouldn’t know he’d ever worn a dress…_

“Well, why don’t we go have a look at the list and see if any of them look good!?” Chihiro suggested, excitedly.

“Err… right now? But what about your…”

“Well, it won’t take long to just look through a list!” Chihiro pointed out, “Come on!” He grabbed Taka’s wrist to chivvy him along.

“Err… Alright, then!” Taka agreed as he stumbled a little at the pull on his clothes.

Chihiro arrived at the noticeboard first, and noticed with irritation that he had to stand on tiptoes to get a look at the board. “Would you mind taking the list out so we can get a closer look at it?” He asked Taka.

“Certainly!” Taka obliged and opened the case for the noticeboard, bending down slightly to hold the paper at a position they’d both be able to read it at…

Wow, there were a _lot_ of clubs, and some of them even sounded fun, Monday Movie night, Computing club on Tuesdays, a book club that met on Fridays, a fortnightly roleplaying group on Saturdays, board games on Sunday… he wondered if that meant _decent_ board games or just Monopoly… and whether he’d actually get a chance to play a fighter if he went to the roleplaying this time…

* * *

Looking over the list again, Kiyotaka wasn’t too sure this was such a good idea… Most of them were for skills he didn’t have an interest in, such as art or computing, or things he’d never heard of such as ‘roleplaying’ (wasn’t that a sex thing? He was _sure_ he’d heard that mentioned as a sex thing…). There was a movie night and a book club, which might give him things to talk _about_ but wouldn’t actually give him an opportunity _to_ talk. Maybe the board games? He’d never actually played Monopoly, but it was something families played together, wasn’t it? Maybe it would give him a chance to talk?

No wait… “Ah! Hirayama’s managed to start an Eco club!” Kiyotaka spotted a much better on Thursdays, “I can join that tomorrow! I’ll be sure to meet people there _and_ do good things at the same time!”

“Hmm… that sounds good.” Chihiro agreed...but also continued. “The book club on Friday would probably be good as well… and roleplaying and board games are a good way to meet people to!” Chihiro told him, “And you’ve been meaning to watch more popular movies so you have an idea what people are talking about as well, haven’t you?”

“Err…” Did he mean do _all_ of that? “Well… which is best then?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Hmm… Well, a lot of the time, how good a club is depends on who’s in them… so you’d probably be best off trying all of them once and seeing what you think.”

“But that would mean going to something every day for the next five days!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “I wouldn’t have time to study for school!”

“Well… aren’t you ahead in all your classes already?” Chihiro asked, “And exams are over, so it’s not like you need to be worrying about _them!_ ”

“Well, that’s true, I suppose, but it just seems like a lot all in one week!” Kiyotaka admitted, nervously.

“But you’ve spent almost the whole year _not_ socialising!” Chihiro countered, “Think of it as making up for lost time!”

That was true… he really should have spent more time working on his social skills already…

“I guess so…” He agreed.

“Great!” Chihiro smiled, “It’ll be fun to see you loosen up a bit…”

“Oh! You’re going to come as well?”

“Uhh… yeah. I thought it would be useful for me to go as well…” Chihiro stammered.

To give him advice on how he was behaving? Kiyotaka was lucky to have such a good friend…

“Well… thank you then!” Kiyotaka bowed.

“Uhh… no problem…” Chihiro stammered. “Can I just check which book the reading club is discussing?”

“Ah… of course!” It would hardly do to turn up at a book club and to have not read the book. “It’s called ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” He read out.

“Really? Geez, who hasn’t read _that_ already?” Chihiro asked.

“Err…” Kiyotaka shifted embarrassedly. “I haven’t… Does that mean I won’t be able to go?”

“Oh! Umm… if there’s a copy in the library, you should be able to read it in two evenings… it’s a children’s book so it’s not hard to read….” Chihiro assured him. “You should probably go now and check though… otherwise I could probably download a copy for you…”

“Thank you again!” Kiyotaka nodded, “I’ll go see if it’s there now!” He headed off, not realising that he’d forgot about the party until he’d already got there, replied to Gekkogahara and found the book…

* * *

And off Kiyotaka went, eager to go prepare for socialisation… Now what should he do…

Oh, right! His birthday! He had a party he was supposed to be at… Urg, and he’d just told Taka to go to the library instead of going back there… hopefully the hall monitor wouldn’t see it as a suggestion that Chihiro didn’t _want_ him at his birthday party… he seemed to worry far too much about little things like that…

“Oh! Hey! Chihiro’s back!” Hina shouted cheerfully as he entered the dining room again.

“ _Finally!_ ” Makoto exclaimed, “What took you so long? We were about to go search for you…”

“Even though I kept telling them you were busy fighting the intergalactic space invaders!” Hiro interjected.

“Yeah… I still say it was more likely that hardass decided to make him go study or something…” Leon muttered.

“ _Leon…”_ Mondo growled warningly at him, “But speaking of which, where _is_ Taka?”

“Oh… he mentioned that there were some clubs in the reserve department that we can join, so we had a look at those and decided to join a book club on Friday.” Chihiro explained. “He’s just gone to the library to see if they’ve got a copy of the book being discussed there!”

“The hell is a book club?” Mondo asked with a bemused expression.

Was he serious? It’s not like he’d usually act stupid on purpose… “Uhh… it’s where everyone reads the same book and then they talk about it?”

“Why would anyone wanna do _that!?_ ” Mondo looked even more confused… he’d _seriously_ never heard of anyone being in a book club? “If you want something to talk about, why not pick something _fun_ like a movie or summat...?”

“Books _are_ fun!” Chihiro sighed. “But we are also going to a movie club on Monday as well…”

“Really? They do that sort of thing over there?” Leon asked.

“Yeah… Taka put a whole list of stuff in the noticeboard.” Mondo explained. “I didn’t realise he was thinking of going to any of them though… But seeing as he _is_ maybe we can all go to the movie together!” Mondo gestured to Leon.

That seemed like a bad idea… Taka would have enough trouble talking to people _without_ Leon inevitably mocking him…

“Yeah, thanks, but no thanks.” Leon scowled and waved his hand dismissively.

“Why the hell not!?” Mondo snapped at him.

“Alright, I’ll level with you… It’s ’cause I don’t wanna hang out with your annoying ‘Kyoudai’!” Leon sighed.

“Dammit Leon, can’t you just give him a chance!?” Mondo snapped, “He’s pretty cool underneath all that dorky shit…”

“Urg, no man, he seriously isn’t.” Leon sighed. “Did that fact that his own _Dad_ doesn’t want him home for the holidays not clue you into…ghk!” Leon spluttered as Mondo grabbed him roughly by the front of his shirt.

“I fuckin’ _told_ you his Dad’s just _busy!”_ Mondo hissed. “And I didn’t tell you ‘bout that so you could use it ta take the piss outta him!”

“Wait… Taka’s not going home for the holidays again?” Chihiro asked. “He didn’t leave buying the tickets too late again, did he?” Should he have reminded Taka to check when they first became available?

“Uhh… no, his Dad’s just taken a bunch of extra shifts again so Taka would hardly have seen him…” Mondo explained.

“Is his family really that desperate for money?” Chihiro asked.

“Yes.” Togami suddenly joined the conversation, trailed by Toko as always. “And also, Happy Birthday, Fujisaki.” He passed over neatly wrapped box of what everyone knew was chocolates. Heck, Chihiro even knew which one he was going to trade with Taka’s future self (the praline). “Fukawa and I have to leave now. We have an appointment to get to.”

“ _Together!?”_ Chihiro asked.

“Y-yes! M-master cares so much about my wellbeing that he…” Toko smiled as she slipped into one of her all-too-frequent delusions.

“ _Don’t_ get any ideas.” Togami ordered. “I’m merely showing how much control I have over you. Now come on.” He walked off, with Toko scurrying after him.

“Soo… I’m not the only who thought that sounded fucked up, right?” Leon asked.

“Uhh… no, that was pretty weird…” Chihiro agreed.

“Good to know! Anyway, I’mma bounce outta this convo and go chat to Sayaka.”

“Yeah, sure. Have fun dude.” Mondo managed to only look _slightly_ jealous as Leon went off to talk with the country’s most popular woman… and then the jealousy turned to annoyance as he remembered what they’d been talking about before Togami interrupted. “Oh, goddamn him… He better not start talking about that shit in front of Taka…” He grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure even _he’s_ not going to do that…” Chihiro assured him, “But why _did_ you tell Leon about that and not anyone else?”

“Leon and Sayaka are gonna be staying here a few extra days before they leave for their concert, so I thought maybe they could keep Taka company for a bit before they left.” Mondo explained. “I fuckin’ hate the idea of him being by himself for two weeks, but I can’t not go see the gang either…” He scowled.

“Umm… well, why not take him with you to see the gang?” Chihiro suggested.

“What? Force him to go to ride on a bike and go camping and to bars with twenty guys he’s never met before… for two whole weeks? He’d go nuts in the first few _days…_ ” Mondo forced a laugh. “You know he’s crap at meeting new people…”

“Well… he’s been working on it!” Chihiro pointed out. “And besides, he’s usually fine if _you’re_ with him.”

“Yeah… but it’s not like I’m gonna be able ta hug him the whole time…” Mondo muttered.

Why wouldn’t he? That’s what they usually did! To the point where people were starting to joke about what kind of _gang leader_ spent his days laughing in glee with an uptight hall monitor…

 _Oh…_ “You’re too embarrassed to admit to your gang that you’re besties around with the biggest dork in school.” Chihiro realised.

“I ain’t embarrassed by him!” Mondo snapped… “I just worry about what they’ll think of him… I don’t want him ending up having to spend two weeks with a whole group of people who treat him the same way Leon does… Or having ta constantly get the guys to quit hasslin’ him… Or make ‘em wonder if I’m still strong enough ta lead ‘em…” He trailed off.

“Are your gang really that bad?” Chihiro asked, “When you say stuff like that, it sort of makes them sound like a big group of jerks…”

“Hell no! They’re good guys!” Mondo snapped. “…But so’s _Leon_ …”

“Well… it’s not like Taka can annoy them by giving them detentions!” Chihiro pointed out. “And he’s a lot better at first impressions than he was at the beginning of the year…. He’d be _fine!”_

“Well… maybe…” Mondo muttered, “I still don’t think he’d _wanna_ go…”

“I’m pretty sure he would… he’d be with _you_ and it’d be a chance for him to practise talking to people!” Chihiro grinned, “It’s better than studying at least!”

“I guess… but about this meeting people stuff…” Mondo uncomfortably changed the subject. “Will ya make sure Taka’s ok at this book club thing?”

“Uhh… what do mean?”

“Well… ya know… He worries about talking to people he doesn’t know that well…” Mondo scratched his head. “So could ya… just make sure he’s alright?”

“Uhh… Ok?” Chihiro shrugged. He didn’t see what Mondo was so worried about… or why he’d asked _him_ to look out for Taka. If someone was strong enough to pick on the hall monitor, there wasn’t going to be much _he_ could do about it!

“Great, thanks!” Mondo smiled regardless. “And… oh, hey! Kyoudai!” Mondo waved as Taka entered the room, and then he proceeded to spend the rest of the party _not_ inviting him to spend the holidays with his gang…

* * *

(Thursday, March 15th 2012)

Kiyotaka pressed Togami’s doorbell at precisely 07:30am, cleaning supplies in hand, and glad that he had finished his work in Sonia’s room for the week… the princess had been rather frighteningly enthusiastic about the murder of some poor lad that had taken place last night… _She’d_ been excited because people were saying it was the return of ‘Genocider Syo’ but to be frank the thought of the news reports being filled with stories and lists of even more young men who’d been cut down before they had a chance to achieve their goals made him feel _sick_ …

Togami’s door opened, and the heir barely seemed to acknowledge his presence before letting him through the door and sitting back down at his desk to look over a file, irritably.

Kiyotaka dusted the room and changed the bedding in silence. On other occasions he’d have a conversation with Togami while he cleaned, but today did not seem like the best day for it… what was it that could possibly have made him so irritable so early in the day?

Eventually the heir tutted loudly and dropped the file on the desk, leaving it face up with pictures of a man, covered with blood, hung up in a crucifix position…

“Urg…” Kiyotaka couldn’t help but retch at the sight.

“Oh… you’re here.” Togami seemed to remember as he closed the file. “Don’t tell anyone what you saw there.” He ordered.

“Ah… alright…” He said weakly, trying to forget the pictures and think of something nicer.

“…Have you finished cleaning?” Togami asked.

“Err… no! I… I’m sorry, I just… I was rather hoping Genocider Syo had stopped for good.” He admitted. “I really didn’t want to see anymore pictures like that…”

“Well... This isn’t Syo, it’s a copycat, if that makes you feel any better.” Togami stated.

“Slightly…” At least _this_ death would likely be a one-off, or easier to solve perhaps, and also... “It’s nice to think Genocider Syo got the help they need to stop killing people.”

“…What was that?” Togami looked _at_ him for the first time this morning.

“Err… I said it’s nice to think Genocider Syo got help…” He repeated, cautiously in the face of Togami’s shocked look, “I mean… _surely_ someone wouldn’t kill that many people unless they had _some_ sort of problem, so…”

“Hmm... You’re naïve.” Togami smirked, “Do you _really_ think it’s possible for someone so _deranged_ , that they’d hand pick hundreds of young men to ritualistically stab to _death_ , to just suddenly get better and never hurt anyone ever again?”

“Well… not just… _suddenly!_ ” He admitted. “But with _help_ I believe _anyone_ can redeem themselves and become a benefit to society!”

“Hmph… I’ll keep that in mind.” Togami muttered, probably meaning that he’d assume Kiyotaka was an idiot in future. “…I hear you’re joining a few clubs on the reserve side.” He suddenly changed the topic completely. “…Hoping to meet new people, wasn’t it?”

“Err… Yes!” Kiyotaka was surprised the heir not only _knew_ , but had bothered to remember something so trivial.

“I’m going to give you some advice. It wouldn’t do to have my class representative make a _complete_ fool of himself…” Togami stood up and looked at him. “First impressions are _vitally_ important in the working world. Did you know that a third of job interviewers have subconsciously decided if they’re going to hire an applicant or not within the first 90 seconds of meeting them?”

“Err… I didn’t know that…” Then what was the point of studying potential questions for interviews? Or even having the questions at all if they were just going to decide in _that_ amount of time?

“And usually they’ve _all_ decided within six minutes.” Togami continued, “The way you introduce yourself is the key factor in whether you achieve success or not.”

“I… I see…” Kiyotaka replied, wondering if he was good enough at first impressions, he was often told that he was memorable, at least…

“However, _you_ are always _far_ too forceful. People remember you as overbearing and annoying.”

“Ah… I see…” That… _wasn’t_ the type of memory he’d meant to leave.

“But it’s easy enough to fix, even _you_ should be able to do it.” Togami stated. “The main things to remember are to stand tall, smile, make eye contact and shake hands firmly while you introduce yourself.”

Was that it? That sounded so simple, shouldn’t everyone be able to do it?

“Try it.” Togami ordered.

He did, head up as high as possible, force a smile, stare at Togami’s eyes and grab his hand firmly…”Greetings! I am…”

“Ghch! _NO!_ ” Togami snapped, pulling his hand away.

“Err… what did I do wrong?” Kiyotaka asked. “I did what you said…”

“I’ll admit you did… but you tried too hard… your posture is rigid, your smile is obviously forced, you’re glaring and you almost bruised my _hand_.” Togami started rubbing the hand he’d shook in pain. “Do it again, but, relaxed this time.”

What? Stand tall, but in a relaxed way? That didn’t make any sense…

“Or at least remember to _breathe_ …” Togami sighed.

Had he forgot to breathe? How had he forgot to _breathe_ …? He was breathing _now…_ but now he’d thought about his breathing and couldn’t stop thinking about it or he actually _would_ stop breathing… but now Togami was just staring at him and he was wasting the valuable heir’s time…

“…Just get back on with the cleaning for now.” Togami ordered.

Kiyotaka did as he was told, managing to distract himself with the task until his breathing became second nature again and he’d finished his usual work inside the room.

“I’ve finished cleaning.” He announced, with a salute.

“Good.” Togami gave a cursory glance around the room, he’d long since stopped bothering to actually check the quality of Kiyotaka’s work. “Now imagine you’re introducing yourself to someone unimportant… like our classmates.”

“Our classmates are _not_ unimportant!”

“That’s debatable.” Togami replied, “Try it regardless.”

He didn’t really see how imaging a different person would help… but he tried to imagine introducing himself to someone pleasant like Makoto… 

Head up (maybe not too tall though, Makoto was shorter than him), smile (it was always nice to see him), look in his eyes and grasp his hand (not too hard, Makoto was a bit of a wimp)… “Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but my friends call me Taka!”

Togami just chuckled while smirking at him. “…That will do.” He decided, turning slightly serious. " _That_ is how you should act _every time_ you introduce yourself to a new person.”

“Err… _every time?”_ Wouldn’t he end up looking odd if he always repeated the same introduction?

“Yes. Every time. _Regardless_ of the situation or _who_ you’re meeting.” Togami stared at him intensely. “Understand?”

“Understood!” He nodded.

“Good.” Togami nodded. “And try not to forget to introduce any friends you happen to be with either. It sets a poor impression if you look like you ignore them.”

“I see! Thank you very much for the advice!” Kiyotaka bowed.

“Don’t mention it.” Togami ordered, “I’m counting on you.”

Counting on him? To do what, exactly?

Oh, right! The laundry! He still had work to do before class!

* * *

Chihiro left his final class of the day as early as possible and dashed back to his room. He had about 15 minutes to get changed before he had to go and meet Taka.

At least men’s clothing was easier to put on, he didn’t have to worry about ribbons or making sure his knee-high socks were straight… he was able to just throw on the black trousers and white shirt, slip the pre-pared tie over his head and tighten it, slip into the brown blazer and give it a quick tug to make it sit properly, run a comb and some gel through his hair to get it to sit flatter and he was done!

He looked at the… _boy_ in the mirror who stared back with an anxious expression.

Could he really do this? He’d spent so long convinced that he needed to wear girls’ clothing to fit in, that to now be looking at himself in a boy’s uniform almost seemed unnatural… but in a good way.

At least, it _would_ be good if no one on the reserve side thought it was out of place… And, of course, he had to _get_ to the reserve side first, without anyone seeing him and asking why he was suddenly wearing trousers.

He sighed as he put on his long girly coat, checking it covered his legs (hopefully no would bother to stare at his shoes) and headed out of the room to meet Taka at the school entrance.

Taka didn’t noticed anything odd, although Taka hadn’t noticed his approach at all until he’d got up close and waved in front of his face. He seemed to be trying to memorise something, judging from the way his heading was nodding as he silently formed words. Chihiro decided to leave him to it as they walked over to the reserve course, it usually ended up being quicker to just wait for him to stop worry than it was to interrupt him and making him panic about whatever he was trying to commit to memory.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until they got to the door of building that was apparently housing the Eco club that Taka finally stop his memorisation and took a deep breath as he went to enter the building…

“Umm… Taka…? Before we go inside, I just want to take my coat off…” Chihiro said, realising he’d best let Taka see his change of clothes _before_ they met any other students, just in case he over-reacted…

“Ah! Of course, let me take that for you!” Taka smiled and took the coat off of him, then turned his attention to folding it up neatly. “Well… in we go then…” He said, with a touch of trepidation.

“Uhh… Taka? Did you… umm… notice what I’m wearing?” Chihiro asked, as he’d made no comment about it.

“Err… Yes, your dress looks very nice today!” Taka prattled off a generic compliment, like a sit-com husband who’d suddenly been asked what he thought of his wife’s new look...

“You know… if you’re going to compliment a woman’s clothing, you should really make sure you actually looked at what she’s wearing first…” Chihiro sighed.

“Ngh… What makes you think I…” Taka turned to face him and then froze…

* * *

Chihiro _wasn’t_ wearing a dress! Had he changed or had he not worn one all day? Kiyotaka hadn’t noticed a difference, but on the other hand he now wasn’t certain he could remember exactly what Chihiro had been wearing… But surely if he’s been wearing the male uniform all day, someone would have mentioned it…! Unless everyone else had just been polite and not mentioned it… or they _had_ mentioned and he’d not heard and they’d all been wondering why _he_ hadn’t said anything… should he say something now or was it too late? Or would it come across as patronising if he mentioned it at all, after all they were just clothes, they weren’t really that important except for when they were breaking the uniform code but on the other hand it was a big issue to Chihiro and him wearing the male uniform was obviously a good sign of personal growth for him, but should he actually _say_ that or…

“Umm… Taka…?” Chihiro waved a hand in front of his face, probably because he’d been standing and starting like an idiot… He had to _something_ or he’d look even ruder!

“Err… I’m sorry did you want me to say anything about it?” He asked, which in retrospect _probably_ wasn’t much politer than the silence had been…

“Uhh… not really? I just wanted to ask if you’d mind using male pronouns and not mentioning to the reserve students that I usually wear a dress…?” Chihiro asked anxiously.

 _Ah!_ Well _that_ was easy enough! “Absolutely! Of course!” He smiled. “…Was there anything else, before we go inside?”

“Umm… no, that’s everything!” Chihrio smiled, looking relieved for some reason.

“Well then, let’s head in and… introduce ourselves!” He _tried_ to sound jovial about it… Hopefully he’d make a much better impression on the reserve students than he usually did… He wondered how many times he’d have to repeat his new introduction… He knew there had to be at least fifteen students in a club, so even though he already knew Hirayama, he’d still have to get it right fourteen times…

They quickly found the correct room, where Hirayama was sat next to a boy he didn’t know.

“Ishimaru? Why have you come here? Did you require my help with something?” Hirayama asked, still with the more refined voice that Princess Sonia had encouraged her to use.

“Err… No, we just came to join the Ecology club?” Ishimaru tried to explain. “It was on the list of clubs?”

“Hmm? Ah, yes! I forgot that Inukai was planning to give you that list!” Hirayama admitted.  “I am glad that _some_ of you took the time to read it! I welcome you to the Eco club!” She smiled graciously.

“Thank you! But… err, are we early? Or are the other members usually late?”

“Actually… this is currently all of the members of the Eco club…” Hirayama admitted nervously. “However, the school changed the rules of what constitutes a club, so we are able to keep doing good work, even if there _are_ just a few of us!”

“Yes! That’s a good attitude to take!” Kiyotaka told her.

“Of course, speaking of members, I don’t believe you’ve met Sakai, have you?”

Oh gods this was it! Meeting a new person…! He could _do_ this! All he had to do was remember all the things Togami had said… Stand tall (but not too rigidly), smile (try to relax and not panic), make eye contact (but try not to glare), greet with a firm handshake (was this too firm…?), remember to introduce his friend (with male pronouns!)…

* * *

“Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but my friends call me Taka!” Taka told the single other Eco club member, shaking his hand. “Also, this is Chihiro Fujisaki, he’s into computers!”

Then the Hirayama girl started the club discussion, something about needing more recycling bins and also needing to get the students to actually put things in the _right_ recycling bins, and Taka suggesting that Chihiro could print some informational signs off of the internet in case people didn’t understand what the difference between paper and cardboard was…

What had Mondo been worrying about? Taka seemed perfectly fine talking to these two! He’d be fine meeting the gang!

And speaking of people who were fine… neither of the reserve students were looking at him oddly or had made any mocking comments about him at all... was this it then? Was he really strong enough now? Chihiro had to actively stop himself from grinning like a maniac for the whole of the meeting until they got back out and Taka gave him his coat back.

“Well, that went well…” Chihrio commented with a grin.

“Did it!?” Taka asked nervously, “I wasn’t sure if I’d made a good impression or not… Was I standing straight enough? And I think I might have squeezed his hand a little too hard and…” he started prattling in a panic.

“…Taka, you were _fine_!” Chihiro assured him, why was he suddenly in such a panic?

“I… I was?” Taka slumped in relief. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! Really!” Chihiro repeated, “Relax!”

“Ah… thank you!” Taka laughed, “I guess now I can reward myself with a good book!”

“Uhh… yeah, that sounds like a good plan!” Chihiro agreed, as he did need to finish Harry Potter by tomorrow, but why was he treating a thirty minute meeting as if he’d just completed a big race or something…?

* * *

Kiyotaka stretched as he returned to his room… he hadn’t realised how worked up and tense he’d been about the meeting until after it had finished… he really wasn’t looking forward to having to repeat the experience four more times this week.

But then again, as Chihiro had said, he _needed_ to do it! No pain, no gain after all! At least the book he had to read for tomorrow was enjoyable… He quickly took his boots off and curled up on the bed to read…

He was just getting into it when the doorbell rang. He frowned and answered the door irritably… at least until he saw it was Mondo there.

“Oh, Kyoudai! What can I help you with?”

“Uhh… I was doing maths homework and I was thinking it’d be helpful to have some of the formulas close at hand and then I remembered you made yourself a poster of them…”

“You want to work in my room? Certainly!” Kiyotaka smiled, “Would you like some tea while you’re here?” He added, he’d been doing a good job of remembering Makoto’s advice about being a good friend over the last month…

“Well… only if you’re making it anyway, you don’t need to go out of your way for me…” Mondo frowned.

“No, it’s fine! I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea while I read myself!” Kiyotaka assured him and headed out of the tea.

Upon his return, Mondo was looking at the book he’d been reading sceptically. “Is this the next thing we’re supposed ta read for English class?” He asked.

“No, that’s for the book club I’m attending tomorrow!” Kiyotaka replied.

“Are ya really _that_ desperate to meet new people!?” Mondo cried, “Aren’t there other ways to meet people than by _reading?”_

“Well… yes, there are…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But I like reading so it seems like a logical choice to meet people who also like reading…”

“I just don’t see the point… school makes us read enough crap, why make yourself read as well?”

“Because it’s fun!” Kiyotaka told him, “Honestly, _this_ books good enough I’d be tempted to read it regardless of the club…”

“…You’re seriously reading a book for _fun?_ ” Mondo gaped at him.

“Err… yes? I mean, it’s an interesting story and I want to know what happens next…” Kiyotaka defended himself. “Have you _really_ never read a book outside of class!?”

“No.” Mondo stated, “I’m pretty sure none of the gang did either… well, except... Daiya maybe, but he was tryin’ ta impress some chick at the library…”

 _That_ was unusual, Kiyotaka had never heard Mondo talk about Daiya, beyond his role as the previous gang leader. “Did he enjoy them?”

“Uhh… maybe…? I never really asked…” Mondo admitted, guiltily. “He sorta hid ‘em most of the time, so I assumed he didn’t wanna talk about them…”

“Oh… alright then.” Kiyotaka replied before returning to his book. This didn’t seem to be a good topic to push. Mondo was starting to look pensive, and needed to finish his homework as well…

“Are _you_ enjoying it?” Mondo suddenly interrupted him after a while.

“Err… Yes, thank you!” He replied, making sure he put his finger on the sentence he’d been at. “It’s getting very exciting!”

“Uhh, that’s good then…” Mondo mumbled, going back to his homework as Kiyotaka continued reading…

“What’s it about?” Mondo asked as he was getting near the end of the book.

“Excuse me?” He hadn’t seen what Mondo was looking at.

“The book… what’s it about?”

“Oh! It’s about a boy who discovers he’s a wizard and goes to a school for wizards and witches.” He summarised.

“So it’s just a book about going to school?” Mondo scowled. “You’re already _at_ a school!”

“But it’s a _magical_ school! And there’s an _evil_ _wizard_ they have to stop!” Mondo didn’t look impressed. “It’s better than I’m making it sound…” He admitted. “You’d probably enjoy it if you read it yourself…”

“Well… I’m doing pretty well with homework this week…” Mondo said, “Maybe I can give it a look once you’ve finished?”

… _Mondo? Willingly_ reading a book!? He could keep the grin off his face…

* * *

(Friday, March 16th 2012)

“Ah, Chihiro! Do you think these are appropriate discussion topics regarding the book?” Taka nervously shoved a cue card full of prompts in front of his face in lieu of saying ‘hello’.

Most of it was things along the line of ‘Plot twist = surprising!’ although he’d also included ‘Mockery of Granger, _why_?’ and ‘Sorcerer’s Stone = Philosopher’s Stone?’

“Umm… yeah, they seem fine, Taka.” Chihiro shrugged as they started walking to the reserve department.

“Are you sure…? I feel that they aren’t particularly in-depth, but I didn’t have much time to think about it and…” Taka started prattling nervously.

“It’s _fine!_ If they’d wanted in-depth discussion they probably would have picked a more complex book!” Chihiro pointed out, “It’ll just be a casual chat, not a classroom exercise.”

“Ah… I suppose so…” Taka conceded, although he looked even more nervous than before, spending most of the walk memorising his cue card before hiding it in the inner pocket of his shirt while Chihiro took off his coat to reveal the boy’s uniform again.

“It’s a shame you’re only wearing it on this side of the school…” Taka muttered absently.

 _Urg_ … Did Taka think it was weak of him, to only wear this on the less-important side of the school? Chihiro had to admit that Taka was probably right, only showing this to people he’d never meet before was pretty cowardly, but he didn’t want to admit how weak he’d been for the last half of a year to all the Ultimates yet… he wasn’t _that_ strong yet, but how could he explain that to Taka…?

“It’d be nice if there were more than two people in our class who could wear the school tie correctly!” Taka finished, wryly.

“Umm… _that’s_ what annoys you about it?” Chihiro asked, surprised out of his train of thought.

“Err… yes?” Taka looked slightly nervous, as if he’d just been called on to answer a question he didn’t know the answer to, “Should I be annoyed for some other reason?” He asked, sheepishly.

“No… I just thought you might be…” Chihiro admitted, “…Don’t worry about it!” He added, in response to Taka’s confused frown, “We’ll be late for the club if we don’t get inside soon!”

“AH! Of course!” Taka jumped and quickly marched inside.

Inside the room were around 10 reserve course students, mostly girls and all still in their uniforms, along with…

“Ah, Fukawa! What a nice surprise to see you!” Taka exclaimed brightly to the author, who was currently surrounded by a group of excited girls.

“Y-you’re here to?” Toko stammered at him, “Well, I suppose that’s makes sense, as _you’re_ the one who gave Gekkogahara that list…” She frowned irritably, “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the type to read a _kids_ book though…”

Wait, _Gekkogahara_? Was that where she and Togami had gone on Wednesday? For therapy? Why did Toko need therapy…? Well… aside from all the self-loathing… assuming it wasn’t _just_ the self-loathing…

“Ah, well, _Chihiro_ told me it was a good book, didn’t you?” Taka smiled as he unwittingly threw him under a bus… He’d not even told Toko he was boy yet! What was she going to say!? Would she tell all the students here he usually wore a dress? What would happen then!?

“…” Toko was staring at him, probably realising for the first time this evening who he was… “W-well, whatever…” She muttered as she looked away.

Wait… was that _it?_ She’d found out he was a boy who’d been dressing as a girl for half a year and her response was just ‘ _well, whatever.’!?_

“Anyway! I guess I’d best introduce myself to everyone!” Taka suddenly exclaimed, sounding as if he was forcing himself to sound happy about it.

Chihiro barely paid any attention as Taka led him around in a circle and shook hands with all the other students in the club, he only really checked back into reality when they approached Toko…

“My name is…”

“I-I _know_ your name, i-idiot!” Toko snapped at him, “W-why are you using the exact same introduction on _everyone_ here!? E-everyone in the room heard you the first time!”

“Err… but Togami told me that’s how I should _always_ introduce myself!” Taka stammered.

Chihiro was about to say that Togami probably hadn’t meant that quite as literally as Taka had taken it but…

“W-what!? W-well I suppose if _Master_ says that’s how you should do it then you’d best listen to him…” Toko told him.

That led to Taka excitedly using the exact same line on the other half of the students in the room, most of whom exchanged awkward glances at each other, but still introduced themselves politely, the last couple even going as far to imitate Taka’s style of introduction back at him.

Geez, he’d been expecting at least _one_ of them to call out Taka’s redundant behaviour, but instead they’d just acted like he couldn’t possibly be in the wrong… Were _all_ the reserve students this sheep-like?

“S-so are we actually going to discuss the book then?” Toko asked, once Taka had finished and they’d sat down.

“Oh! Uhh… yes!” One of the girls sat next to Toko almost jumped out of her seat. “Umm… so what did _you_ think of it, Fukawa-sama?”

“W-why are you making _me_ start?!” Toko grumbled, “I-is it so you can make _fun_ of my answer…?”

“N-no! Of _course_ not!” The girl fawned, “I just thought, as you’re the Ultimate Writer, that your answer would be the _correct_ one!” She gushed, as most of the group nodded in agreement with her.

“…There isn’t much room for discussion if you insist on designating all of the answers from a single person as being ‘correct’ or ‘ _incorrect_ ’!” Taka suddenly turned irritable.

Was that something _else_ his old class had done to him, insisted he was always _wrong_ in group discussions? Chihiro would have to find a way to ask him, or see if he’d mentioned it to Mondo at some point…

“Err…” The girl next to Toko froze, as did most of the other students. Were they _scared_ of _Taka?_

“…Although I suppose, as a writer herself, Fukawa will probably have some insightful points to start the discussion with!” Taka conceded, to the visible relief of the reserve students.

“W-well… I thought it was pretty well written, for a kid’s book…” Toko started, and the students nodded along.

“Well, just because something is meant for younger readers, doesn’t mean its inherently poor quality!” Taka countered, “In some ways writing material suitable for _everyone_ is more challenging that writing for adults only!” The reserve students nodded along with _him_ as well.

“It d-depends on the genre…” Toko muttered, “O-obviously some books for adults are trash, but compared to other books in it’s genre Harry Potter is d-decent…” The reserve students nodded along again…

They did a _lot_ of nodding along for the whole of the ‘discussion’, which consisted mostly of Toko making a point and Taka countering it, while the students nodded along with everything, regardless of _how_ contradictory it was. At least until…

“W-well, if _you_ k-know so much, w-what’s _your_ thoughts on the book!?” Toko finally snapped at Taka.

“Err…” Taka froze for a second as every student in the room looked at him expectantly, “I thought it was interesting that the Sorcerer’s stone was so similar to the concept of a Philosopher’s stone… what with it being able to turn lead to gold and grant immortal life…” He stated, to the confusion of all but one of the reserve students, who nodded in understanding.

“Oh… t-that’s because it _was_ a Philosopher’s stone in the original, British, version…” Toko smirked, obviously pleased she’d known something that Taka hadn’t. “They changed it to ‘Sorcerer’s stone’ when they brought the book to _this_ country, because they didn’t think anyone would know what a Philosopher’s stone was supposed to be, and Sorcerer’s stone sounds more interesting.”

“ _What!?_ How ridiculous!” Taka exclaimed, “It’s perfectly common knowledge!”

“N-no it’s not… J-just because _you_ know it doesn’t mean anyone _else_ does!” Toko countered.

“But it’s part of the history of scientific research!” Taka cried, which was news to Chihiro. “I’m sure everyone here has heard of it before, right?” He turned to the students, who looked like they were going to nod in agreement until...

“Urg, no they _won’t_ have!” Toko snapped. “Have you?” She also turned and looked around at them…

They all froze, exchanging nervous glances with each other. Were they seriously _that_ worried about contradicting an Ultimate that they refused to answer a simple yes/no question? It seemed like that was the case… This weird silence was going to last forever if someone didn’t speak up first.

“Umm… actually I’ve never heard of it before.” Chihiro admitted.

“Y-you _haven’t!?”_ Taka cried.

“No… I haven’t either!” One of the reserve students piped up, followed by _all_ of the others… including the one girl Chihiro was sure _had_ known what a Philosopher’s stone was when Taka first mentioned it. Geez, what a bunch of cowards…

“Err… well allow me to explain it then!” Taka’s eyes lit up at the prospect of ‘helping fellow students study!’…

The rest of the meeting consisted of the reserve students listening intently while Taka, occasionally interrupted by Toko, told them about the quest to make a Philosopher’s stone and some of the, in retrospect, _incredibly stupid_ things scientist’s had done in their attempts…

“Well, I think that went pretty well, didn’t it!?” Taka smiled as they stepped out of the building.

“Urg… they were just a bunch of suck-ups…” Toko grumbled.

“What do you mean?” Taka asked.

“Umm, Taka, they were just agreeing with everything you and Toko said…” Chihiro told him.

“What!? Why would they do _that!?”_

“B-because they know they’re even bigger t-trash than _me…_ ” Toko griped.

“They are _not_ trash!” Taka snapped back at her, “And neither are you!”

“Y-you’re just s-saying that… it’s not l-like you _know…”_ Toko muttered defiantly. Geez, if only Togami would order her to _like_ herself…

“Err… well… you had some very good arguments in there!” Taka made an incredibly mis-aimed counter argument.

“W-whatever…” Toko muttered, effectively ending that line of conversation and causing them all to walk in tense, pensive silence for the remainder of the journey…

“Well… I hope you have a good weekend Fukawa! And I’ll see you tomorrow, Chihiro!” Taka saluted them both as he unlocked his door… “Oh! K-kyoudai! I… I wasn’t expecting to see you in here!” He said with a mixture of surprise and annoyance as the opened the door…

“Uhh… yeah, I used your spare key…” Chihiro could hear Mondo talking from Taka’s room, “I was doing Science homework and…” The door shut and cut off the rest of Mondo’s sentence. Well, hopefully Mondo would ask Taka to go meeting his gang now, if he hadn’t already…

And… now that Taka was gone… “Umm… Toko?”

“I-is this about you dressing as a boy, or whatever?” Toko asked dismissively, “I d-don’t really care… you can do what you want!” She snapped.

“Umm, it wasn’t that… but now you mention it, could you not tell anyone I was dressed as a boy?” He asked, “I mean… a lot of the class know I _am_ one, but I’ve not told anyone I’m going to the reserve department dressed as one…”

“W-wait… you’ve _told_ people you’re a boy? W-why didn’t _I_ hear about it then!? Toko asked, “Is it because everyone hates me! Did they all decide to keep it a big secret from me, as a joke!?”

“No! I asked them not to tell anyone, so they’ve all kept it secret… from _everyone_!” Chihiro corrected her.

“W-what? E-even that loudmouth?” Toko pointed to Taka’s door in surprise.

“…Do you mean Mondo or Taka?” Chihiro asked.

“Y-you told _both_ of them!?” Toko gaped, “And they kept it _secret?_ ”

“Umm… yes!” Chihiro said. “I mean… most of the people in our class are really good about keeping secrets… like how it’s really obvious that Leon’s dating Sayaka, but no one says anything about it because it would ruin her career!”

“Well… I suppose that’s just trivial stuff… it’s not like _matters_ that you wear a dress or Sayaka’s _mouth down south_ isn’t as clean as she _pretends_ it is…” Toko scowled, “It’s not like any of _you_ have done something _terrible…”_

“Umm…” Chihiro blinked at Toko for a moment, “Do… do you think you’ve done something terrible?” He asked, “Is that why you and Togami are seeing Gekkogahara?”

“AAH!” Toko flinched, “Th-th-that’s none of your business! J-just keep y-your mouth _shut_ or I’ll t-tell everyone about your stupid _secret!_ ” She threatened… “M-maybe I’ll even write it into my n-next book… the confused heroine wondering why she’s attracted to the cute, girly programmer… until they go to a slumber party together and she catches him…”

“Alright! _Fine!_ ” Chihiro snapped in disgust at the thought of starring in one of Toko’s books, even if she obviously _was_ just trying to freak him out so much he wouldn’t talk… “I only asked in case you wanted someone to talk to about it!”

“W-well _I d-don’t_!” Toko snapped, “I-I can a-always talk to _Master_ about it! A-and he’ll order me to shut up about it… and then _he’ll_ …” Toko’s voice took on a distant quality as she started up another fantasy about Togami, which continued until after Chihiro had slipped away from her back into his own room…

* * *

(Saturday, March 17th 2012)

Kiyotaka scanned the dining room for any signs of his classmates… much to his embarrassment, he was up far later than he would usually be. Introducing himself so many times and arguing with Toko last night had been surprisingly tiring, and as nice as it had been to see Mondo doing his homework when he returned to his room, he’d rather been hoping he could just start getting ready for bed straight away instead of spending a while helping his friend… and by the time he’d lent Mondo the Harry Potter book he’d been so eager to get to sleep that he forgot to set his alarm and overslept…

He scowled as he spotted that the only people from his class who were still at breakfast were Mondo, Hagakure and… _Kuwata…_ who were all sharing a table together.

He was half tempted to try and sneak off to an empty table, but there weren’t any left… and Mondo _had_ asked him to try and get on better with Kuwata…

“Good Morning, Everyone!” He tried to sound more upbeat than he felt as he approached the table.

“Taka? You’re only just having breakfast?” Mondo looked up in surprise.

“Err… yes, I overslept.” He admitted, “No one is perfect, after all!”

“Heh… is that because of your ‘ _scandalous tryst’_ …” Kuwata smirked.

 _A scandal!? Him!?_ “ _Excuse me!?”_ He chocked in shock, “I’ll have you know I was at a book club with Chihiro and Fukawa and several other witnesses…”

“Woah… Kyoudai, chill… he’s just making a joke…” Mondo patted his shoulder, “Hagakure had a dumb prediction about you, that’s all…”

“Well… I can assure that predication was wrong, as I have been involved in no such thing!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Well, yeah… I only had the prediction this morning…” Hagakure shrugged. “Not much time for it _to_ have happened yet…”

“WHAT!?” Kiyotaka panicked… “What _exactly_ did you predict…?”

“Just some nonsense that obviously part of the shit that’s never gonna happen…” Mondo assured him, “Like me only needing 2 hours ta read _this!”_ He waved the copy of Harry Potter at Hagakure irritably.

“You started reading it already?” Kiyotaka smiled, “How far did you get?”

“Uhh… the bit where he lets out the constructor…” Mondo muttered, embarrassed, while Kuwata quickly covered a smirk with his hand…

“…Do you mean the _constrictor?_ The snake?” He checked.

“Is _that_ what it says!?” Mondo blinked, “Leon, you _ass!_ ” He sighed at Kuwata, who just dissolved into laughter, “What _else_ did you tell me ta read wrong?”

“Well… the dude in chapter one is Dumble _dore_ not _bore_ and Harry’s cousin is called _Dudley…_ ”

“…I _thought ‘_ Dudely’ was a fucking stupid name…” Mondo tried to sound annoyed with him, but it ended up being spoiled by him laughing slightly, “Last time I ever ask _you_ for help reading…”

“Suits me!” Kuwata laughed along with him and Kiyotaka tried not to feel jealous of how easily he seemed to get along with people, even when he was _actively sabotaging_ them…

…

Later that afternoon, Kiyotaka was pacing back and forth across the school entrance anxiously… When Chihiro had first told him that this ‘roleplaying’ thing was a good way to meet people, he’d assumed that his initial recognition of the activity as being related to sex must have been incorrect.

But this prediction of Hagakure’s had worried him, even though the fortune teller _was_ wrong more often than right …

But on the other hand, _surely_ Chihiro wouldn’t have recommended _that_ sort of thing to him… After all, he’d _told_ the programmer he was intending to wait until marriage, obviously, so Chihiro wouldn’t have had told him to do something that contradicted his values…

…But he’d still brought along some condoms from the school storage room, _just in case_ he needed to hand them out before making his excuses and leaving the reserve department…

He stopped his pacing to yawn and stretch… despite oversleeping, he wished he’d got more sleep last night… Hopefully whatever this ‘roleplaying’ business actually _was_ it wouldn’t be too taxing…

* * *

Kiyotaka was pacing across the corridor irritably as Chihiro approached the front entrance… he wasn’t _that_ late, was he? He might have spent a while digging out a T-shirt that was both funny (to fellow geeks anyway) and didn’t fit _too_ tightly on his, now more muscular, chest… but he can’t have been more than five minutes later than they’d agreed to meet, could he…?

“Umm… hey Taka! Sorry if I kept you waiting!” He pre-emptively apologised.

“Ah, Chihiro! No… I arrived early.” Taka said, sounding a bit distant.

“Umm… is everything ok?” Chihiro asked as they started walking.

“Yes, everything’s fine!” Taka assured him, sounding a little brighter, “Mondo kept me up later than I’d intended to stay up, so I’m a bit tired today, that’s all!”

“Ohh, alright then!” Chihiro relaxed a bit.

“Err… Chihiro…” Taka glanced around and started anxiously once they’d got away from the school. “This roleplaying business…” He trailed off.

“…Yes?” Chihiro prompted.

“…Is it legal for us to be doing it?” He asked awkwardly.

What sort of question was _that_!? “Why _wouldn’t_ it be legal?” Chihiro asked.

“Well… the age of consent is 18 and I’m still 16…” he started.

 _Age of consent?_ Did he think they were LARPing and needed to sign insurance or something…?

“And also I recall telling you I was intending to wait until marriage…” Taka continued, oh geez he thought it meant _that!_

Chihiro could help but burst out into giggles… “It’s not _that_ sort of Roleplaying!” He gasped, “Haven’t you ever heard of Dungeon’s and Dragons? We’re playing _that!_ ”

“ _What!?_ That’s even _worse!_ ” Taka shouted and stopped dead.

“Umm… how is it worse?” Chihiro asked in confusion.

“It… it does things like summon demons!” Taka exclaimed.

Urg… he’d been raised in one of _those_ towns… “No, Taka, trust me, playing D&D doesn't summon demons…” Chihiro sighed, “And it isn’t it cult either…” He added, as Taka looked like he was about to bring up something else, “Those’re just stupid rumours made up by hysterical people…”

“Rumours?” Taka considered it… he did hate rumours after all... “Err… well if you’re _sure..._ ” He agreed with some reluctance. “But… what _does_ it involve, then?”

“Oh… you just make up a character and pretend to be them while another player, the ‘Dungeon Master’ makes up stuff that’s happening around you… It usually involves going into dungeons to fight evil monsters…”

“So it’s all… _pretending_ , then?” Taka looked at him with an intense frown.

“Yes! Exactly!” Chihiro assured him.

It didn’t stop him from remaining anxiously quiet for the remainder of the trip, probably still worrying about the whole ‘demon-summoning’ nonsense _regardless_ of what Chihiro told him…

Taka led them to the right room once more, although Chihiro was almost starting to learn the layout of the reserve department now he’d been here twice already. They opened the door to reveal two boys. One was wearing a pink shirt and a ridiculous hat, and the other was sat behind a large plastic screen designed to look like a wooden carving. The one behind the screen blinked in surprise at him and Taka briefly before jumping to his feet dramatically, revealing a T-shirt with “Dungeon Master” written in an ornate font.

“Welcome, wayward souls, to the realm of Dungeons and Dragons! I, the great being known as the ‘Dungeon Master’, will be your guide!” He said, as if it wasn’t literally _written on his chest!_ It seemed like this was going to be one of _those_ groups… “And who might _you_ young warriors be?” He carried on, gesturing to the pair of them with a flourish.

“I’m sorry I haven’t thought of a name yet!” Taka quickly yelled in a panicked apology before Chihiro had a chance to say anything.

“Umm… this is his first time playing D&D…” Chihiro tried to explain to the, now shocked looking, pair of reserve students.

“Oh… that’s alright! We’ve got some pre-generated characters for people to play as…” The boy with the hat passed over several sheets of paper. “I’m playing a bard if that helps.”

Chihiro resisted the urge to sarcastically mutter ‘Oh really?’ as he skimmed through the list and took the fighter out for himself.

“A… bard? Like a singer?” Taka asked, confused. “Aren’t we supposed to fight monsters…?”

Oops… Chihiro had been so excited to try playing D&D as a boy that he’d forgot that Taka wouldn’t have a clue what any of it was about…

“Yeah… bards get magical powers that help with that, and I can use a sword so…” The bard started to explain…

“Is _this_ where the roleplay club is!?” A familiar voice suddenly came from the door as it slammed open.

“Ah, Makoto! I didn’t realise _you_ were into this sort of thing!” Taka perked up at the sight of someone else he knew…

“ _Taka!?”_ Makoto gaped at him, “You play Dungeons and Dragons!?”

“Err… not yet…” Taka admitted, “But Chihiro said it was a good way to meet people!” He gestured to himself as he explained.

“Uhh…Chihiro…?” Makoto blinked and looked up and down at his male outfit, “Aww geez, I can’t _believe_ you’re wearing that…” Makoto muttered irritably, as he started to unzip his hoodie.

Uhhh What…? _Makoto_ of all people, saying that? Did he really think Chihiro looked weird, wearing jeans and a T-shirt? Was he about to tell the reserve students he usually wore a dress…?

“…I own _three_ D&D T-shirts and _still_ managed to pick the same one as you!” Makoto carried on with a wry laugh as he revealed the same joke emblazoned on his chest as the one on Chihiro’s. “Just my luck, eh!?”

“Nerdy T-shirt… Minus five charisma?” Taka read out. “Err… does that… _mean_ something?”

“It’s a joke… based on the rules for the game…” Makoto started, noticing Taka’s confusion. “Has no one explained the rules yet?” He asked.

“Err… rules? Chihiro said it was mostly just pretending…”

“Well, yes… but there’s also rules to it as well… let’s pick some characters and then _I_ can teach _you_ something for once!” Makoto and Taka laughed as Chihiro handed over the remaining character sheets. “Ooh! You should probably take the paladin… you’re prefect for that one…! And do we have a cleric yet…? I haven’t played one for _years…_ ”

Well, at least Makoto seemed to know how to setup a decent party and was happy to explain the rules to Taka… that’d give Chihiro a chance to see if they’d let him optimise this shoddily built fighter…

“Umm… do you mind if I switch up a few of these feats?” He pointed to the sheet.

“Well… I don’t see why not _…”_ The DM shrugged, “But this isn’t really a particularly combat focused campaign so don’t worry _too_ much about it…”

 _Urg…_ He’d kinda just been hoping to be able to walk around trouncing monsters all day… Oh well, at least he could make sure _his_ character was stronger than the other players at least…

* * *

“So… _these_ numbers determine my characters’ basic abilities and personality?” Kiyotaka started trying to summarise what Makoto and Silverleaf the Bard had just finished explaining to him. “And then all of _these_ are modifiers to dice rolls Dungeon Master-san will be asking me to do?”

“Yes.” Makoto nodded with a grin. “Don’t worry, it’ll make more sense once we start… But did you have any questions?”

“Well, just one…” He admitted, “I don’t quite understand how I’m supposed to behave based on these numbers…” He pointed to the numbers at the top of the sheet.

“Well… basically your character is reasonably strong but a bit slow to move. He’s also sensible and likeable but has difficulty learning things… also as a Paladin, he’s taken vows to be a force for good and lawfulness…” Silverleaf summarised.

“…So you can probably just act like you usually do and you’ll be fine!” Makoto added.

“But… I don’t really know how to act _likeable_ …” He admitted.

“Just… act like you usually do and you’ll be fine.” Makoto smiled.

“Yeah! Stuff like charisma and intelligence checks tend to be based on the dice rolls rather than how the player is acting! So the acting doesn’t really matter _too_ much!” Chihiro looked up from scribbling on his character sheet to explain.

“Ah… Alright then…” He nodded, that was a relief…

“But it’s more fun if you _do_ act!” Silverleaf added.

“Ok… is everyone ready?” The Dungeon Master asked, to which they all nodded. “Alright then! You are all, for varying reasons, sat inside the Dragon and Flagon tavern on the outskirts of…”

* * *

Several hours later, the game was finished, much to Chihiro’s relief. No wonder they’d said not to worry about his character being inefficiently balanced, they’d ended up spending most of the game talking with townspeople to discover the plot, with the guy playing the bard actually _singing_ and making stupid jokes at them, with Makoto encouraging him the whole time!

And then in the only fight they _did_ have the bard kept giving Taka orders instead of letting him choose what to do what to do for himself and Makoto had ended up rolling so terribly on all his healing spells that Taka’s character ended up dead! What kind of ‘Ultimate Lucky Student’ managed to roll a 6 on 4d8s!?

So much for this being a good way to make friends, Taka had probably wished he’d spent the afternoon studying instead…

* * *

He’d never had such a fun afternoon in his _life!_ Makoto and the other boy had been a _riot_ to listen to all afternoon, and he’d even tried to get a few jokes in himself… some of which actually got _laughed_ at even! And it had been nice to imagine going around the town and having most of the people he saw be _glad_ to see him and willing to help for once, even if it _was_ just because of a number on a piece of paper…

What on Earth had all the mothers back at home been _thinking_ refusing to let their children play that game!? They weren’t ‘summoning demons’… they hadn’t even been _pretending_ to summon demons, quite the opposite, in fact! He just hoped Silverleaf hadn’t minded having to keep explaining what he was supposed to do during the combat part.

Well, and there was also the other problem, which was…

“My character’s dead now?”

“Uhh… yeah, sorry Taka…” Makoto mumbled, “I think I remember why I stopped playing clerics now…”

 “So… Does this mean I can’t play again?” He asked, sadly. He’d enjoyed this afternoon...

“What!? No, you can just make a new character, and I’ll find a way for him to turn up in the story.” The Dungeon Master offered.

“Ah! Wonderful!” He couldn’t help but smile.

“And maybe I’ll make a character who’s _not_ a cleric…” Makoto muttered.

“I assume _you’ll_ keep the same character though, eh Chihiro? He seemed _very_ effective!” Kiyotaka hoped so… they probably wouldn’t have been able to prevent the cultists from getting the relic without him!

“Umm… I’ll probably not play again.” Chihiro decided, to his disappointment. “I don’t think I’m really into this in the end…”

“Err… oh!” Kiyotaka exclaimed… he hoped Chihiro hadn’t been annoyed with him _…_ “I… err… well I guess Makoto and I will see you two in two weeks, then!” He said to the two reserve students.

“Oh, it’s three weeks this time!” The Dungeon Master told him. “Because of the holidays?”

“Ah! Of course, my apologies! I keep forgetting about them because I’ll be staying in the school this time…” He admitted.

“What? Again!?” Makoto asked, startled.

“Err… yes. My father’s ended up covering for a lot of his colleagues who are on annual leave so it was more practical for me to stay and study…” He admitted, wondering why Makoto was frowning so much.

“So… Mondo’s not said anything to you about that?” Chihiro asked.

“Err… well he suggested I try to spend time with Sayaka… But given she’s likely to be with _Kuwata_ I think I’d be better off studying!”

“Aww, c’mon Taka! He’s not _that_ bad!” Makoto sighed. “Maybe you could watch them practise? Sayaka’s said he’s been putting a lot of _effort_ in on their practises on Saturday nights!”

“Really?” He couldn’t imagine Kuwata putting effort into _anything_ but… “I suppose I could go and see for myself, if they don’t mind it…” He conceded.

“That’s assuming you don’t end up with any other plans, at least…” Chihiro interjected. “You might get an invite to go along with someone else!”

A nice thought, but who’d want to go on holiday with _him!?_

* * *

“See you guys later!” Makoto waved as he headed into his room.

“Indeed! I hope your studying goes well!” Taka smiled, obvious to the fact that Makoto was probably going to spend the rest of afternoon binge-watching something on his TV…

“Oh, hey, Taka! You’re back!” Mondo’s voice celled out from inside his room.

“Err… You propped your door open to wait for me?” Taka asked, sounding a little flattered. “Did you need something?

“Yeah… I wanted to ask ya something…” Mondo mumbled as he came to the door.

Well… _finally_ he was asking about the holiday…

“Uhh… how’d you pronounce these words?” Mondo came out of his room and handed Taka a sheet of paper…

“Oh! Well, this first one is ‘Quidditch’”… Taka started.

Chihiro just about managed to stop himself from physically face-palming before heading back into his room… he’d have to try to talk to Mondo about this the next time he saw him…

* * *

(Sunday, March 18th 2012)

Kiyotaka flinched back into the waking world at the sound of his alarm clock and wearily turned it off… Was it _really_ 7am already? He’d slept through the night, but regardless his first thought was to turn the clock off and roll back into bed for a few more moments of peace and quiet…

But that was a foolish line of thought! He was going to the board games club today, and he _was_ going even if the thought of leaving his room, forcing a smile and talking to people made him want to pull his bedsheets back over his head and stay there all day…

…That really _was_ foolish, wasn’t it? Why was he so out of sorts…? Maybe he just needed food… he could treat himself to a little extra Dashi this morning, especially as he had his sparring with Sakura later…

Breakfast was uneventful, although he was a little surprised to see Celestia and Hifumi were already up, and even more surprised to see Chihiro quickly swallowing down the last remnants of his own food and dashing out of the room before Taka had even sat down with his own bowl… he’d not got the meeting time wrong, had he? Perhaps he’d best eat quickly to make sure he wasn’t too late to meet up…

He quickly finished his meal and picked up some fruit to eat at the club if needed. He checked the front entrance, but Chihiro wasn’t there, so perhaps he _had_ got the time right? But then why did Chihiro need to leave breakfast in such a hurry? Had he annoyed the programmer into avoiding him somehow?

Maybe if he _had_ , he wouldn’t have to go to the reserve department today… He could stay in his room and study in peace, or maybe with Mondo if he wanted to use his posters again…

Kiyotaka scowled and shook himself. What a ridiculous thing to hope for! His insistence on studying constantly was the reason he was so bad at interacting with others in the first place! He shouldn’t be _actively hoping_ he’d annoyed one of his friends just to be getting out of socialising! Normal people didn’t _think_ like that!

He’d just have to go back to his room and hope Chihiro _did_ come to meet him at the agreed-upon time.

He opened the door to find, to his amazement, that Mondo was already awake (on a Sunday!) and setting up his laptop on Kiyotaka’s desk.

“OH! Hey Kyoudai!” He jumped, slightly guiltily. “I was gonna ask if you’d mind me doin’ homework in here again, but I didn’t get up early enough to catch ya and thought you’d have gone ta the games thing ya mentioned already…” His eyes shifted back and forth, looking everywhere but _at_ Kiyotaka.

“Oh, that’s fine!” Kiyotaka forced a smile, disappointed that he really _would_ have been able to study with Mondo if not for the club, “Just make sure you tidy back up after yourself, please!”

“Sure… no problem!” Mondo grinned and finished plugging in his laptop, while Kiyotaka spent the spare minutes trying to do a few stretches to perk himself up, before heading back out to meet Chihiro… and barely remembering his manners enough to say goodbye to his Kyoudai while he was at it…

* * *

Chihiro was slightly late to meet Taka again… it had been kind of a pain getting dressed as a girl, having breakfast and then going to get changed into boys clothing again… but it was worth it to get to look the way he actually _felt_ , right…? Even if he wasn’t particularly feeling excited about being able to wear guy’s clothing in public right now…

Still… at least Taka wasn’t looking as irritable about it today… instead of stalking up and down the corridor, he was just calmly stood leaning against the doorframe. Maybe he’d actually taken Mondo and Leon’s advice about not getting as worked up about punctuality as he normally did…

“Hi Taka!” He called out to the hall monitor… Who prompted jumped in shock.

“Ahh!” Taka’s eyes snapped open and he looked around him in panic. “Ah, Chihiro! Err… Sorry, I guess I must have dozed off while I was waiting…” He rubbed his eyes and tried to shake himself awake, “My apologies, I seem to be… out of sorts today.”

“Uhh… really?” Chihiro asked, worriedly “Are you feeling sick or something?” It must be something really bad for him to actually _admit_ it for once!

“Ah… no, it’s not like that…” Taka frowned, “I just… seem to have woken up in a poor mood…”

Wow… he supposed even _Taka_ had off days…

“Oh… well, a day of fun games should cheer you up!” Chihiro patted him on the arm to encourage him to move. It’d be much better for him than staying inside and studying all day would have been!

“Err… right…” Taka muttered as they headed over to the reserve course.

It was another quiet walk, and Chihiro had to point out to Taka that they almost walked right past the building they were supposed to be entering, causing him to apologise loudly the whole way up the hallway.

“Really, Taka, it was just a simple mistake…” Chihiro sighed at him as they got to the correct room, which was big enough to warrant having double doors. “Quit being so hard on yourself!”

“Ah… alright then…” He agreed reluctantly as Chihiro opened a door.

The room _was_ big, and lined with shelves full of haphazardly stacked boxes of varying shapes, sizes and colours. Wow… look at all those board games! Chihiro didn’t even realise there _were_ that many board games… This would be _great_ for Taka! Set rules for interaction, taking turns to stop him from accidently going off on a tiresome monologue... What could possibly go wrong?

“Is this the right place? I don’t see anyone playing Monopoly…” Taka muttered, and Chihiro resisted the urge to sigh at his assumption that Monopoly was the only board game that existed. He was right that no one seemed to be playing _board_ games, after all… The room, was filled with several lines of two by four foot tables, where students (mostly boys) had split into pairs and were playing various card games… Chihiro could recognise Pokemon and Magic the Gathering, and there were a few others being played, and even a game that seemed to be played using different colourful dice… but no obvious board games.

“Maybe it’s not on this week?” Taka suggested, jovially “It might have been double booked!”

“Well… let’s ask someone!” Chihiro suggested and led him over to a pair of guys playing a card game with Megaman and Street Fighter characters in it. “Umm… Excuse me? We heard there’s supposed to be board games played here?” He asked.

“Oh, yeah, that’s Godai’s thing… He’s over there.” The boy pointed to a small table near the back of the room, where a lanky guy appeared to be talking a nondescript, brown haired girl.

“Great! Thanks!” Chihiro smiled and they headed over to the pair. “Umm, hi! We were told you were the person to ask about board games?”

“Yes… that would be me!” The guy looked slightly surprised to see them, possibly because they were Ultimates. “I’m Ryosuke Godai… I usually come here every Saturday to play games, and can teach you the rules to most of the games here…”

“Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but my friends call me Taka!” Taka came out with the exact same introduction as at the book club, “And this is Chihiro! He’s good with computers!”

“Good to meet you.” Godai shook both their hands, “And this is… Taeko Yasuhiro, wasn’t it?” He asked the girl he was talking to.

“…Yes.” She answered, irritably. Well _she_ seemed like a barrel of laughs to play with… Why the heck did she looked so peeved that they’d come to play as well…? And why did she seem so familiar?

* * *

_Taeko? Taeko Yasuhiro!?_ Wasn’t that the name of the girl Hifumi had been drawing recently? The one who looked like Celestia, only without her wigs?

In person, she looked even _more_ like Celestia… especially with that angry scowl on her face!

Could it be…? _Was_ it Celestia? If it was, she’d obviously gone to great lengths to hide it though, her eyes were even a different colour! It was probably best to treat her like he was meeting someone new, at least until he got a chance to ask her privately…

“Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but my friends call me Taka!” He followed Togami’s advice yet again and shook her hand whilst trying to be blithe. She shook his hand limply, looking slightly less irritated at his presence.

“So… what sort of games have you played before?” Godai asked them, barely audible above the noise from the other tables.

“I’ve only played Shogi.” Kiyotaka admitted, assuming darts didn’t count.

“Hmm… I presume you mean board games? I’ve played Othello and Shogi, but I generally tend to play games that require luck and bluffing… poker mostly.” Yasuhiro answered in the exact same way he’d have expected Celestia to. “But I was wanting to try something that _didn’t_ involve luck.”

“Umm… I’ve played a few games like Catan, Seven Wonders and Ticket to Ride.” Chihiro names several games he’d never even heard of.

“So something strategic then?” Godai seemed pleased, “Well, we’ve got plenty of things that work well on four players…” He gestured to the shelves around them, “…it depends what type of game you want…”

“What types of games _are_ there?” Kiyotaka asked, he’d always just thought it was Monopoly and the one where you had to figure out who’d killed someone… But looking at all the boxes, he was starting to get the impression there was far more to this than he’d expected… If each one of these involved learning its own set of rules and playstyles it would likely take him _years_ to be good at any of them…

“Well… we’ve got drafting games, Euro games, deck builders some Co-op games…”

Did he hear that right? (He wished he had the authority to tell the other players in the room to simmer down…) _Co-operative games!?_ Like the roleplaying? Maybe they could play one of _them_ and it wouldn’t matter so much if he didn’t _quite_ understand what was going on… “Something co-operative sounds good!” He suggested.

“Is that alright with you two?” Godai asked the others, who just shrugged at him. “Well, the best one I have is probably Sentinels…” He walked over to the shelves and brought back three boxes, each depicting various cartoony-looking fights. “Each of us plays a different hero and we work together to fight a villain.”

“That sounds delightful!” Kiyotaka smiled.

“Ok… I’ll get out all the heroes so you can have a look at them before you pick…” Godai opened a box and started sorting out cards into different piles, although judging from the number of cards in the box it was likely to take a while.

“While you’re doing that, could you tell me where the restrooms are?” Yasuhiro asked him.

Ah! This might be his chance to talk to her in private! “Oh, there were some just outside in the corridor… I can show you where, if you like?”

“Thank you.” She smiled, and they headed out of the room together…

“That’s much better…” Kiyotaka relaxed as the door shut out all the noise from the room.

“What is?” Yasuhiro asked him.

“Oh! Err… the silence? That room was pretty loud, wasn’t it? I’m surprised anyone can think with all that noise…” He admitted. “And of course, I don’t have the authority over here to tell students to be quiet.”

“Oh? You can tell other students on the main school to be quiet?” Yasuhiro asked, innocently… _too_ innocently. It looked like _he_ was going to have to be the one to broch the subject…

“Celestia, I can tell it’s…” Was as far as he got before her angry scowl switched itself back on.

“ _Don’t… tell… anyone!”_ She hissed, threateningly.

“I don’t intend to… but... _why_ have you gone to this much trouble to hide your identity? You’ve even changed your eye colour!”

“Well… it’s more that I’ve _not_ hidden my identity today.” She admitted, “My original name _is_ Taeko Yasuhiro and _this_ is what I look like without my wigs, makeup and contacts.” She shrugged. “But _don’t_ tell anyone! I don’t want everyone knowing that ‘Celestia Ludenberg’ is actually some Plain-Jane from a tiny suburb and if they _do_ all find out then…”

Plain-Jane? He wouldn’t have called Teako ‘plain’… she just looked refreshingly normal and much healthier than the overly-white complexion that she bore as ‘Celestia’! And what was wrong with living in a suburb!? Still it must have been something that bothered her if she went to the trouble of creating an entirely new identity to hide it…

“I already said I _wouldn’t_ tell anyone!” Kiyotaka reminded her. “But, I think it’s marvellous that you’ve become comfortable enough with your real self to come and meet people _as_ yourself instead of ‘Celestia’” He said, feeling proud that another of his classmates was showing such incredible personal gro…

“Hmm? Hehe… No… this isn’t like Chihiro wearing jeans and a T-shirt.” She smirked, “I’ve only come here as _Taeko_ because the reserve students have started refusing to bet against _Celestia_.” She let out that overly-innocent smile again. “It’s more convenient this way! Even though people don’t rush to help me with things…except Hifumi…”

So… she was just doing to milk money from the reserve course!? _Honestly!_ How did he ever think _she’d_ grow up so quickly? “That’s an _appalling_ thing to do to people! Do you really think you can keep on…”

“Yes, yes… I can’t keep this up forever… I’ll have to do my own work eventually… etcetera etcetera…” She sighed condescendingly. “Now, you were supposed to be showing me these restrooms?”

* * *

“Do we need _all_ these cards?” Chihiro asked, as the guy in charge of the board games meticulously stacked up piles of colourful cards.

“No… we’ll hardly use any of these for the actual game, I’m just getting them out so you can pick a character!” Godai answered, “Feel free to have a look at anything that interests you.”

Hmm… there were a few cool looking robot guys… Chihiro had a quick look through their decks… hmm, one seemed kinda clunky to play, the second was mostly support and minor damage and the third guy…

“Power… Absolute Zero deals _himself_ one damage? Is that a misprint or…”

“It makes sense with the rest of his deck… but I wouldn’t recommend playing him on your first game.” Godai explained, “Unity’s good, if you like robots.” He added, passing over a deck with a picture of a young girl magically putting together some sort of machine…

Chihiro looked through… She had tons of robot minions that played off each other… that was pretty cool… she’d probably start slow but would be awesome if he could get several things out and keep them alive…

Taka and Yasuhiro came back just as he was shuffling Unity’s deck and Godai was setting up another couple of play areas for what appeared to be a cheesy mad scientist villain and an environment full of dinosaurs. “Pick a character!” He gestured to the display.

“Hmm… I’ll take… _this_ one!” Yasuhiro almost seemed to pick at random.

“Err… this fellow looks respectable.” Taka unsurprisingly honed in on the white-clad superman expy.

“Legacy? He’s a general support character… pretty simple to play...”

“Perfect!” Taka smiled, and sat down in the seat to Godai’s right, leaving Yasuhiro sat to Chihiro’s right…

“In which case I’ll play Fanatic…” Godai muttered, picking up an angelic woman. “Now, let me explain the game…”

* * *

Hmm… maybe today wouldn’t be as bad as he’d felt it would be… This game seemed fun, after all! They were fighting the evil Baron Blade, who built a device to drag the moon into the Earth! It was just a shame he couldn’t make much sense of what was going on during the villain’s turns, what with all the noise…

But, the character he was playing was useful! He’d started with a basic power (Galvanise) that made his teammates stronger, and then a few turns in manage to add a second (Motivational Charge) that dealt damage and healed everyone for a point of damage… which made up for the fact that Celestia’s character seemed to do half as much damage to _himself_ as he did to the opposing team!

The same couldn’t be said for Chihiro’s character though, he’d skipped several of his turns to draw extra cards and then all he’d got for it was a robot that let him draw _even more_ cards and another that he’d sacrificed to get rid of a rampaging T-Rex… Meanwhile the rest of them were slowly whittling down the villain’s health…

“Hmm… does anyone have anything that would make sure Swift bot doesn’t get destroyed for a few more turns?” Chihiro asked, worrying about his unfairly low-health subordinates.

“…Ishimaru’s got a card that makes everyone but _him_ immune to damage for a turn.” Celestia pointed out, sounding a bit irritated.

“I do?” He checked his hand again… “Oh _that_ one! I ignored it because I thought dealing myself three damage to activate it was bad…” He admitted.

“Well… yes… but it’d prevent the rest of us taking more than that, so it works out.” Chihiro explained.

“Ah, ok then… can we go back to my turn and I’ll play _that_ instead?”

“Leave it for next turn, I’ve got something similar…” Godai offered, playing a card that ended up causing his character to take multiple hits in place of the intended targets and leaving his character’s health very low…

“Well… _this_ turn I’ll play the immunity card!” He put it down and took the requisite three points of damage… hopefully on the Baron’s turn it wouldn’t cause him _too_ much damage…

“Ok… so on Blade’s turn… he deals four damage to the lowest health hero and six to the highest health one… Both are which are immune!”

“So I take ten damage in their place?” Kiyotaka checked.

“No…? You’re making us immune, not redirecting.” Godai said, which made no sense at all…

“Umm… you’ve put up a shield, whereas Godai jumped in the way of the hit?” Chihiro explained it a bit more clearly.

“Oh… Why?” Kiyotaka asked, “I mean… why is my card a better version of yours?”

“It’s just how the decks are balanced. I’ve got other cards to make up for it.” Godai shrugged. “Anyway, it’s back to your turn.”

“I do… _four_ damage to Baron Blade…” Kiyotaka frowned, as he played the most damaging card in his hand and realised he’d not seen Godai play anything that did more than one or two damage to the villain…

“Is something wrong, Taka?” Chihiro asked.

“It’s just a little unsettling that the female characters in this game are weaker than the male ones…” He pointed out.

“Err… it’s not that they’re _weaker_ … we’re just playing characters that aren’t as simple as yours, so we need more time to set up…” Godai gestured to himself and Chihiro, “Not to mention Setback is luck based so half the time he’s more of a liability than this…” He gestured to Celestia.

That didn’t really explain why _his_ character was so much more helpful though, did it? And it was hard to believe Celestia’s character wasn’t normally helpful when he had all sorts of useful abilities that seemed to come out at just the right time, like…

“Hmm… each of you gets to use a power now.” She put away some of her tokens, “Although I’m taking _three_ damage.” She sighed.

“Well, not to worry! I’ll use my power that heals one and deals two damage, so that means Baron Blade is defeated!” Kiyotaka realised he could win the game…

“Umm… actually Taka, could you use Galvanise instead?” Chihiro suddenly asked. “Plus _two_ damage on my next turn would be really useful…”

“But… you’ve not been _doing_ any damage!” Celestia pointed out, “And every time he increases the damage we do it means _I_ end up hurting myself more!” She complained.

“…Am I the only person _not_ playing a masochist?” Chihiro smirked, “You all have cards that make you hurt yourself…”

“Sacrificing oneself for the greater good is _not_ masochism!” He explained to Chihiro, forcefully.

“I was _joking…_ But I promise, I’ll be doing enough damage to make galvanise more effective than Motivational Charge!” Chihiro pleaded.

Well… if it gave Chihiro a chance to prove this game wasn’t sexist… “Alright, I’ll use Galvanise…”

* * *

Plus _two_ damage to everything _and_ an extra power use to set up _before_ his turn started! This turn was going to be _amazing!_ “Ok… so I’ll use the power on Construction Pylon to play Turret bot and a raptor bot…”

“And I’ll do four points of damage to Baron Blade…” Godai adjusted the dice to zero.

“So we win then!” Taka smiled, “Great job every…”

“Ah _ha!_ Not quite! We may have destroyed the TerraLunar Impulsion Beam, but now Baron Blade is is in his weaponised war-suit and out for revenge!” Godai overdramatically flipped over the card and restored Blade’s health to forty points…

“…But didn’t we defeat him when he hits zero health?” Taka asked, disappointed.

“No… it says on his card to flip his character card over when he hits zero health…” Chihiro told him, having been helping Godai run the game and figuring something like this was going to happen.

“… _Must_ we?” Yasuhiro sighed, looking at her rapidly diminishing health total.

“Of course we have to! It’s in the _rules!_ ” Taka exclaimed. “I’m sure if we pull together we’ll be able to last a few more rounds…” He added, sounding a little unsure.

“Don’t worry… he won’t get _that_ many more turns.” Chihiro grinned as he started his combo. “At the _start_ of my turn Turret bot deals three, plus two damage… Then I’ll play a construction pylon, then use the power on it to play two more raptor bots…”

“Wow… looks like Baron Blade’s not even getting _one_ more turn…” Godai muttered.

“Hmm… it’s not _that_ good… I’m only doing twenty four points at the end of my turn…”

“ _What!? HOW!?”_ Taka lent over to look at his cards.

“Well at the end of my turn, each raptor bot does one damage for each bot I have in play, plus one, plus the two from you using your power twice, so that’s eight damage. And I have three of them makes twenty four.” He explained. “ _And_ even without your extra power, I’ll still be doing twenty-five damage _next_ turn, so long as my bots survive…” Chihiro couldn’t help grinning, smugly, “Girl Power!” He cheered, so much for Taka saying the female characters were _weak…_

“Ah…” Taka just looked at him anxiously at the last statement… _why?_ What was so weird about saying ‘girl power’ when he was dressed as a girl…

 _Oh…_ Oops… was that a weird thing for a guy to say? Crap, it probably _was_ wasn’t it? Were the reserve students going to think he was weird?

“Of course, you won’t _get_ a next turn, because _I’m_ doing twenty points of damage.” Godai smirked, as he put a card down and discarded several others. “ _Girl Power!_ ” He put his hand up for a high-five, which Chihiro gave him with an overwhelming sense of relief…

“What? How…?” Taka looked at the card he’s played. “Discard three cards to… you deal the difference between your current and maximum health!?”

“Which puts Baron Blade at minus nine points!” Godai grinned. “Of course, he’s the _easiest_ villain to fight…”

“Really? So there’s more villains to fight?” Kiyotaka asked, looking excited.

“Yes… but we seem to have a fifth player now, and this only really works on four…” Godai said apologetically as another male reserve student, wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a picture of a mask on it, walked up…

“You’ve read Liar Game?” Yasuhiro pointed at the T-shirt in surprise.

“Huh…? Oh, yeah!” The guy looked surprised as he looked at his own T-shirt. “It’s really good, isn’t it…?” He sat down in the seat to Taka’s right, so he was kinda opposite Yasuhiro, and started going on about _everything_ that had happened in the manga she’d mentioned, apparently in far more detail than she’d be expecting, given she started zoning out of the conversation.

“So… does anyone have a preference for a five player game?” Godai tried to interrupt him once he’d put all the cards for Sentinels back in their boxes. He didn’t have much success though…

“Umm… How about Settlers of Catan, if you’ve got the expansions…” The way the club was stocked they probably would have, “If it’s not too simple…”

“Ehh… I don’t really like playing games based entirely on dice rolls…” Godai admitted.

“Umm… How about Ticket to Ride? That does five players as well…” Chihiro mentioned the second game that came to mind.

“Sure, ok!” Godai got the game set up and explained all the rules to Yasuhiro and Taka… it was a pretty easy game, you started with tickets that told you to build a train track running from one city on the board to another, which you did by picking up sets of coloured cards (two per turn, either from five face up cards or a random one from the top of the deck) and then exchanging them to build on those coloured sections of the board. And you could pick up more tickets as well, although you _lost_ tickets for every ticket you’d taken that you didn’t manage to complete by the time one player got down to two or fewer trains and caused the game to end…

It was his Dad’s favourite, understandable given it was simple and usually a fun time for everyone involved… At least Chihiro had thought so _before_ playing it again…

 _Urg…_ This game had been so much more fun when it was just him and his Dad… For starters his Dad had never taken several minutes to take his turn, whereas Taka was taking more time to take _his_ turns than the rest of them put together… How did anyone get analysis paralysis from playing _Ticket to Ride!?_

Not to mention, when it was just him and his Dad, he didn’t have to watch the train wreck that was this guy on Taka’s right trying to flirt with Yasuhiro… She looked like she was regretting mentioning his T-shirt, because now he was asking her about every anime he could think of in the hopes of having a conversation with her…

“What about Full Metal Alchemist… Have you seen that?”

“I told you, I only really read manga’s about gambling, or by Yamada.” Yasuhiro shut down the attempt the same way she had the last four times… geez buddy, take a hint! He probably wouldn’t though, Chihiro was starting to remember why he’d stopped going to clubs like these while dressed as the only girl…

“ _I’ve_ read Full Metal Alchemist!” Taka announced excitedly, “I really like the…”

“That’s cool dude, but it’s _your turn!_ ” The guy scowled as he got Taka’s attention instead of Yasuhiro’s.

“Oh, of course… I’ll take a card from the top…” Taka took the card and returned to staring at his hand and tickets for a while…

“…I’ll take another card from the top.” Taka said about a _minute_ after drawing his first card. This started a flurry of activity as the other four of them did the actions they’d planned out in advance while he was still thinking…

“Anyway, as I was saying about Full Metal Alchemist…” Taka tried to start a conversation.

“Your turn again.” The guy before Taka sighed at him.

“ _Already!?_ How do you all play so quickly? Is there some trick I’m missing?” Taka asked worried.

“Well… I’m planning what I’m doing during your turn.” Yasuhiro told him, “I suspect everyone else is as well.”

“Well, that, and it helps to keep in mind what colours you’re going for and then you know to pick them up if they’re available or take from the top if they’re not?” Chihiro pointed out.

“But my priorities keep changing when I take tickets…” Taka muttered, “Speaking of which…” He took yet more tickets and started looking through them…

“…What happens if we run out of tickets?” Yasuhiro asked.

“I… don’t think you’re supposed to be _able_ to…” Godai looked at the pile, shocked. “You guys _do_ realise uncompleted tickets are worth negative points, right?” He asked Taka and Yasuhiro, who’d both taken a stack of the things each.

“Hmm…” Taka and Yasuhiro both murmured in agreement and after a while Taka took 2 tickets. _Finally!_ Now he just had to wait for Godai’s turn and he’d be able to build the final part of his routes and take some more tickets himself…

“I’m building here.” Godai announced, laying his tracks in the exact same spot he’d wanted. “Sorry, but I need it as well…” He added, probably noticing how pissed off Chihiro felt at being blocked _again…_

 _That_ was another difference between this game and the ones with his father… _They’d_ always had a kind of… gentlemen’s agreement not to on-purposefully screw each other out of routes, whereas _this_ lot seemed to be blocking every single thing he wanted to do! At least Godai had been apologetic… Chihiro was pretty sure the other guy had done it just to be irritating.

But the main problem was _Taka_ of all people… He just seemed to be obliviously placing random bits of track all over the board… and hardly any of them were connected to each other. Had he somehow managed to pick up a ton of tiny routes? Chihiro didn’t think there _were_ any tickets that small though… but on the other hand, Chihiro wouldn’t have thought him the type to pick an awful strategy just to mess with other players, and that was about the only way his play-style actually made any _sense_ …

Well… at least the game was almost finished, as Yasuhiro was running out of track to place… and there it was, she connected up her last two sections of track and was out of trains… _finally!_

“Right, everyone gets one more turn before scoring.” Godai announced.

“Cool, I’m building this…” the other guy put built a piece of track. “Your go…” he muttered to Taka.

“Err…” Taka just stared at the final section Yasuhiro had built for a moment. “…can I just check something...?”

“Kinda late for _that_ , isn’t it?” The guy to his right muttered, but Taka ignored him.

“…in order to complete a ticket, do you actually need to build a complete line between the two cities on it?” Taka asked, anxiously. “Or is it just building track _next_ to the two cities?”

 _Was he serious!?_ Had he spent the whole game thinking you just needed to build _next_ to them to score the points… well _now_ his play-style made sense, as did his mountain of tickets! He’d kept picking up more because he thought he’d completed them all!

“It… you actually have to form the line…” Godai cringed while telling him, as the guy on Taka’s right picked up the stack of tickets he’d chosen and burst into laughter as he looked through them…

“He’s got over a hundred negative points!”

“Wait, _what_!?” Taka cried, “Why do I have _negative_ points?”

“Umm… because any tickets you take but don’t finish get taken _away_ from your score?” Chihiro pointed out, “Remember, Godai even asked you about it specifically?”

“Err… I must not have heard…” Taka admitted sheepishly, “It’s a bit hard to hear with all those other players!” He added, gesturing to the rest of the room.

“Umm… well, I guess you can still build a single track with that card and get one point?” Chihiro suggested to him, not that it would help much against the other minus ninety nine…

“I’ll do that then…” Taka muttered in embarrassment and started counting up his tickets while Godai built more track and Yasuhiro ended the game by taking _even more_ tickets and keeping one.

“Right so now everyone add up the scores from your tickets…” Godai told them, with a slight apologetic look in Taka’s direction.

Chihiro had barely broken even, thanks to Taka blocking half his moves, so finished just behind the guy to Taka’s right, who was a fair ways behind Godai, who’d probably won unless Yasuhiro really _had_ managed to get all of her tickets comple…

“How do I demonstrate that I’ve got over one hundred points?” She asked, gesturing to the end of the tracker.

“We usually just wrap around to the start again and remember that you have another hundred points.” Chihiro pointed out.

“Err… Is there a way to indicate that my score is negative?” Taka asked.

Well, Chihiro hadn’t come _last_ at least…

“We probably don’t need to actually _see_ your…” Godai started trying to help him hide how badly he’d done but…

“Put the train upside down!” The other guy suggested, meanly.

“Ah! Good thinking!” Taka smiled and did so, indicating that he’d ended up with a total of minus 47 points, before looking over the other scores. “Congratulations Yasuhiro! That was a good game!” He smiled broadly and offered Yasuhiro a handshake, which she accepted with pleasant surprise. “Of course, _next_ game I’ll know what I’m _supposed_ to be doing and…”

“Urg, _no…_ I think I’m sick of this game of this game for _life_ now!” The guy to his right complained, which Chihiro could sympathise with somewhat… he didn’t really want to have to wait for Taka to take his turns again…

“That game _did_ seem a little too luck-based for my liking.” Yasuhiro frowned, “I’m sure I only won because I’m kept drawing tickets I’d already completed. Is there something that wouldn’t be able to give me such an advantage?”

“Hmm… maybe a deck-builder?” Godai suggested. “There’s a five player variant of Trains I’ve been wanting to try…”

* * *

Urg… why were the acoustics in this room so terrible!? How was he supposed to focus on the rules being explained by the solitary voice on his left when every other conversation going on in the room had merged into an incessant babble that was continually forcing itself into his awareness through his right ear and making him feel dizzy?

He was barely understanding the point of what Godai was explaining, his voice wasn’t clear over the noise… it was something about using the cards in his hand to buy other cards, which then could also be used to buy more cards… but also to build train lines? If they’d wanted to do that again, couldn’t they have just played that last game again? He’d have understood it this time!

Or better yet, if they man they were playing with hadn’t been so utterly ridiculous about it, they could have just played something simple with _dice_ instead of all these stupid cards with tiny text and incomprehensible symbols! It wasn’t as if dice were banned from the club, Kiyotaka could hear other groups somewhere else in the room that seemed to be rattling hundreds of the things onto the cheap plastic tables, adding an almost painfully irritating clattering noise to the already distracting babble that was making him wanting to scream at everyone just to get them to all quieten down so he could _think_ and _focus_ for just a few minutes!

“Any questions?” Godai had finished his explanation.

“Err…”

Oh gods, what was _wrong_ with him? Someone had been teaching him something and he’d not been paying any attention whatsoever! What was he supposed to say? ‘Sorry, can you spend another twenty minutes explaining that because I got distracted and wasn’t listening?’?

“Well, let’s play the first round, it’ll make more sense once we start…” Godai suggested, “I’ve got three money and a lay rails, so I’ll use the lay rails and one gold to place a track on this city, which makes me pick up a trash card, and then use the other two gold to buy a passing station…” He put a token on the board and picked up two cards from different piles on the table and put them face up with the ones he’d just been waving around. “Your go.” He gestured to Chihiro.

…What the heck did any of that _mean!?_

“Hmm… I’ve got three money, lay rails and station expansion so I’ll use lay rails to go on this meadow, put a station _here_ and buy an express train for three money… and I take _two_ trash cards?” Chihiro put down two tokens and picked up a card… but how come he didn’t have to pay to put tokens on the board like Godai had?

And where were they actually getting the cards they were using from?

Oh gods what was he going to do when it got to his turn because he had absolutely no idea what was going on…

“Hmm… Ok, let me know if I’m doing this right?” Celestia started, “I draw five cards from the top of my deck, here?”

 _Her_ deck…? _Ah_ , he’d been given a small pile of cards as well… so draw five of _them_ …

“…And I can use the ‘lay rails’ card to put new tracks down next to my other ones, but how much it costs depends on where I’m putting the track?”

“Yes… there’s a list of the costs here…” Godai passed over the back of the instructions.

“Thank you! And using ‘lay rails’ means I have to take a trash card…”

“Yes, that’s what the grey symbol means.” Chihiro piped up.

“And to buy cards from the centre, it costs the small red number on them, correct…? And any cards I take or buy go into the discard pile with the rest of my cards once I’ve used them?”

The others nodded… that all made sense… sort of… At least enough that he should be able to look at his hand and figure out what he was going to do on his turn…

“Then I’ll just place a track here, and buy a passing station and I’m done.”

“I’m just buying an express train. Done.”

…Which was _now! Aaaahhh_ …

Wait, calm down… don’t panic. Just draw the cards, try to ignore all the noise and figure out what he could do…

He’d drawn one of the waste cards, which appeared to be useless… then there was one of the cards they were using as money, two of the ‘lay rails’ cards and a purple one called ‘station expansion’… Well he knew what ‘lay rails’ did so…

Except he’d put his first track on a space surrounded by mountains, and the instructions said those cost _two_ money to build on so that was out…

“Hey! So have you ever watched…”

 _Argh!_ As if this games wasn’t difficult enough without the guy next to him continually startling him be asking Celestia about random animes in a _painfully_ loud voice…All this noise was starting to make him feel like he couldn’t breathe properly, which was ridiculous because of _course_ sound had no bearing on air quality and yet regardless he felt like he was needing to take deeper breaths than usual and…

“Err… you know it’s your turn right…?” Godai asked him patiently.

“S-sorry… I’m just thinking…” He muttered, trying to focus back on the game. There were no cards to buy that cost less than two money, so he couldn’t do that… which meant that the only card that might be useful was ‘station expansion’ but he didn’t know what it _did…_ the only person who’d used it was Chihiro.

Maybe he could figure it out using that? What had Chihiro done that no one else ha…

“ _Urg_ … is this guy _seriously_ an Ultimate? He’s so _slow!_ How _he_ get…”

“WILL YOU _SHUT UP_ , I’M TRYING TO _THINK_!” Kiyotaka pounded his hand on the table and shouted at him over all the noise…

The noise which then instantly subsided, causing him to feel a mix of relief and guilt, but was soon replaced by quiet murmurs and stares as everyone looked at him and wondered why the hell he’d suddenly shouted at someone for no good reason… Which was a good question! He’d had no good reason to shout like that, how had he lost his temper so easily…?

“Err… I…Sorry…” He muttered weakly. What else could he say? He had no excuse for getting so needlessly worked up by this! And now everyone in the room was starting to talk about him and he couldn’t understand what they were saying because it was all combining into that awful blathering mess that had been aggravating him all day and _he had to get out of here!_

* * *

“…I’m sorry, I’ve got to go!” Taka suddenly dropped his cards and strode out of the room in a panic, as everyone at the table stared at his sudden, angry outburst. Was he really finding the games that hard to play that he couldn’t manage it without silence? If he’d realised that was the case Chihiro would have suggested an easier game, or something two player to give him a break from that annoying asshat next to him…

“Ah! Taka, wait!” He tried to head out after Taka, but between the head start and his longer legs, Taka was able to make it to the door out of the building before he could catch up, and once he was no longer in the hallways he took off running at full speed… There was no way Chihiro was going to catch up to him _now…_

Urg… now what? Maybe it was best to try and smooth things over with the reserve students while Taka had a chance to calm down… and Taka would feel better if he could tell him the reserve students hadn’t been too upset with his shouting and then dashing off…

He headed back into the room, where the second guy had already taken Taka’s seat and was talking to an annoyed looking Yasuhiro.

“Is he coming back?” Godai asked.

“Uhh… I don’t think so. Sorry.” Chihiro admitted. “Umm… he’s not usually like that…” On second thoughts, explaining things to the reserve students might have been easier if he’d actually known _why_ Taka had been so irritable.

“He mentioned something about the noise irritating him earlier…” Yasuhiro mentioned, completely ignoring the guy trying to talk to her.

“The hell? It’s not _that_ loud…”

“Well… he’s not really used to going out to big social events like these, I guess he got a bit overwhelmed?” Chihiro tried to explain. “He’s probably really sorry about shouting at you!”

“Well… Whatever… Let’s just carry on playing…” The guy muttered. Chihiro guessed that counted as ‘smoothing things over’?

“Well… if we’re going down to four players, we might as well switch the starter decks back to how they’re supposed to be and restart the game…” Godai suggested.

“If we’re doing that, can I switch places with Chihiro so I’m not going last?” The other guy suddenly asked.

“Umm... I guess so?” Chihiro shrugged. Maybe that way he’d stop trying to talk to Yasuhiro so much…

Well, he _did_ stop talking to Yasuhiro as much as before… but only because the turns were moving fast enough that he didn’t get the _chance_ to chat… Instead he was _now_ using his position _next_ to her as an excuse to lightly touch her arm every time he announces that it was now _her_ turn, much to her obvious annoyance.

 _Urg…_ Chihiro really should have seen that coming… this guy obviously wasn’t getting the hint that she was here to play board games, not find a boyfriend! And from his own experience with people who used to get interested in him just because he was the only ‘girl’ in the same club as them, she’d probably just have to put up with it until he made a more definitive move, because it wasn’t polite to make a big scene over just being tapped on the arm, no matter how annoying it wa…

“Please stop touching me.” Yasuhiro suddenly turned to her right after the guy had done it again.

 _Huh…_ Looked like Yasuhiro didn’t worry about being polite as much as he always had?

“What…? I was just letting you know when it was your turn!” The guy she’d turned to became defensive.

“You can do that by saying when your turn has ended, like you did with Ishimaru.” She suggested primly.

“Alright, fine…” He muttered, as Yasuhiro carried on with her turn.

A few rounds later however…

“You’re touching me again.” Yasuhiro snapped at him.

“Oops… sorry!” He grinned, she just glared back at him in return…

Then another few rounds…

“ _Touch me again and I will find the biggest, spikiest token in this room and shove it up your ASS!”_ Yasuhiro shouted so suddenly that it reminded him of Celestia… and caused the room to go silent again.

“Geez, what’s your problem!? I’m just tapping your arm!” The guy snapped.

“Uhh… but you weren’t doing it to Taka… so it’s kinda obvious you’re trying to hit on her…” Chihiro surprised himself by standing up for her. “…And it’s also obvious she’s not interested, so, umm, maybe give it a rest?” He added, his voice raising in pitch far more than he’d have liked.

He scowled, “What would a scrawny dork like _you_ know about girls…?”

“Haha! Really now…” Yasuhiro laughed, “I’d bet a hundred thousand yen you couldn’t beat him in an arm wrestle…”

A _hundred thousand yen!?_ He knew the reserve students had money, but he didn’t think they were _that_ frivolous with it!

“…Alright… but when I win you have to go on a date with me!” The idiot smirked back.

“Umm… Yasuhiro? I don’t think I’ll…” Chihiro tried to warn her that accepting the bet was a bad idea…

“Deal!” She smiled, triumphantly. “Fujisaki, if you wouldn’t mind?” She smiled sweetly, gesturing to the seats on the empty stretch of table next to them.

“Umm… ok…” Chihiro muttered anxiously as the pair of them sat on opposite sides of the table and he tried to remember Taka’s advice on how to position your body and twist the opponents arm to give you an advantage…

“Are you both ready?” Godai asked, having apparently decided to referee the match. They both nodded. “Ok… Three, Two, One, Go!”

To Chihiro’s surprise, their arms stayed in pretty much the same position as they had started with, even after they first started pushing… he’d been expecting to be pushed down as soon as the match started… Now what had Taka said about pulling the opponents wrist upwards and towards you…?

“Urg!” His opponent let out a shocked gasp as his position weakened and Chihiro managed to start pushing his arm downwards… Then it was just a case of rotating his body and shoulder to push him down to the table…

“Fujisaki wins!” Godai announced.

“… _How?_ ” The other guy stared in shock at their arms, still on the table.

“He’s an Ultimate.” Yasuhiro shrugged.

“Umm… I’m an Ultimate _programmer…_ ” Chihiro pointed out.

“True… but you take PE lessons with the Ultimate sporty types, correct?” She asked, “Anyone with even a _slight_ desire to improve themselves will do so much faster when surrounded by exceptional people to motivate them…So you Ultimates probably have higher than average strength.”

Was that true? He was stronger just because he was an Ultimate? But then so were people like Toko and Yasuhiro and they weren’t very strong…

But then again, Chihiro _had_ been getting advice from people like Mondo, Taka, Sakura and Hina…

“…I guess you’re right…” He muttered, as the guy he’d been wrestling sulkily got out a chequebook. “I must be stronger than I realised!”

* * *

Kiyotaka slowed to a light jog as he passed the fountain, feeling slightly calmer from the exertion, but still needlessly tense after his escape from that room.

Wait, ‘escape’, _really?_ Why was he feeling as if he’d been trapped in there? He’d have been free to leave anytime, and all they were doing was playing some fun games… why had it made him panic so badly? Just because it had been a little noisy? What sort of ridiculous excuse was _that?_

And now what was he going to do? He was supposed to have spent the next couple of hours there… but the thought of going back and trying to explain himself made panic start rising in his chest…

He breathed deeply a few times, trying to relax himself… A hard feat given how tense and exhausted he felt. What was the matter with him today? Maybe he hadn’t slept enough? He’d got a full 8 hours but… the idea of going back to his room alone for two hours made him feel calmer, so perhaps he _hadn’t_ slept as well as usual?

He returned to his room… It felt a little pathetic to be going to bed when it was barely the afternoon… but he obviously needed the sleep if he was losing his temperament so badly… even if he didn’t feel particularly sleepy!

He opened his door and found, to his annoyance, that Mondo had left his laptop strewn over the desk and the light on, despite having finished his homework… At least that’s what he thought at first, until he entered the room properly and saw Mondo was sprawled out on his bed, with his eyes shut and the copy of Harry Potter in hand.

“Err… Mondo?”

Mondo jerked up to a sitting position on the bed, “Taka!? What are you doing back already!?”

“Ah… I’m not sure…” He admitted, “I got irritated and shouted at someone for no reason…”

“How’d you mean, irritated?” Mondo asked, “By what?”

“I… I’m not sure… I think it was the noise in the room, there were so many people talking in there and… I don’t know, I just started to panic a bit, I think?” He tried to explain. “I ended up running and leaving Chihiro by himself just to get away from the noise…”

“Uhh…” Mondo was just staring at him in worry…

“Err… please don’t worry about it! I’m sure I’m probably just a little tired, that’s all!” He forced a smile to try and reassure him, although his cheeks hurt so much he was sure he probably just looked like he was grimacing.

Mondo either didn’t notice or decided to humour him. “Well, maybe I should fuck off out of your bed and let ya sleep then…”

“…Why were you _on_ my bed in the first place?” He asked.

“I, uhh… I thought maybe you must have different lighting in here or something…” Mondo admitted.

“Why would my lights be different?” Kiyotaka asked in confusion, “All the rooms have the same basic furnishings and I haven’t bought any different lights…”

“Well… there must be _some_ reason you and Chi can read this shit for fun and I _can’t!_ ” Mondo snapped, waving the book wildly in irritation.

“Well… yes… There is.” Kiyotaka admitted, “We’ve practised reading all our lives, you haven’t, so it’s easier for us!” He said simply. “But you don’t have to force yourself to read the book if you’re not enjoying it…”

“That’s the problem, I _am_ enjoying it! I wanna know what happens next, but all these weird words keep giving me a headache!” Mondo complained, “That’s why I was lying down on your bed.” He added, before grumbling something along the lines of: “Why’d ya have to recommend a _good_ book…”

Haha! He _knew_ Mondo would like the book! But of course at this rate he’d never try reading for himself again… “What if I read it to you, then?” He suggested. “I’ve ended up with a free day now…”

“Wait, seriously? You’d do that!?” Mondo grinned. “I thought you were tired though…”

“Err… well, a little… but I’m sure I won’t need _too_ much sleep to recover… I’ll just have a quick nap before my sparring session with Sakura and then I can meet you back here to read at 4pm!”

“…Are ya _sure_ it’s alright for you to be sparring?” Mondo asked worriedly.

“Absolutely, Kyoudai! A little sleep and I’ll be perfectly fine!”

“If ya say so… just don’t push yourself too hard.”

“There is no such thing!” He reminded Mondo as he set his alarm for 2:30pm and started to undo his boots while Mondo rolled his eyes and left the room…

* * *

Once the ( _far_ more awkward than before the arm wrestling) game had finished, both Yasuhiro and the idiot who’d been flirting with her decided to leave, and Chihiro took it as a cue to leave and try to check on Taka.

Plus, it would give him a chance to get out of his sweaty clothes… the board games club had been pretty warm with all those people in it, and wearing trousers instead of his usual open skirt hadn’t helped much, and that was _before_ the arm wrestling!

He was just pausing to decide if he should take a shower before or after talking to Taka when he heard Mondo yelling up the corridor behind him…

“Hey, Chi, Wait!”

“Oh hi, Mondo!” Chihiro waved. “What’s up?”

“Uhh… Taka’s tryin’ ta sleep so can ya not bother him for a while?” Mondo asked.

“He’s _sleeping!?_ In the _afternoon!?_ ” Chihiro gaped.

“The hell’s wrong with _that!?”_ Mondo snapped, being someone who often fell asleep in afternoon classes…

“Well… nothing’s _wrong_ with it… he just doesn’t usually do it…” Chihiro tried to explain.

“Well… he spent the morning at that games club, it’s not _that_ surprising, is it?” Mondo shrugged.

Wait… Did Mondo think it was games as in sports? “Uhh… It’s wasn’t a sports clubs, it was just board games… like Monopoly but a bit smarter.” Chihiro explained. “Nothing tiring!”

“Yeah…but…” Mondo scratched his head anxiously.

“But anyway… speaking about Taka…” Chihiro suddenly remembered he had something he’d wanted to talk to Mondo about. “Why haven’t you asked if he wants to go meet your gang yet!?”

“Uhh… Well, Taka’s not been very talkative and I’ve been trying to read that book, so…”

“You’ve still not finished that?” Chihiro asked, surprised. He’d managed to read it in half a day…

“Well… I ain’t had as much practise reading as you!” Mondo snapped defensively. “But Imma finish it today…” He added.

“And _then_ will you ask Taka about the holiday?” Chihiro asked. It might cheer him up after what happened earlier…

“…I’ll see how he’s feeling.” Mondo shrugged. “Anyway Imma go make some tea, you want some?”

“Uhh… no thanks…” Chihiro answered, and Mondo hurried off before he got the chance to make sure the biker didn’t keep wimping out of asking Taka already…

Well… at least it seemed like Mondo had calmed Taka down at least. Maybe now he could go shower and have a lazy afternoon coding in his pyjamas instead of having to worry about what clothes to wear, after all, tomorrow he was going to have to spend the entire school day back in a dress again… That was going to be disappointing…

* * *

Kiyotaka rang Mondo’s doorbell a full thirty minutes before he’d intended to. This was as much to Mondo’s surprise as it had been to himself…

“Taka? You finish sparring already?” Mondo asked, “Ya didn’t decide to skip your shower, did you?”

“Err… no. I kept having trouble focusing and making foolish mistakes, so Sakura insisted I stop and rest instead…” He admitted irritably.

“See, I _told_ you…” Mondo sighed.

“But at least it means I’ll have more time to read to you!” Kiyotaka interrupted cheerfully.

“…Are ya _sure_ you shouldn’t just sleep instead?” Mondo asked, anxiously scratching his head.

“I don’t think I could… I didn’t even really manage to sleep before…” He admitted. “It’s odd, I’m not sleepy, just… generally fatigued.” Mondo just frowned at him. “Ah! But not so fatigued I can’t read you a book!” He added jovially.

“Well, if you’re _sure_ it’ll be alright…” Mondo muttered as he headed out to his room…

It was a fun way to spend the late afternoon and evening, getting to see Mondo’s excited expressions as he made his way through the book and several cups of tea. Although he did find himself feeling unduly worn out at the end of it, even though it really shouldn’t have been enough to cause that...

“That _was_ good!” Mondo smiled after the ending, as if he hadn’t been bouncing slightly on the bed at the good bits the whole time.

“I thought you’d enjoy it!” Kiyotaka smiled back.

“Thanks though…” Mondo muttered, “You sure that wasn’t too much for you?”

“Hahaha? Reading aloud? It’s not _that_ strenuous…” Kiyotaka forced a laugh, not wanting Mondo to feel guilty about it.

“I just meant… you said you’ve been tired cause of the noise so…” Mondo scratched his head. “I wasn’t sure if the reading out loud would irritate you…”

“Err… No, I’m fine, thank you.” Kiyotaka cringed slightly at Mondo’s concern for him. “I… think it was just the large number of people talking at once that did it. You know how it gets when there’s lots of people talking in echoing rooms… I wouldn’t usually stay in a place like that for so long!”

Mondo was just frowning at him… “Uhh… I’ve never had a problem with that…” He admitted.

“You haven’t?” Kiyotaka asked in surprise. “I wonder if it’s just something wrong with me then…”

“Well… I dunno, lots of people get annoyed at loud noises.” Mondo tried to reassure him. “Maybe I’ve just got shitty hearing from riding a bike so much!”

“But it didn’t bother anyone else in the room.” Kiyotaka remembered. “Maybe I should go to the med centre about it… Although I’d rather not risk seeing Nurse Tsumiki there…”

“You _still_ ain’t talked to her!?” Mondo asked in a scolding tone of voice. “Weren’t you gonna try to apologise to her last week?”

“I was… but Sonia said she probably wouldn’t appreciate my doing it in person, so I wrote a letter. But she’s not replied so I assume it’s best to leave her be…”

“Well… I guess…” Mondo shrugged. “Maybe you could try that Therapist chick instead… the one with the bunny and the long name…”

“Ah! Of course! Gekkogahara!” Kiyotaka realised. “She’s even _told_ me to email her if I need advice! May I use your laptop to do so?”

“Sure go ahead…” Mondo shrugged.

Kiyotaka quickly keyed in the password to his friend’s computer, logged into his own email account and started to type out a brief explanation of his behaviour.

When he was finished, Mondo was idly looking at the Harry Potter book. “So there’s more of them?” He asked.

“Yes… seven altogether, apparently!” Kiyotaka told him. “Would you like me to read you the rest?” He offered.

“Uhh… yeah! That sounds pretty cool.” Mondo muttered. “…Maybe you could read ‘em to the gang as well…” He suggested, absent-mindedly.

“Your gang?” Kiyotaka asked, “When would I ever meet your gang?”

“Uhh!” Mondo jumped. “Shit… I uhh…” Kiyotaka steeled himself for what seemed to be an upcoming nervous shout. “I’ve been meaning to ask if ya wanna come hang out with me and the gang over the holidays instead of being stuck here again…”

“R-really!?” Mondo… Mondo wanted _him_ to meet the Crazy Diamonds… “You… you don’t think I’ll irritate them?”

“What? No! Of course not!” Mondo pulled him back down onto the bed in order to ruffle his hair. “You’re my friend… so they’ll be your friends as well!”

“All of them!?” Kiyotaka felt his face turning red at the thought of having so many friends.

“Hell yeah!” Mondo grinned, “Especially if you read all those books for ‘em!”

“Absolutely!” Kiyotaka smiled, “I’d _love_ to!”

This was going to be the best holiday _ever…_ and perhaps he even needed it, given how tired he’d been feeling the past few days.

 

(Monday, March 19th 2012)

What an awful day, swimming with Hina had been alright, but then Kiyotaka had found himself getting unfairly irritated with her usual cheerful talking at breakfast, and that seemed to have set the tone for the entire day… It was as if his brain had just suddenly decided it’d had enough of people, on a day when almost everyone in his class seemed to want to come over to check if he was alright or wanted to talk…

At least Mondo seemed to have realised how he felt, as he’d spent most of the day with Kuwata and Hagakure, which had the dual benefit of giving him some peace and quiet, and keeping the baseball player from irritating him any further…

It was worrying though… he really hoped it was just a short temporary thing, and not some sign that he was hitting puberty and becoming a stroppy teenager… he’d only just made friends, he didn’t want to chase them away with ridiculous hormonal mood swings!

Well, at least classes were over now. Perhaps some quiet study in the library would help calm him down somewhat before he had to attend the movie night and interact with yet _more_ people…

He decided to check his emails first, and was slightly surprised to find a reply from Gekkogahara… He’d almost managed to forget his ridiculous temper tantrum at the board games club… she was probably just about to tell him he was just being oversensitive and rude…

_Dear Ishimaru,_

_It sounds like you had a case of sensory overload. I assume from your surprise that this was the first time it’s been that bad though? Have you been doing anything that might have made you overly tired or stressed lately? Those usually make people who get it more susceptible to it._

_I suggest taking some time by yourself to do something that makes you feel relaxed. Also consider joining a different club, or trying to find out if there’s a quieter room to play in. If you do end up going again, or in a different situation and having the same feeling, try to leave and give yourself a break occasionally, instead of trying to put up with it for longer than you’re comfortable with._

_If you find it starts happening more frequently, then we can discuss coping strategies in more detail._

_Gekkogahara._

_PS: Thank you for the list, it has been very helpful. Also I suspect someone you know is going to reveal a secret to you soon. It would be in your best interests to keep an open mind about it and try not to over-react._

Someone was going to reveal a secret to him? That was odd… but nothing he could really do about it for now… He was much more interested in the rest of the message! At least he now knew his problem was normal for some people then? And he _had_ been feeling more tired lately, although he’d not really _done_ anything to cause it… Perhaps he was starting to fall ill… Although he didn’t feel ill at all…

A shame he didn’t have time to relax tonight… but he could hardly skip the movie night after already skipping half of the time he was supposed to play board games in order to sleep instead. Still, maybe if he cracked on with homework now he’d have time for a quick trip to the sauna tomorrow…

* * *

What a weird day.

Chihiro had been expecting to feel irritated at being back in a dress, after two days of wearing a suit like he’d always wanted to, but then he’d put a dress on this morning without even thinking about it… Like it was just what felt _right_ today… and it _had_ felt right all day, like he could be more… girly if he’d wanted to? Which it felt like he _had_ wanted to… and still did.

So now he was looking at himself in the mirror, knowing that he was about to head over to the reserve department, and that he probably should change back into the boy’s uniform because otherwise someone might recognise him and ask why he was wearing a dress all of a sudden but… but he didn’t _want_ to!

Still… what was the chance of someone he’d met being at the movie night? There were over 2000 reserve students and he’d only met 30 or so the last few days, and they’d probably forgot about him, given he’d been there with the much more memorable Taka… And if kept the dress on tonight he wouldn’t have to try to explain to Mondo why he’d chosen to wear different sets of clothing on different sides of the school…

And besides, even if a reserve student _did_ recognise him, they were just ordinary reserve students! He’d probably got strong enough to deal with _them_ , right? He’d won that arm wrestle at least… and Mondo and Taka would probably back him up…

Now he just had to hope Taka didn’t get confused and overreact to the decision…

He needn’t had worried, Taka didn’t even seem to notice the difference when the three of them met up at the front entrance to the building. Instead he just bowed in apology…

“Ah, Chihiro… My apologies for my outburst yesterday!” He started, “I hope I didn’t make the rest of your day too uncomfortable!”

“Ahh… no that’s alright!” Chihiro assured him, “You weren’t even the only person to yell at that guy in the end…”

“That… that doesn’t really excuse my behaviour though…” Taka frowned.

“Uhh, speakin’ of that…” Mondo started, “Did ya get anything back from… what’s-her-face?”

“ _Gekkogahara_.” Taka sighed, stressing every syllable as if trying to drill it into Mondo’s head. “But yes, apparently it’s just something that can happen to some people when they’re tired, and she suggested I relax a bit.”

That seemed a little vague… was Taka hiding something? It wasn’t as if he’d had any reason for being tired over the last few days…

“…And _have_ you?” Mondo asked, in a tone of voice that suggested he knew Taka had probably convinced himself he’d have time once he’d done his homework or something…

“Well… Not yet, but I’ve now finished all my homework so…”

“Well… why don’t you go and chill in the sauna or something instead of coming out tonight?” Mondo suggested.

“But then I’d miss a vital chance for socialisation! And I already missed half of yesterday’s allotted time resting!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “So I should be fine!”

“And it’s not as if watching a movie isn’t relaxing anyway…” Chihrio added.

“Exactly!” Kiyotaka agreed.

“Well… If ya say so…” Mondo grumbled as they headed out.

None of them really spoke on the way there. Mondo still seemed worried about Taka, who was walking in a detached silence and only responding in monotone murmurs and single word answers when questioned about anything.

He did at least brighten up once they got to the club, cheerfully introducing the three of them to everyone else, in the same repetitive manner he’d used at every other club, except with an additional “…and this is Mondo Oowada, the Ultimate Motorcyclist!” tacked onto the end. Hopefully this should make Mondo realise that Kiyotaka was perfectly fine to socialise in large groups and could handle meeting his gang…

* * *

 

 _Urg…_ He hated this! He felt like a broken record, saying the same thing over and over again… How was he ever going to handle talking to all of Mondo’s gang? He hoped Mondo was planning to organise a group introduction instead of him having to say his name and nickname to each member individually…

And he still felt like he must be doing this wrong… several of the people he’d spoken to had given him odd looks when he’d finished his introductions…

“…This is Chihiro Fujisaki and…” his voice was saying by rote to someone else he’d barely be able to remember tomorrow… what if the reason he was getting odd looks was because he’d already introduced himself to some of these people before… the boy he was speaking to _did_ look slightly familiar…

“Wait, _Chihiro!?_ From the book club…?” He asked, which meant, of course, that he _had_ just introduced himself to the same person twice, how embarrassing… “Uhh… I’m sorry, it’s just when you were wearing that suit you looked like a _guy!_ ” The boy carried on in a stammering voice...  

 _AAAHHH!_ Of course! Chihiro was wearing one of his usual dresses today… but the reserve course students didn’t know that was normal for him! Why hadn’t Kiyotaka noticed and thought to introduce him with a different name or something?

Well… maybe it wasn’t too late… “Did I say _Chihiro?”_ He forced an embarrassed laugh. “What I meant was…”

“No, I _am_ a guy.” Chihiro interrupted his beginning of a lie, causing most of the other people in the room, including himself and Mondo, to stare at him in surprise. “I just felt like wearing a dress today.” He added, calmly.

“Uhh… a-alright then!” The student who’d brought it up muttered in embarrassment and went to talk to someone else… which he’d like to think was completely due to him being a reasonably fellow who didn’t judge other people’s life choices, and nothing whatsoever to do with the sound of Mondo’s knuckles cracking…

Then Chihiro just smiled and carried on talking to people as if nothing had happened… how was he so good at dealing with people? He’d been able to explain that without battling an eyelid, whereas Kiyotaka could barely manage a simple, formulaic introduction without messing it up…

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Mondo trying to surreptitiously signal that he wanted to head outside. Kiyotaka nodded and followed.

“What was that about Chi wearing a suit?” Mondo asked quietly once they were out of the room.

“Ah… he’s been wearing the male uniform here on reserve course over the last four days.” Kiyotaka explained, “Perhaps as a test to see how it went?”

“Huh… good for him…” Mondo commented, with a hint of pride. “But wait… the last _four_ days?”

“Oh, yes! I asked him for help learning to talk to people, so he suggested some helpful clubs for me to join and offered to come with me!”

“So… how many clubs did he suggest?” Mondo asked, sounding a little worried.

“Five… well, four, I suppose the Eco club was my own contribution…” He answered.

“So… you’ve been to five clubs over the last five days?” Mondo sighed.

“Yes! I’m making up for the lack of time I allocated to socialisation previously!” He explained.

“Kyoudai…” Mondo just sighed.

“…Do you not think it’s enough?” He asked. What else could he do?

“No… it’s not that it…” Mondo started.

“Ok, guys! We’re about to start the movie!” The girl running the event shouted over the chatter of conversation in the other room. “Everyone grab a seat!”

“I’ll explain it to ya later…” Mondo muttered as they headed towards the rows of seat that had been set up in front of a cheap projector screen and sat down in the two seats next to Chihiro…

Well, _this_ should be easy enough at, at least, just watch the movie and try to think of an interesting point to bring up for the discussion afterwards…

If only he didn’t feel so weary at the moment, this might even be enjoyable! Maybe he could shut his eyes until after the opening credits were finished… there wouldn’t be anything to discuss during tha…

* * *

Dammit, he’d been hoping Mondo wouldn’t find out that he’d been wearing the guy’s uniform for the last few days... Now the biker kept shooting him annoyed glances every few minutes. Was he annoyed that Chihiro had gone _backwards_ by dressing as a girl again? It hadn’t felt like that to him when he’d left the dress on tonight, but that’s probably how it _looked..._

He’d have to try and explain it to Mondo, well and Taka as well, on the way back to the dorms... maybe that would help him explain it to _himself_...

But for now, he might as well concentrate on the movie instead of worrying. It was pretty good so far. Hopefully Taka was enjoying it as well…

Well, he _might_ be if he hadn’t nodded off already… Urg, he was going to be so annoyed with himself… best get Mondo to wake him up so he didn’t miss the entire thing and get _stupidly_ upset…

Chihiro prodded Mondo’s knee, then pointed to Taka once the biker had turned a cursory glance in his direction. Mondo looked over to his right, where Taka was about to drop sideways onto the shoulder of the girl next him and… pulled Taka over onto his _own_ shoulder instead.

Honestly, if he could be _that_ confident with _girls_ he might not be on a 15-game losing streak… But that wasn’t exactly why Chihiro had pointed it out…

“ _Wake him up!_ ” He mouthed at Mondo, once another prod had earning him the bikers attention.

 _“No.”_ Mondo scowled, shook his head and pointedly carried on watching the movie.

What? Why wouldn’t he wake Taka? Mondo _knew_ what he got like when he thought he’d ‘failed’ something… But he still didn’t respond to Chihiro’s prods…Urg… _Fine! He_ could deal with Taka’s inevitable panicking once the movie finished and he woke up and realised Mondo had let him sleep through it and he wouldn’t be able to practise talking now…

…

“Uhh… So, what did everyone think?” The girl hosting asked nervously as the lights came back on.

“Well, I…” Someone started.

“W-what!? But the movie only just started!” Taka suddenly woke up and cried out.

“Uhh… No Kyoudai, ya fell asleep…”

“WHAT!? I slept through the _entire movie!?_ ” Taka started, “Why didn’t you wake…”

“I figured you must be sick if you're tired enough ta fall asleep at 7pm.” Mondo shrugged. “You should probably go back to your room and rest up…”

 _That_ was his reasoning? There was no way Taka was going to settle for that! He _never_ admitted when he was…

“Ah? I… I guess so, I have been feeling overly tired the last few days... I’ll see you tomorrow then…” Taka mumbled and stood up. “My apologies, I hope you all have a good discussion!” He bowed to the group as he left.

“He… he actually _listened_ to you?” Chihiro asked. “ _How…?”_

“I’ll explain later…” Mondo shrugged. “But anyway… Aside from those bullshit bike chases that was a pretty good film…”

One ‘discussion’ (which mostly consisted of Mondo telling the awe-struck reserve students exactly _why_ you couldn’t pull off half those stunts in real life, and showing off the scars he’d given himself from _trying_ ) later, he and Mondo were walking back to the main side of school…

“Sooo... You’ve been wearing the guy’s uniform over here?” Mondo asked.

“...Yeah.” He admitted.

“Well...Nice one!” Mondo congratulated him awkwardly.

“You’re not annoyed with me about it?”

“The hell!? Why would I be annoyed?” Mondo asked, “You’ve wanted to do that for ages, and then ya did! That’s _great!_ Right...?”

“Umm... but I’m dressed as a girl again, now...?” Chihiro suggested. “I thought you’d think that meant I’d got stronger, and then was letting myself be weak again.”

“Chi... ya told a group of guys you’ve barely met that ya ‘felt like wearing a dress today’ and then stared ‘em down so hard they didn’t even _try_ ta make something of it!” Mondo exclaimed. “ _I_ couldn’t have done that...”

“Well... I probably couldn’t have done it without you and Taka there...”

“I couldn’t have done it with a _million_ me and Takas!” Mondo laughed, “Seriously, you ain’t fucking weak! You’ve probably got bigger balls than _me_...”

“Umm... Then why _have_ you been annoyed at me all night?” Chihiro asked, which caused Mondo to look away in embarrassment...

“Uhh… Chi, I’m not _annoyed_ at ya it’s just…” Mondo started, scratching the back of his head, “You’ve kinda been making Taka do a ton of social stuff this week…”

“Huh? I haven’t _made_ him do anything…” Chihiro told him. “I just mentioned a few clubs I liked the sound of and said they were a good way to meet people and he should try them all out…”

“But… this was in response to him asking you ta help him speak ta people, right?”

“Umm… well, kind of…” Chihiro accepted.

Mondo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Chi… Do you remember when you first started training, and you wanted ta be in the gym every free second you had?”

“Uhh… yes?” What did that have to do with Taka?

“And you ended up not being able ta do anythin’ for a week ‘cause ya overdid it and fucked your arms up?”

“…Y-yes?” Chihiro shrugged. Sure, it had sucked, but he’d made sure to exercise sensibly since then, so why was Mondo bringing it back up now?

“…Do you really not see how this relates to Taka?” He sighed.

“Huh? But… but Taka’s just been talking to people! This week’s probably been easier on him than his usual studying!”

“Urg… No Chi, it _hasn’t_.” Mondo sighed. “Taka doesn’t _get_ people anywhere near as easily as we do… It takes him way more effort to spend a few hours talkin’ to people he doesn’t know than it does for him to spend an evening studyin’.”

“Well… then why did he force himself to come to all these clubs with me?” Chihiro asked. It wasn’t because he’d been dressing as a boy for them, was it? Had Kiyotaka thought he’d needed looking after? Was he really still so weak his friends were putting themselves out to help him?

“’Cause he wants to get stronger.” Mondo answered.

“Umm… but he’s already strong?” Chihiro pointed out.

Mondo sighed, “I mean stronger at talking to people.”

“…You mean _better_ at talking to people, then.” Chihiro corrected.

“Ok, yeah… but I was putting in a way that I thought maybe you’d _get…_ ” Mondo rolled his eyes, “What I mean is, learning to talk to people for him is like putting on muscles is for you. He’s starting off way behind everyone else he knows, and wants to catch up as quickly as possible. So he’s gonna do stupid shit and push himself too far unless someone stops him.”

“Oh… So telling him to go to a club everyday was like if you’d suggested I go do the same arm exercises every day for a week…”

“ _Yeah…_ ” Mondo sighed with irritation, “Complete with him being too tired to wanna talk otherwise.”

Ah… _That_ was probably why Mondo had been irritated with him, wasn’t it?

“Umm… sorry.” Chihiro apologised. “But what should I do? Tell him to stop going to the clubs?”

“Well… Maybe not _all_ of them.” Mondo shrugged. “It’s like exercising… he needs to have a sensible plan, that’s all…”

“Oh... well… I can probably work one out for him…”

* * *

 

(Tuesday, 20th March 2012)

Kiyotaka’s alarm woke him up as usual and he ran through his morning exercises and shower in peace. The extra sleep had helped him immensely, even though he’d been propped awkwardly on Mondo’s shoulder instead of lying comfortably in bed. Now it was into the dining room to eat breakfast, then attend his classes, patrol the school, do homework and then he could treat himself to a nice relaxing sit in the sauna just to make absolutely sure he was in top form and…

He flinched violently at the sound of his doorbell… _urg…_ who wanted to _talk_ to him _today…_ He just wanted some peace and quiet!

And why was he overreacting to this so badly!? It was just someone ringing the door. It was probably just Mondo, wanting to check he was ok and not sick… so why was he so tempted to just leave it shut and pretend he wasn’t in? Was he still tired? But he’d had so much extra sleep recently, and it wasn’t as if he was underfed either… but still his mind was balking at the thought of conversation, even with his closest friends… that _couldn’t_ be normal, could it?

He’d have to email Gekkogahara again… At least, after he’d spoken to whoever it was at the door. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself, and opened it.

“Ah! Good morning Taka!” Chihiro greeted him. “Umm… sorry if I woke you up…” He added.

“Ah… no, I was just about to eat breakfast.” He assured him.

“Ok! Well… I was thinking about the clubs, and I worked out a schedule for you to go to… if you want.” Chihiro handed him a piece of paper.

Oh, no… Did he really need to go meet _more_ people…? While in this state of inexplicable exhaustion? Maybe he just wasn’t cut out to be likeable or go into politics… He looked at the schedule with worry…

_Monday: Movie night. Thurday: Eco club. Saturday: Roleplaying/Class activity (alternating)._

Was that it? “…There’s hardly anything on here…” He pointed out, checking the back to make sure there wasn’t more listed on it.

“Well… I thought it was best to start you off with a lighter schedule…” Chihiro smiled gently.

“…This is because I’ve made such an idiot of myself the last two days, isn’t it?” He sighed.

“No! You’ve not made an idiot of yourself!” Chihiro insisted. “…But you’re exhausted, aren’t you?”

He flinched. “Yes…” He admitted. “I don’t know _why_ though… I’ve not _done_ anything that should have caused me to be tired, if anything I’ve been even less active than usual…”

“But you’ve been talking to lots of new people… you wouldn’t usually do that.” Chihiro suggested.

“But that shouldn’t make me tired… it doesn’t make anyone _else_ tired…” He sighed.

“Well… that’s because they’ve got stronger… social muscles than you!” Chihiro said, his eyes suddenly flashing with inspiration as he thought of it.

“Social… _muscles?_ ” He asked, “I don’t believe that’s actually a real thing…”

“It was a _metaphor_ Taka…” Chihiro sighed, “I mean you’re not as used to talking to people as most people are, and you worry so much about it… All that expends mental energy! _That’s_ why you’re tired… because I accidently encouraged you to do the mental equivalent of that week when I spent all my free time doing barbell reps…”

The one that had resulted in him needing to request permission to use his voice transcription technology in his tests!? He was saying Kiyotaka was in the mental equivalent of _that!_?

“But still… it… it feels a little… pathetic!” He admitted. “Managing to get tired from doing _fun_ things…

“Well… everyone needs time to themselves… you just need a little more of it, for now!” Chihiro smiled. “It’s like exercising… you might feel terrible at it _now_ … but once you get used to the people there and more comfortable with them, it’ll get easier…”

“I… I suppose so.” He sighed. He should have figured this out for himself really, everything came down to sensible practise routines in the end… “I just have to hope I don’t end up making an idiot of myself before then…”

“Well Mondo, Makoto and I will be there to ‘spot’ for you! Like you and Mondo always are for me in the gym.” Chihiro smiled. “So don’t worry about that!”

“Ahh… thank you!” He smiled. It would be easier with his friends to help…

“But, for now, you’re tired and need to rest.” Chihiro pointed out. “So feel free to ignore us all at mealtimes for the next two days!”

“Hahaha!” Kiyotaka laughed at the odd suggestion, before noticing the serious look on Chihiro’s face. “Wait, really!? That seems like a little much…” He muttered.

Chihiro just gave him an exasperated look, as he often did when Kiyotaka was being stubborn… And he had to admit the idea of being able to read a book at lunch instead of talking did have quite the appeal right now…

“I’ll do it today and see how I’m feeling tomorrow…” He conceded.

* * *

“ _Wow…_ Did you two have another fight?” Enoshima suddenly asked Mondo that lunchtime, as she looked over to the table where Taka was sitting by himself, reading and occasionally scowling in irritation if people on the tables nearby laughed particularly loudly.

“Uhh, no… He just wants a bit of peace and quiet today…” Mondo told her.

“Upupupu… is _that_ what he said?” Enoshima laughed, “Maybe he’s just trying to distance himself before cutting you out of his life…”

“Fuck you, he isn’t cutting me outta _shit!_ ” Mondo snapped at her. “We’re even goin’ on holiday together next week!”

So he _did_ ask! Well that was good…

“Wait, seriously?” Enoshima pulled a disgusted face, “ _Where!?”_

“I’m takin’ him to meet my gang!” Mondo grinned.

“Wow… guess you must be confident then!” Enoshima grinned.

“Uhh… Whaddaya mean?” Mondo asked worriedly.

“I _mean_ that you think you can stop your _whole gang_ from trying to pummel him!” Enoshima laughed. “Or ditching you as the leader!”

“They wouldn’t…” Chihiro started to say they wouldn’t want _either_ of those things…

“Why the fuck would they…?” Mondo started growling at the same time.

“Oh, come _on!_ You don’t really think they’ll get on with a _nerd_ like him, do you?” Enoshima shrugged. “I mean, _you_ hated him, why wouldn’t your gang?”

“He’s better at first impressions now!” Chihiro pointed out, quickly.

“Well… maybe a little…” Enoshima admitted. “But he’s still _him!_ I mean… do your gang wear _helmets_ when they’re riding?”

“Uhh… no.” Mondo frowned.

“Well there’s _one_ thing you’re going to be arguing about for two weeks!” Enoshima crowed. “And do they read books? Or do they _make fun_ of people who read books?”

“Uhh… well… they don’t… but Taka read me this book and I reckon the gang would like it if he read it to them…” Mondo muttered.

Wait, Taka had to _read_ Harry Potter _to him_? That’s how bad Mondo’s reading was?

“You mean like he’s their Mom?” Enoshima giggled. “Is he your equivalent of bringing a girl home?”

“Fuck off, Eno…” Mondo snapped.

“What _do_ they think of gays?” She carried on regardless.

“Ngghh…” Mondo flinched at that question for a moment, before recovering. “It doesn’t _matter_ what they think ‘cause we _ain’t_ gay!” He snarled.

“Yeah… but you turn up with him on your bike and have him nag about safety and read them storybooks like he’s their Mom and they’re gonna wonder…” Enoshima smirked. “Maybe you should have a talk with him and get him to man up a little beforehand? Just food for thought!” She giggled and left before either of them could respond.

“He does _not_ need to ‘man up’” Chihiro groused. “ _Please_ tell me you’re not going to take her seriously!”

“Uhh… No I…” Mondo trailed off as he looked over the dining room.

“What is it?” Chihiro asked.

“Is Ge… whatever givin’ him _meds_ or something…?” Mondo asked, gesturing to Taka’s table, where the therapist had just offered him a small box of something.

“Uhh… I’m sure she wouldn’t do that just from some email conversations…” Chihiro muttered. “She looks like she’s coming over though, maybe we can ask her?”

“Hi Chihiro!” Usami greeting them cheerfully. “I wanted to ask…”

“What the fuck did you just give Taka?” Mondo interrupted her.

“…about your thoughts for AIs to use in the project!” Usami continued regardless, causing Gekkogahara to shift her eyes in annoyance while she typed out the next command, “Those? They’re just some earplugs! Ishimaru’s been having trouble dealing with noise so I thought they might help!” Usami added cheerfully.

As if to confirm her point, Taka had got two items out of the box and was experimentally putting them into his ears.

“Oh… uhh… thanks. Sorry.” Mondo muttered in embarrassment.

“So… about the AIs?” Usami asked again.

“Oh, well… I thinking I could make a student… maybe make her an Ultimate so it wouldn’t be too suspicious if she didn’t generate many interests outside her main hobby…”

“Oh…! Well, that makes sense!” Usami smiled and did a twirl. “Good to see you’ve thought about it! I’m sure you’ll do a great job!”

“…So how come _you_ look upset, then?” Mondo asked.

There was a slight noise from Gekkogahara that pulled Chihiro’s attention upwards. Gekkogahara responded by turning her gaze away from his. She was upset? Had she been secretly hoping for something different? But it fit all the requirements she’d mentioned, hadn’t it?

Chihiro looked back down at the rabbit on the screen, which was now stood lifelessly in place without Gekkogahara’s commands. Hadn’t she suggested using it to make people more trusting of it?

“…I was also thinking that their might be some cases where people don’t trust a _person…_ Like small children? I was wondering if it’s be alright if I borrowed the files for Usami’s animations and voice to create an AI of _her?_ ”

“…Yes.” _Gekkogahara_ said quietly… before blinking in surprise and clasping both hands over her scarf in shock for a moment, before moving them back down to type.

“I mean… Sure! I’d _love_ to help!” Usami smiled brightly. “I’ll email you the files right now!” Gekkogahara’s hands flew over the console and his phone soon brought up an ‘email received’ notification.

“I’ve got them, thanks!” Chihiro smiled, trying not to think of the extra work he’d just volunteered to do…

“Oh! Also, which is your class’s homeroom?” Usami asked.

“Uhh…It’s 1-A” Mondo replied, tensing slightly.

“Why did you want to know?” Chihiro asked.

“Oh… someone asked me to leave something there for them!” Usami said. “But they forgot to say which room it was!”

“Haha… what an idiot!” Mondo said with an awkward, loudly forced laugh.

So he’d asked Gekkogahara for something? Maybe he’d wanted to know the advice she’d given Taka? Chihiro decided that finding out what it was probably wasn’t worth the inevitable panicked yelling that would ensue.

“Well… it’s an easy mistake to make.” Chihiro shrugged, which caused Mondo to relax a little.

“It certainly is!” Usami chirped. “Enjoy your holidays, if I don’t see you before then!”

“Yeah… I’m sure I will…” Mondo muttered, anxiously.

Damn Enoshima… What the heck was her problem?

 

(Friday, 23rd March 2012)

Right! That was his packing, finally done!

But… was he actually going to be able to carry all of this? He had three separate suitcases of stuff…! Why did he have to own so many computer parts to carry? There was even more of it now than he’d had at the beginning of the term… and he’d sworn over the winter break he wasn’t going to hoard tons of stuff and then have to drag it back and forth again, and yet here he was…

Well, at least he was getting a taxi to the station… the only difficulty would be getting the bags from his room to the outside of the school, and then across the station platform… Maybe he could do half the work now and take the bags down to the front entrance and leave them there with a note explaining who’s they were?

That would work… He could have Alter Ego monitor the security camera and make sure no one was stealing them as well…

He started with the first two bags, but was caught by Mondo coming out of Taka’s room with some empty glasses as Chihiro was struggling to get them uncaught from the doorframe…

“Chi? You need any help there?” Mondo asked him. “I thought you weren’t leavin’ until tomorrow?”

“I’ll be fine!” Chihiro told him. “I’m just leaving my bags by the front entrance so I’ve only got to carry them across to the train platform tomorrow!” He explained.

“You’ve gotta take all three of those with ya!?” Mondo exclaimed. “You sure I couldn’t help? I could drive to the station on my bike and help ya carry them across…”

“What… and waste precious minutes of Taka’s time?” Chihiro laughed. “I’ll be…”

“Uhh… actually, Taka’s not coming with me tomorrow…” Mondo admitted. “So I can spare the time…”

“What!? What do you _mean_ he’s not going with you? Why not?” Chihiro asked. “You didn’t let what Enoshima said get to you…?”

“No! It wasn’t just that!” Mondo snapped, meaning he totally _had_ let it get to him… “He’s just not happy with his exam results and wants to study…”

“But everyone’s saying he did really well…” Chihiro pointed out.

“Yeah… but he missed out on getting top place in politics by three points… so he’s kinda peeved with himself…”

…So Taka was punishing himself with two weeks of solitary confinement for not being perfect and Mondo didn’t try to convince him _not_ to because he was getting scared about what would happen when the gang met Taka…

…And Chihiro still wasn’t strong enough to get his bags back to the station by himself… “Uhh… well in that case it’d really help if you _could_ help carry my bags….” He admitted with a sigh.

Still, they had another three and a third years of school… they all had time to grow up and make progress on their weaknesses...

 

(Saturday, 24th March)

"Oof! What have you _got_ in these!?" Chihiro's father grimaced as he started dragging one of the suitcases Chihiro had just about managed to get off the train. "Did you buy even more shoes?" He asked in his usual joking way.

"Sure, Dad, if by shoes you mean laptops..." Chihiro replied with eyes rolling as he always did.

"Hahaha...that's my child!" His father laughed gently, "But, seriously, what are _in_ all these bags!?"

"Umm... like I said, laptops and computer stuff, mostly..." Chihiro explained, "Oh and an electromagnetic neuropathic interface helmet."

" _Really!?_ What's that for?" His father asked excitedly.

"Umm... sorry, Dad! I can't say- confidentiality agreement!" He explained. "But it'll be super cool once it's done!"

"Super High School Level Cool?" His father grinned.

" _Sure._.. it'll be the Ultimate Cool... and then they'll retitle me 'Ultimate Cool Shit Maker'!"

"I thought they should have done that anyway..." His father muttered.

"I know..." Chihiro frowned in embarrassment as he remembered discovering the incredibly over-excited emails his father had sent to both the school’s talent scout and headmaster once he'd got his acceptance letter. Honestly he was surprised the school had still wanted him after that...

"Uhh... I know you've got two suitcases there..." His father changed the topic, "But can I take one of the lighter ones for a while, instead of this?" He put down the suitcase with a light thud.

"Umm... I don't think any of them are lighter than the others..." He'd intended to keep them all balanced.

"Really? Let me try..." His father tested the weight of the two cases he was awkwardly dragging... "You weren’t joking… How are you carrying _both_ of those!?"

"Uhh... with my arms? They're not _that_ heavy, Dad..."

"Yes they are!" His father insisted, "When did you get so strong?"

"I'm not that strong... Mondo carried all three of these up the stairs by himself!"

"Well, remind me never to annoy Mondo..." His father muttered. "But you _have_ got strong!"

"Or _you're_ just made of noodles..."

"Well... you are what you eat, I suppose..." His father conceded. "But you are stronger than you were before school, at least!" His father ruffled his hair before picking up the suitcase with another groan...

 

(Thursday, April 29th, 2012)

“Are you going somewhere?” Chihiro’s father suddenly asked when he came downstairs for a snack.

“Uhh… no?” Chihiro replied, “Except for the kitchen? Did you want a drink?” Was that why he’d asked?

“Ah, no thank you… I just… I wondered because you’ve changed into a dress now, but you were wearing jeans this morning…” His father admitted, a little guiltily.

“Oh! No… I… I’ve just been feeling like wearing dresses sometimes…” He admitted.

“Oh!?” His father failed to hide his surprise, “Well… as long as you’re happy!” He smiled brightly.

“…Thanks, Dad.”

“…But if you’re going to wear twice as many clothes, _you_ can be the one who washes them all!" He teased, pointing towards the almost full laundry hamper...

 

(Wednesday, April 4th 2012)

"Umm... Dad, do you mind if it gets a bit... _shouty_ in here, in a minute?" Chihiro asked his father, who was working on the computer in the living room.

"Why, are you playing Call of Duty or something?"

"Umm... no, I'm going to do some aerobics and there's not really enough space in my room." He admitted, having strewn computer parts all over it.

"Oh, well... go ahead! Maybe I'll join you even!" His father got up from his seat at the computer and stretched a little. "So, what are we starting with?"

"Umm... well, first we need to wait for the phone to go off, in..." He checked his watch. "3...2...1..."

The phone rang, exactly on time. Chihiro answered it on loudspeaker.

"Good afternoon! I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru, may I please speak to Chihiro?" Taka's loud voice came through almost instantly.

"It's me. I've got you on loudspeaker so my Dad can hear as well..." Chihiro told him.

"Ah, well then, Good Afternoon, Fujisaki-san!"

"Ah... good afternoon..." his father replied somewhat weakly in the face of Taka's exuberance.

"Anyway, as requested, here is your Wednesday afternoon aerobics!" Taka got straight to the point, as he always did during phone calls. "We'll begin with a 10 second calf stretch starting... _now!_ "

Chihiro went through the motions of their normal pre-workout stretches with practised ease, while his father just about managed to wobble through them all, beads of sweat already beginning to form on his forehead.

"And now onto our warm-up! 1 minute of jogging on the spot, starting... _now!_ "

He started at a reasonable pace, which his father tried to keep up with for a short while, before starting to get breathless and slowing down. When Taka announced the next few exercises he didn't even try to keep up, and still was sweating and breathing heavily with exertion...

“Now onto some serious exercises! 1 minute of burpees!” Taka ordered, to Chihiro’s annoyance… These were _horrible…_

“A… a minute of… what?” His father panted.

“Uhh… like this!” Chihiro quickly crouched on hands and feet, with his knees tucked into his chest, then kicked his legs out behind him, went back to the crouch and then pushed his legs up into a jump.

“Ahh…” His father just gaped at him.

“Err… Fujisaki-san, do you exercise frequently?” Taka asked over the phone.

“No…” His father gasped.

“…Do you exercise _at all?”_

“…No.” His father admitted.

“It may be prudent for you to stretch and end it there, then…” Taka sighed.

“’kay…” His father looked as if he was going to collapse with relief, before stretching his calfs for about 2 seconds each…

“And stretch _properly!_ ” Taka barked over the phone, “And I don’t hear you doing any burpees, Chihiro!”

“Urg… You’re _evil!_ ” Chihiro complained as he started. “I asked for aerobics, not _death!_ ”

“Nonsense! You’re perfectly strong enough for this!” Taka stated. “It’s not as if you’re Togami or Kuwata…”

“Hah… They’re… both… stronger… than… me.” Chihiro gasped out between exercises.

“Err… they _were_ …” Taka started, “But you’ve exercised regularly and they haven’t, so now _you’re_ the stronger one!”

“See! I told you!” His father laughed.

Was Taka serious? Or was he just downplaying Leon’s ability out of annoyance for him? But then that would still make him stronger than Togami as least, and _he_ wasn’t exactly a slouch…

“Now, one minute of jump-squats!” Taka shouted.

Urg… Either he really _was_ stronger than Leon, or Taka was going to _kill_ him…

 

(Friday, April 6th 2012)

Chihiro was looking over his clothes. Usually it was an obvious choice. Either he was strong enough to pack the male clothes or he wasn’t and needed to take the female ones… That’s how it had always been before.

But then he’d shown he was strong enough to dress as a boy… and suddenly dressing as a girl hadn’t felt weak anymore, it had just been… something different! Something to show how he felt that day… and being able to switch it up whenever he felt like it for the last two weeks had been nice…

“Chihiro…? What’s wrong?” His father’s gentle voice came from behind him. “You’ve been staring at your clothes for a while…”

“Umm… I can’t decide which set to take.” He admitted, “I… I almost feel like I want to have both so I can switch back and forth whenever I want.”

“Well… you’ve got a lot stronger!” His father pointed out. “You could probably manage an extra suitcase…”

His father thought that was a good idea? “But… won’t people think it’s weird if I keep switching?” He asked, “They’d probably pick on me…”

“Well… yes they probably will try to pick on you.” His father sighed. “…But you _have_ got stronger.” He smiled.

…Strong enough to be able to put up with being picked on? Was he really _that_ strong? Well… if Taka thought he was stronger than _Leon_ …

“Well…Whatever you decide to do, as long as you’re happy, I’m _proud_ of you!” His father pulled him into a hug. “And I’m going to miss having your around again!”

“Thanks, Dad.” Chihiro hugged back. “I’m going to miss you as well!”

“Hah… you’ll forget all about me once you get back to your school!” His father ruffled his hair. “Do you need help packing, though?”

“Hmm…” Chihiro considered the sets of clothes in front of him… “Could you get me another suitcase?”

 

(Saturday, 7th April 2012)

 _Urg!_ What was he _thinking_ trying to drag an extra suitcase to school!? He’d barely managed without it last time! Now he was stuck on a platform that he’d barely managed to get _onto_ in time with all his bags before the train had left, and he still had to get to the taxis and then from the taxi through the school and up the stairs and no one was offering to help because he’d decided to dress as a _guy_ today…

“ _Hi Mondo_ _I’ve been an idiot again can you help me carry my bags from the train station”_

 _“Im hre alrdy Wch pltfrm r u on”_ Looked like Mondo had predicted his inability to pack sensibly…

_“Platform 3 and you need a phone with predictive text”_

_“brt”_

‘brt’? Was that an acronym or did Mondo’s crappy old phone finally die?

Right, now he just had to wait for Mondo… It shouldn’t take long… and why was there a guy all in motorcycle leathers and a helmet coming towards him?

Maybe someone _was_ going to offer to help… _or_ Chihiro was about to get mugged...! Urg… Hopefully Mondo would turn up soon, because this weirdo was coming right over to him and…

“Hey, Chihiro… You ok?” The man in the helmet asked.

Wait… “ _Mondo!?_ ”

“Uhh… yeah…?” Mondo sounded confused for a moment, “Oh, shit! I forgot about the helmet!” He took it off, to reveal a bleached blond ponytail that was tucked into the back of his bike leathers instead of his usual pompadour.

“Geez, Mondo, you scared me!” Chihiro snapped. Why the hell was he suddenly wearing all the safety gear he was _supposed_ to be wearing?

“Uhh… Sorry! Lemme get your bags…” Mondo muttered, easily picking up the two biggest bags and leaving Chihiro to drag the smaller ones.

Mondo somehow managed to balance and tie up all the bags onto the back of his bike, and they drove off back to the school… Without any mention being made of him wearing the male uniform today.

No one they passed in the halls mentioned it either, not even Hina when she waved and welcomed them back to the school. What was going on? Had no one noticed the difference? But it was a completely different style and colour from his usual clothes… It was like he’d entered a parallel universe where he’d always worn male clothing, so it didn’t seem like the critical error in the matrix that it would have been seen as usually.

And speaking of errors in the matrix, was that Taka and Leon smiling and shaking hands!?

“Hey! Kyoudai!” Mondo yelled happily and ran over to them, “How’ve ya been?”

“Kyoudai!” Taka dropped Leon’s hand and threw himself into Mondo’s arms. “I’ve been fine! How about you… was your trip alright?”

“It was a breeze, great weather, no traffic… Shame ya couldn’t make it…” Mondo sighed.

“…I’m sorry…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“Ah… I didn’t mean it like that!” Mondo ruffled his hair anxiously as Chihiro finally caught up to the group and got a closer look at them.

“Leon… why is your arm stuck to your guitar?” He asked.

“Heh… I broke my strumming arm so I had to stick it in place to practise…” He admitted.

Since when did Leon practise the guitar?

“Ah, Chihiro! Welcome back to school!” Taka smiled. “I’m glad to see you’re in the spirit of things with that uniform!”

At _last!_ Someone had mentioned his change in clothes!

“Kyoudai… his clothing doesn’t really matter, y’know…” Mondo muttered.

“Yeah, don’t treat it like some huge, life-defining achievement…” Leon rolled his eyes.

“Well, if clothing ‘doesn’t really matter’ and isn’t ‘like some huge achievement’ then perhaps _you two_ could actually wear the school uniform _correctly_ on occasion!” Taka smiled triumphantly.

“Yeah… we really should have seen that one coming…” Mondo sighed.

“Yup.” Leon concurred.

“Incidentally… was _that ‘_ cool’?” Taka suddenly asked Leon, sheepishly.

“It _was_ cool… right up until ya _asked_ if it was cool…” Leon rolled his eyes at him. “Seriously, quit worrying about it and just… _be cool!_ ”

“Well, I’m _trying_ to! That’s why I’m asking for feedback!”

The heck!? Since when did Taka care about whether he was _cool_ or not? And why was Leon humouring him instead of calling him annoying? And also...

“…You mentioned my uniform… because I’m actually wearing it correctly… _Not_ because it’s a weird thing for me to wear?” Chihiro check with Taka.

“Err… Of course!” Taka exclaimed, nervously. “I-I mean… why would there be anything odd about your clothing today, right guys?”

Leon and Mondo both nodded.

And that was the last straw. “Am I in a parallel universe or something!?”

“Err… what do you mean…?” Taka asked hesitantly.

“Well… _before_ the holidays, Mondo didn’t wear safety gear, _you_ didn’t worry about being _cool,_ Leon never practised guitar and also you _hated_ each other and…”

He suddenly spotted a vaguely familiar girl letting herself into Celestia room.

“…and we had a girl called Celestia in our class, not Yasuhiro over there!”

Yasuhiro flinched in annoyance as everyone turned to look at her.

“Hey… How did you get that key!?” Leon asked, noticing that she had actually managed to unlock the door.

She sighed, and looked at Taka. “ _You_ explain it. I’m getting back into my more _convenient_ clothes…”

“Uhh… shouldn’t we stop her…?” Mondo asked, “Celestia’ll be _pissed_ if we just let some random girl…”

“Err… No, that _is_ Celestia.” Taka said. “Or rather, that’s Taeko Yasuhiro, who’s been pretending to be called ‘Celestia Ludenberg’ the whole time we’ve known her.”

“Wha…!? So now she cut off her hair thingies?” Leon asked.

“Those are wigs.” Taka explained.

“But their eyes are different colours…” Mondo pointed out.

“Red contacts.” Taka shrugged. “…You’re really surprised by this?” He asked them all, as if it had been obvious.

“Well, they look completely different… and how would we know she’s had a fake name the whole time?” Chihiro asked.

“But… Hifumi’s been drawing her like that for a month now!” Taka exclaimed.

“I just assumed he’d got laid and started obsessing over _that_ girl…” Leon shrugged.

“Well, that is _not_ what happened!” Taka snapped. “You really ought to be nicer to him, you know!”

“…Urg… Fine, alright then…” Leon sighed.

“Umm… See, _this_ is what I’m talking about!” Chihiro remembered the point he’d been making. “Why are you guys suddenly friends now!?”

“Err… Well…” Taka looked awkward as heck.

“He helped me with my coursework.” Leon interjected. “I, uhh… would have been kicked out of the school if he hadn’t, so I realised I should probably listen to him occasionally…”

“But it’s not like I had to help _that_ much…” Taka muttered. “So I have had to admit I was wrong about him!”

“Seriously? That’s _it_? That’s all it took?” Mondo asked.

“Yep! That was it!” Leon said a little _too_ quickly for it to be believeable. “But, like Chi said, what’s with you and the new threads?”

“Oh, this is just safety gear.” Mondo shrugged. “Taka was getting at me about it.”

“I only requested you wear a helmet!” Taka pointed out forcefully. “…But I’m glad you chose to get leathers as well! They suit you! And they will be much more protective than the flimsy tank top you usually wear!”

“Uhh… thanks, Kyoudai.” Mondo stammered.

“Well, alright then but… Why have none of you mentioned my wearing the male uniform on the main side of school?” Chihiro asked.

They all looked awkwardly at each other, as if hoping one of the other’s would explain it. Eventually it was Taka who spoke up. “I was concerned it might be patronising to behave as if your personal growth was a major achievement, as you seemed to be acting so casually about it.” He smiled.

“Yeah… I mean, it was pretty obvious this was gonna happen at _some_ point.” Leon shrugged. “Though, congratz on doing it so quickly, man!”

“I, uhh…” Mondo looked more nervous than the other two. “I didn’t wanna act like you dressing as a guy was a big deal… ‘cause I noticed ya bags had girls stuff in as well… and ya said before you felt like switching it up…” He shuffled his feet awkwardly. “But I’m not sure how it’s gonna work exactly if ya _do_ switch it up…”

“Err… Yes… How would that work regarding pronouns?” Taka asked.

“Uhh…” He hadn’t really considered it. “I think I’d prefer male pronouns, unless we’re in public and I’m dressed as a girl.”

“I meant more like… Do want us to treat you differently when you’re dressed as a guy?” Mondo asked. “I mean… say some asshole’s picking a fight… should we leave ya to it if you’re dressed as a guy or what?”

“Kyoudai, if he needs help, he needs help regardless of what clothes he’s wearing…” Taka started. “You wouldn’t leave _me_ to get stuck in a fight just because I’m male, would you?”

“Well, no…” Mondo admitted.

“Just… try to treat me like you have been.” Chihiro tried to explain. “No matter what I’m wearing.”

“Alright…” Mondo shuffled awkwardly, “Sorry for askin’ stupid questions.”

“It’s not stupid!” Chihiro told him. “I get that this is new and you’re going to have questions about it… Honestly, I’m just glad you’re asking instead of making fun of me for being indecisive…”

“Ehh… I reckon Taka always wearing the exact same thing is weirder…” Leon smirked.

“And yet you voluntarily poison yourself and that’s ‘normal’!” Taka complained.

“ _What!?_ ” Chihiro and Mondo asked at the same time.

“He means I drink _beer_ on occasion…” Leon rolled his eyes.

“Hey, speaking of drinks, I said I was gonna get you one, didn’t I Taka?” Mondo suddenly slapped an arm around his kyoudai.

“Haha! Yes! Maybe we should do a toast to celebrate everyone’s personal growth over the holidays!” Taka laughed.

“W-well… maybe you could h-hold off on that until later?” Toko’s vice came from behind them.

“Uhh… Toko!? What do you mean?” Chihiro asked.

“I… I want to tell everyone s-something…” Toko stammered. “M-meet up in the homeroom classroom at seven this evening… if y-you can be b-bothered…”

“Certainly!” Taka said as she dashed off into her room.

Perhaps Toko had decided she could trust them all with whatever she’d been discussing with Gekkogahara after all… It was understandable, given how understanding everyone was to _him…_

* * *

 

Kiyotaka was sat in his usual seat at the front of the homeroom classroom, waiting for Fukawa to start talking and wondering what exactly she had to tell them about… He’d suggested the idea that she might be releasing a new book, but Chihiro seemed to think it might be something of a more serious nature.

Perhaps she was pregnant? She did write all those romance books, and he could hear Hagakure predicting that Fukawa had a girl inside her…

Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything _too_ difficult for their classmate to deal with… but she did look nervous, stood at the front of the classroom, fidgeting with her hair and occasionally shooting worried looks at Togami, who had also chosen to stand up at the front, off to the side and was occasionally glaring in his direction…

Maybe Togami had gotten her pregnant? Then again they ought to _both_ be making the announcement in that case… He should really stop speculating and… _keep an open mind_ …

Was _this_ what Gekkogahara had warned him about? The thing he needed to make sure he didn’t over-react to…?

After a while, and 10 and a half nervous minutes later than poor Fukawa had _asked_ them to be, everyone from their class was sat at the desks and Fukawa took a deep breath.

“I-I’m surprised you all actually showed up…” She started. “Y-you’ll p-probably wish you _hadn’t…_ ”

“Aww! I wouldn’t miss this for the _world_ honey!” Junko cheered her on.

“Urg… w-whatever…” Fukawa griped. “I w-wanted to tell you all that… I have another personality.”

“…Like Schizophrenia?” Makoto asked.

“ _No!_ Schizophrenia isn’t the same thing as dissociative identity disorder!” Fukawa corrected him irritably. “B-but it’s p-probably h-how you’re thinking it is, thanks to the crappy job television does of dealing with these things…” She conceded.

“Have any of us met this other personality?” Maizono asked. “Because if we have, I haven’t noticed any difference…”

“N-no… You’d have noticed if you had. She… she’s crazy.”

“How so?” Asked Kyoko, after a moment’s silence.

“Well… you’ve probably heard of her…” Fukawa said. “…The p-papers call her G-genocider Syo…”

“The serial killer!?” Several of the class shouted his own thoughts out loud.

“Y-yeah.” Toko admitted.

“So you’re a fucking _murderer!?”_ Mondo cried from behind him.

“ _She_ isn’t a murderer… _Genocider Syo_ is.” Togami finally spoke up.

“B-but… Shouldn’t she be in _jail…_ ” Mondo asked.

“That would be jailing an innocent person.” Kiyotaka realised.

“Well… then locked in a loony ward or something…!” Mondo carried on, “ _Something_ to stop her killin’ people!”

“S-she _has_ stopped killing people.” Fukawa told him. “T-the latest person w-was murdered by someone else…”

“Umm… why?” Chihiro asked. “I mean… why has she stopped killing people?”

“I told her to.” Togami stated, smugly.

“Ya seriously expect us ta believe that?” Mondo snapped as he stood up.

“…Actually, I kinda do believe it…” Makoto said, to murmurs of agreement from several of the class.

“The murders stopped just before we all started here.” Kyoko pointed out.

“But…” Mondo gaped at everyone, “Kyoudai, _you’re_ not buying this, are ya!?”

“Err…!” He wasn’t sure what to say, even as he turned towards Mondo… There was a _serial killer_ in his class? He just wanted to _run!_

But Fukawa looked so scared… and she must have trusted them all immensely to have confided in them about this…

“I think we should have faith in our classmates!” He ended up spouting out an old platitude out of desperation.

“Seriously…?” Mondo asked, looking worried. Kiyotaka just nodded in reply. “Well… ok then…” He seemed to deflate as he sat back down.

“I…” Fukawa started to talk again. “I wondered if you’d… If you’d be willing to _meet_ her…”

 _Meet a serial killer!?_ Several of the class had already responded positively but he was too busy stopping himself from scampering out of the room.

“Are you fuckin’ with us…?” Mondo muttered.

 _Don’t over react…_ deep breaths…

“I’d be willing to.” He was probably going to regret those words…

“…Well if _Taka’s_ gonna…” Mondo muttered again.

Fukawa was staring at them all in shock. She’d probably been expected to be laughed out of the room at that point. “A-alright then.” She steeled herself, and then took out a pepper pot and emptied some of the contents into her hand and sniffed into it.

“Is that some form of _drug?”_ Kiyotaka started to ask. But instead she just sneezed the pepper back out.

“KYAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA!” Fukawa suddenly laughed maniacally as her tongue extended out of her mouth by an impossible amount. “You called for me and so I appear!”

“Wait… was she being _serious!?”_ Hagakure suddenly asked.

“AAAIIIEEE! It’s really a serial killer!” Hifumi shouted.

“An _ex-_ serial killer!” Togami corrected them.

“Yeah… but still… Holy crap!” Leon muttered.

“HHmmm!?” Fukawa… or _Syo_ now? Was looking around the room curiously. “Master Byakuya! Did stuffy-pants _finally_ decide to let me out?” She asked. “Who are all these people? Did you decide to marry us and this is the announcement!?”

“I did not, nor will ever do, any such thing!” Togami snapped at her.

“Anyway, wouldn’t you have _remembered_ that!?” Hina asked.

“No… stuffy-face and I don’t share memories.” Syo shrugged.

“Which means that introductions are in order.” Togami said, pushing Syo’s back so he could lead her to the desks to meet people…

He looked over the class, as if deciding who to pick first… and for the first time in his life, Kiyotaka deeply regretted sitting in the front row…

“Alright, Syo.” _Please don’t pick him, please don’t pick him, please don’t pick him…_ “ _This_ is Kiyotaka Ishimaru.” Togami started.

 _AAAAAAHHHHHHH…!_ Why did it have to be _him!?_ “Ishimaru… this is Genocider Syo…” He finished, looking at him expectantly.

…He was meeting a new person, what had Togami said about meeting new people…?

Stand tall (up out of the seat), smile (try to forget she’s a serial killer), make eye contact (better than looking at that creepy tongue, anyway), greet with a firm handshake (and hope no one takes a picture for blackmail purposes)…

“Nice to meet you.” He said, stretching out his hand “My friends call me Taka.” He added, out of habit.

Instead of returning the handshake, Syo picked up his hand and looked at his wrist. “Ooohhhh… this is a nice watch!” She said, “You don’t see many handmade watches like _this_ anymore…”

“Err… thank you? It was my grandfathers…”

“Well, your family takes good care of watches!” She laughed, “If you were just a _tiiiny_ bit cuter then I’d totally wanna stab you!”

“Err…” _She’d what!?_

“The _fuck!?_ Don’t you fuckin’ _touch_ him!” Mondo was suddenly at his side, roughly pulling his arm out of Syo’s grasp.

“I said I _didn’t_ wanna stab him… I only ever stabbed cute boys… or whoever Master tells me to stab! _KYAHAHAHAHA!_ ” She laughed at her own… joke? Statement? Hopefully the former? “Buuuut anyway… who’s _this_ hunk of handsome, Tick-Tock?”

‘Tick-Tock’? Was that _him?_ Because of the watch? Still… he was supposed to introduce anyone he was with… “This is Mondo Oowada… He likes motorcycles.” He said, almost automatically.

“Ooohh… A biker boy!” Syo laughed, “Is he your biker _boyfriend!?”_

_Why would she think that!?_

“The HELL I am!” Mondo yelled, just before Kiyotaka replied with “Absolutely not!”

“Oooohhh… I seeeeee… A _forbidden love_ , is it? _KYAHAHAHA!_ ”

“NO!” The pair of them both yelled at the same time.

“Right, well… introduction’s done!” Mondo carried on, “We’re leaving now!” Mondo started pushing him out of the room… and to be frank Syo was so difficult to deal with that he was perfectly happy with this arrangement!

No one stopped them, so Mondo kept pushing until they were both outside their dormitories. “Are you OK? Did she hurt you?” Mondo asked, checking over the arm Syo had been holding.

“Err… No, she was just looking at my watch.” Kiyotaka told him, “She didn’t hurt me at all…”

“Well… she coulda done…!” Mondo pulled him into an anxious hug.

“I… I don’t think she _would_ have… Aside from perhaps starting spurious rumours about us!” He conceded.

“… _That’s_ what you’re worried about?” Mondo asked sceptically, “You were talkin’ to someone who’s _murdered people_ and you’re worried ‘cause she thinks you’re _gay!?”_

“Well… rumours like that are the sort of things that can ruin a political career!”

“You know what else can ruin a political career?” Mondo asked, pushing him out of the hug in order to look him in the eyes “Getting stabbed by a fuckin’ _serial killer!”_

“She was _not_ going to stab me! Fukawa and Togami both said as much!”

“So!? They could be lying!” Mondo retorted, “Would you believe _anyone_ who told ya ‘Oh, I’ve killed a dude but I’m not gonna do it again, promise!’?”

“Not _anyone…_ ” Kiyotaka admitted. “But they’re my _classmates…_ and I have _faith_ in my classmates!” He repeated his earlier platitude with a little more conviction behind it this time.

“I…” Mondo stared at him. It looked like he wanted to say something…

“What is it, Kyoudai?” Kiyotaka asked.

“…N-nothing… just… don’t change and don’t get killed, okay!?” Mondo pulled him back into a tight hug.

“Ah…” Kiyotaka put his arms around Mondo’s waist this time. “I expect the same of you!”

Their friendship was so wonderful, he couldn’t bear the thought of it changing…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry for the 'Taka meets the gang' fake-out, and how long this chapter was given how little happens in it.  
> Next chapter will finally be Leon!


	9. Wingman (Leon Kuwata)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Looks at her statement that last chapter would be the longest one* *Looks at the 6000 word bigger word count of THIS chapter...* Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhh... The final chapter of this is gonna be longer than my PhD thesis was. isn't it?  
> Thanks to CheebyBreeby for drawing me fanart! Check it out here: http://charlotteml1.tumblr.com/post/152761840539/derpyflowergarden-this-voucher-entitles-the  
> Also I have a tumblr blog where I post links to my fics and also my attempts at getting better at drawing: You can find it here: http://charlotteml1.tumblr.com Feel free to ask me questions!  
> Anyway, notes about the fic:  
> As I mentioned last chapter, Hope's Peak's exam criteria contradicts what's stated in DR3 entirely. That's because I had this planned out before I watched any of DR3;  
> Also I wanted to include references to Leon's cousin, but I've not actually read the book she's in, so apologies if there are any inconsistencies as I was working off of what's on the Wikia page for her.

(Tuesday, 20th March 2012)

The final bell of the day rang… _finally!_ That meant he only had three more days of this bullshit school before spring break!

Well… alright, Hope’s Peak wasn’t _totally_ bullshit… Hell, he’d met (and started dating in secret) Sayaka _freaking_ Maizono! Not to mention made friends with a bunch of other cool dudes, like Mondo, Chi and Hiro…

Plus, there was tons of cool shit at this school, like all the sports equipment and all the guitar types he could ever need, and more.

To be honest, Hope’s Peak was pretty cool...

But, _urg man!_ The _lessons…_ ok so they were the same shit he’d have had to do in a regular school, but pretty much every class had one smug asshole or another who’s talent was being obnoxiously good at _that_ subject, which seemed to make everyone in the place try really, really hard instead of just being cool, coasting through class and focusing on _fun_ shit while they still _could!_

And no one, _but no one,_ tried harder in all those boring, pointless lessons that his own goddamned, annoying, stuck up, _hardass_ of a class rep! Every lesson he was sat front and centre of the class, probably creeping out the teacher with his crazy stare and all the stupid questions he came out with.

But it wasn’t just that… _that_ wouldn’t be so bad… every class had a nerd who spent all his free time studying after all. But _their_ class nerd wouldn’t settle for just _himself_ doing well at school, _nnnoooooo…_ _Their_ class nerd had to be the fricken ‘Ultimate Moral Compass’ who wouldn’t shut the fuck up until _every single one_ of his class showed up to lessons, in the dorky uniform and did all the stupid homework and blah, blah, blah…

Hadn’t he realised this was _Hope’s Peak!?_ No one _cared_ if you dressed smart and were good at maths, unless you were the Ultimate Smart Dressing Maths Guy! That was the whole _point_ of this school! Ok, _sure,_ they had exams in those subjects, but passing was _easy_ … he’d spoken to guys in the years above who hadn’t bothered with homework and had just managed to coast through on their exam scores, so it wasn’t like the pain in the ass had any reason whatsoever to be constantly bitching at Leon for having done the same!

And it _was_ constant, or _felt_ like it as least… It hadn’t been so bad in the first term, because he’d had Mondo to nag at as well… but then right after the winter holidays he’d somehow managed to brainwash the biker into being his ‘kyoudai’ and suddenly _he_ was doing all his homework and school crap, leaving _Leon_ to face the full force of the dork’s _bitching…_

Leon would have seriously liked to know what the fuck happened in that sauna room once Makoto left… theories ranged from the hardass sucking Mondo’s dick (although _that_ fell outta favour the next three times Mondo struck out) to blackmail (although he couldn’t imagine Mondo having anything to hide _or_ the hall monitor actually managing to _find_ it if he did) to them just talking and overcoming their differences (which was _way_ too boring to be the case).

Leon’s still thought brainwashing seemed most likely… it’d explain why the heck almost everyone _else_ in his class wanted to hang out with him as well, despite him being absolutely _crap_ at doing anything fun whatsoever… Hell, he couldn’t even hold a decent conversation unless it was about school! Who the fuck thought the _news_ counted as a TV show? Or that anyone but _him_ cared who Russia’s not-new president was, or what was going on in whatever the hell the ‘EU’ was?

And yet, all his friends in class actually _liked_ the annoyance and kept acting like it was _Leon’s_ fault they got into a stupid argument every time they saw each other, even though most of the time it was either because he started bitching at him _again_ or took offence over some stupid insignificant crap that no one in their right mind would really care about, like the way Leon was dressed, (even though _he_ never wore anything but the school uniform, which was _crazy!_ ) or him making a stupid harmless joke (as if _he_ never came out with the most stupid, insensitive shit Leon had ever _heard!)_ , or referring to him by title instead of either of his stupidly long names (Even though _he_ always managed to make ‘Kuwata’ sound like it was a _swearword!)_.

Not to mention his attempts to try to use that ‘One _Stupid_ Favour’ voucher the cheapskate had given him for his birthday, which had been _months_ ago, but kept refusing to honour for even the tiniest little thing, like turning the other way when he caught Leon jogging through the halls or having the odd beer with his friends, even after he’d done all _sorts_ of stupid shit for everyone _else_ who’d got one!

It had got to the point where he hardly got to hang out with Mondo and Chi anymore, cause if he tried it meant having a shouting match with the hardass, who was _always_ sat right next to Mondo, just like he…

 _Wasn’t_ today…

That was weird, the hardass was sat at one table, nose stuck in a book despite a group of girls sat loudly chattering to each other right next to him, whereas Mondo and Chi were sat laughing together several tables away.

Well, seeing as Sayaka was nowhere to be seen, and Hiro was sitting with the fatass perv, looked like he _would_ get to hang with Chi and Mondo today!

Just so long as it didn’t turn out that Mondo had had another argument with his _kyoudai_ … that had put him in _such_ a shitty mood last time…

“Hey guys! How’s it hanging!?” Leon slapped the pair of them on the backs as he leant between their heads.

“Heey! Leon! You ain’t sitting with Maizono today?” Geez, did Mondo have to look _that_ happy about it?

“Well, I can’t _see_ her, so guess _you’re_ stuck with me today!” He pulled off a totally cool vault over the table to sit opposite them.

“You’re lucky Taka’s wearing earplugs and didn’t notice that…” Chihiro smirked.

“Yeah, can’t let anyone have _fun!”_ Seriously… what was wrong with vaulting over a table? “And who the hell wears earplugs at dinner?”

“Uhh… it’s just a temporary thing… he’s started having this thing where loud noises piss him off…” Mondo had apparently forgot all the times he’d handed out those bullshit ‘noise pollution’ detentions,..

“He’s always had that… how many times has he told us to shut up in class, even in free periods?”

“Umm… I guess so… but it’s worse today because he’s a bit stressed out…” Urg… Why’d Chi look so worried about whatever the nuisance was being stupid about _this_ time?”

“What, is he freaking out over the exam results?”

“Uhh… no, it’s not that…” Chi almost looked guilty.

“Why, are _you?”_ Mondo smirked.

“Heck, no!” Seriously, you had to be a total _dumbass_ to fail Hope’s Peak unless you fucked up the practical exam, which he _hadn’t!_ Then again, Mondo was hardly the brightest bulb in the rig… “What about you? Scared you might have failed?”

“Hell, no! I got a ton of points from the coursework, I’d have ta have been any _idiot_ to fail, which I _ain’t!”_ Mondo grinned smugly.

“You _suuure_ about that?” Leon teased.

“Yep! I even managed to answer some of the _advanced_ science questions!” Mondo folded his arms behind his head and leant back like doing an exam was something worth having swagger over… “That one on homo-whatsit was worth, like, 20 points!”

“ _Really!?_ I didn’t think your class had even _done_ homeostasis yet…” Chi looked impressed.

“S’not like I need a _class_ to tell me about gay people!” Mondo shrugged.

“Dude… I dunno _what_ homeo _stasis_ is, but _that_ ain’t it!” Leon pointed out.

“It _ain’t!?”_ Mondo cringed as Chi shook his head in pity… “Well… I still managed the one on how to do an electrocution!”

The _fuck_ kinda science questions was _that?_

“…Mondo, the question said ‘ _Electroporation’_ ” Chi cringed. Man, Mondo’s reading really was shitty…

“The _fuck_ is… _that_?” Mondo asked.

“Umm… it’s to do with genetically modifying bacteria?” Chi said, although it sounded like he didn’t really know himself.

“So… I probably shouldn’t have spent most of the exam writing about electric chairs and tricking people into stickin’ forks into wall sockets?” Mondo was looking sick now…

“Umm, probably not? But you answered _other_ questions, right?” Chi asked, optimistically.

“No, I… FUCK! I’m an _idiot!”_ The table shook as Mondo pounded his fist into it, “What the fuck should I _do!?_ What if I’ve _failed!?_ ”

Shit… that’d be terrible… If anyone failed Maths, Science or Language they got kicked out, right? So Mondo might have to leave, just cause he fucked up reading in an exam? Hope’s Peak’s exam rules were kinda bullshit…

“Umm… maybe they could let you resit, if you explain that you read the questions wrong?” Chi suggested.

“They _do_ that!?” Mondo almost hugged Chi.

“Umm… well, I mean, I don’t know for sure but… Taka was able to organise a resit for Sayaka when she missed one of the exams..!”

He had!? Well… about time he did something _useful…_

“Right! I’ll just go… Crap, he’s gone!” Mondo cursed as the spotted the empty seat the hardass been in earlier. “Imma go find him then!” He ran out of the hall, almost running into Sayaka and her tray of food on the way out…

“He’s not coming back, is he?” Sayaka glanced towards the door Mondo had exited as she put her tray down in his space.

“Probably not, you can have his seat…” Leon pushed it out for her, because he was a gentleman, but he did it with his feet while still sat on the other side of the table, because they were on the down-low and it looked cooler that way anyway.

“ _Perfect!_ ” Sayaka gave one of her best smiles… but why did she look so relieved?

* * *

**_Chapter 16: Methods for bacterial transfection:_ **

_16.1: Heat-shock of chemically competent cells_

_16.2: Electroporation of…_

Urrrg! _That_ was the information he’d needed for one of the advanced science questions! If only he’d studied this book a month ago…! He could stopped Matsuda from being so smug about being the only person to answer that one…

Why _hadn’t_ he read this book before now? It had been recommended to him two months ago, so why was he only just getting to it _now?_

Well… he’d had _other_ books to read first! But… still, being _two months_ behind on his recommended reading? Was it just that competing with all the Ultimates led to a particularly heavy workload, or had he been slacking off?

No! No, he definitely _hadn’t_ been slacking off! He was _always_ doing _something!_ Usually either attending class or studying in his room!

Oh, well, there were his hall monitor duties as well, of course, and earning extra money to send home! But he could hardly have skipped _those!_

Hmm… and he _had_ been helping his classmates study and his friends to exercise, but that was helping the rest of the class! That was important as well, right? He could hardly attend as a Moral Compass and then not guide his fellow classmates!

But then… there had been plenty of times that he’d just spent talking to his friends at dinner… or going out with them on Saturday nights... and now he had all these plans to joins clubs as well, which was extra time he wouldn’t spend studying…

Could he really justify all that? If he’d not been doing all of those things, would he have managed to get this book read before the exam?

But then, if he _had_ skipped those, he’d be even worse at talking to people than he already _was,_ and his potential as a politician would suffer…

Perhaps it was just unfortunate… no amount of effort could make him _perfect_ , after all! And his teachers said he was doing well, all of them expecting distinctions from him and his politics teacher expected him to be top of the class (although he hoped he wouldn’t _just_ be top in politics!). He worked hard! He deserved a little time to spend with friends, right?

But what if it wasn’t just a _little_ time… what if he was spending too much time, and hadn’t got the distinctions and top spots he would have otherwise…?

 _Urg…_ this was making him feel sick… and it was the third time this afternoon he’d been down this line of thought… maybe this sitting alone business was worse than talking to people right now? Mondo and Chihiro would be able to distract him from worrying about it until he received the results to look over and check for problems with his classmates’ results…

 _Tch_! Except there was _Kuwata_ , arms around them _both_ like he was _kyoudai_ to both of them!

His eyes flicked back down to the book in annoyance, although all attempts at focusing on it had gone out of the window… how could he be so relaxed!? His laziness had put him in serious threat of actually failing school, and yet there he was, still laughing and joking with his friends as if he didn’t have a care in the world! How could he be so blasé about it!?

Of course, Kiyotaka had asked him about it, but he kept bringing up the fact that Matsuda had passed without even attending classes… but _he_ regularly published papers in Journals like Nature and Science, so the school had plenty enough proof his writing, science and maths were at a high standard! Did Kuwata _really_ he was enough of a _genius_ to pass _every_ subject without bothering with any of the homework?

Ha… he was going to get _such_ a kick in pants when the exam scores came out and he’d failed! Then he’d _have_ to do all his ignored coursework, and he’d probably come begging to Kiyotaka for help and have to admit he’d been completely wrong the entire time! And then maybe _next_ year he’d _finally_ apply himself fully to his studies! And maybe even start actually training at baseball and show everyone how amazing his talent could be if he actually _worked_ at it…

Of course, first Kiyotaka would have to spend a load of time tutoring him… time he didn’t really have because he’d spent so much of it socialising, to the detriment of his studies… and would Kuwata even trust him to tutor him if it turned out he’d done poorly in the exams…?

…He was just going worry about this all dinner, wasn’t he? Maybe he should go and see if the results had been delivered to him yet…

He headed through the unusually quiet hallways of the school to his pigeon hole, almost running with nervousness when he saw that there was indeed a large stack of papers sat in there…

The first one was the Language exam… he’d got a distinction there… and in maths, and science and history and geography and economics…

He’d got distinctions in every subject he’d taken the exam for, just like he’d been expected to… why had he been worried? He’d worked hard after all! Now it was just a case of going through each subject and seeing which ones he made top place in… Let’s see… Matsuda had beaten him in science, obviously… Fukawa was at the top in Language, which was unfortunate, but not surprising, although Togami had _also_ beat him there and…

_And someone was about to grab his shoulder!_

His body moved on instinct… Sakura had asked him, after the fallout from Valentine’s Day, if he’d wanted to learn some self-defence techniques, and they’d spent time over the last month practising useful throws for various situations... He grabbed the arm about to strike him and pulled it forward over his shoulder, using his assailant’s own momentum to help Kiyotaka throw him forward onto the floor… only to be horrified to discover that it was his _kyoudai_ he’d just tossed onto the floor.

“Mondo! I’m so sorry! But why did you sneak up on me like that!?” Kiyotaka both apologised to and scolded Mondo at the same time, wondering why his own voice suddenly sounded muffled and distorted…

And why was Mondo mouthing his answer? He _looked_ like he was shouting, but Kiyotaka couldn’t hear anything… was there something wrong with his hearing? _Everything_ seemed quieter today…

…He was still wearing Gekkogahara’s earplugs, wasn’t he?

“…from all the way down the damn corridor and you didn’t even look up, so how the fuck _else_ was I supposed ta…” Mondo’s voice suddenly became audible mid-sentence as he removed the wax plugs from his ears.

“Ah… I’m so sorry, Mondo! I forgot to take out the earplugs, and I thought I was being snuck up on…” Kiyotaka admitted, bending down to help Mondo stand back up.

Mondo snorted in response, “Remind me not ta try and prank you ever, then…” he grinned, rubbing his shoulders, which had probably taken the brunt of his misguided self-defence attempt. “But, anyway… I need ya help! I think I fucked up the science exam!” His voice got louder as exam nerves kicked in.

His science exam? He’d been so pleased with himself back when he’d finished it… “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think! I’ve got the results here, so I can check how you did…” He reassured Mondo as he flipped through the list of science results…

_Mondo Oowada: Exam: 0 pts…_

_What!?_ What had _happened!?_ Mondo had worked hard and understood so much of it! How had he failed to get a single point in the exam? Had he panicked? He’d have to try and get a copy of Mondo’s exam to make sure it hadn’t been mis-marked…

But regardless, he couldn’t tell Mondo he’d got a _zero,_ he’d be crushed after studying so hard! “Err… Well, you don’t _really_ need science to become a carpenter!” He pointed out, “Why don’t we check your maths score instead, that’s much more import…” He switched to the maths booklet and located Mondo’s name…

“Kyoudai, I don’t _care_ about fuckin’ _carpentry!”_ Mondo lied loudly, “Did I fuckin’ pass science or _not!?_ ”

“Well, of course you’ve _passed!_ ” Why had Mondo been worried about _that?_ After all… “Don’t you remember me telling you? You’ve got enough points from coursework that you couldn’t possibly fail…”

“No, Kyoudai… seriously, I… I did something really stupid… I don’t think I scored a single point…” Mondo cringed, “I know you thought I’d do better but…”

“Ah… no Kyoudai. When I said you couldn’t possibly fail, I _meant_ you couldn’t _possibly_ fail, even if you’d missed the exam completely!” Kiyotaka explained, “Hope’s Peak’s standards are so low, that most students can pass just from doing the coursework set during the year, which is what you’ve done! See?” He showed Mondo the result, where the rest of the line after his name read ‘ _Coursework: 32 pts_ , _Pass_ ’

“Wha…? _Really?_ Thirty two points is a _pass?_ ” Mondo’s tension visibly melted from him as looked at the result. “Why the fuck does an elite school have such low standards?”

“Well… the school’s policy is to focus on our unique… _talents_ …” He spat the word out irritably, “That’s why the practical exam is considered to be so important… the school work is just to ensure we’ve got the basic ability to function in society once we graduate, which is why they make it possible to pass before the exams even start… after all, they wouldn’t want to have to throw out someone as wonderful as yourself, just because you panicked in the exam!” Kiyotaka slapped Mondo’s back. “That’s why they give more points for coursework than for the exam itself, to give less-academically minded students a better chance to pass!”

“Well… I guess that makes sense…” Mondo shrugged, “But… what about Leon then? How well do ya have ta do to pass with just the exam?” Mondo asked, looking grim. It seemed like he’d finally realised why Kiyotaka had been nagging the layabout to do his homework!

“He needed to have scored 75% on the exams… and he got…” Kiyotaka scanned down the list… where _was_ Kuwata’s name?

“C’mon Kyoudai, this ain’t a fucking TV contest! Don’t leave me hanging like that!” Mondo growled.

“Ah… I’m sorry, his name’s not listed in the Science results…” Kiyotaka checked through the next list, “or Maths… Or Language!” Kiyotaka scowled, “Looks like I need to go to the examinations department tomorrow morning to ask where his results are!” Kiyotaka sighed. Not that he should complain, it was in his duties as class rep to check over the exam results and make sure there were no obvious mistakes with them before they got put up on the school board tomorrow, which was why he’d been given the results early.

“Why tomorrow? Can’t you go _now?_ ” Mondo pleaded.

“I really can’t! They’re shut for now…” Kiyotaka explained. “But I’ll go as soon as they open tomorrow! Hopefully I’ll have enough time before class starts…”

“Thanks, man…” Mondo looked a little less worried. “Lemme know as soon as you’ve got his results, okay!? The class wouldn’t be the same without him!”

Well, Kiyotaka couldn’t disagree with _that…_ although he suspected Mondo and he had differing opinions on whether or not that was a _good_ thing!

 

(Wednesday, 21st March 2012)

Kiyotaka scanned the dining room, a small bowl of breakfast in hand. He wouldn’t have much time for eating today, as he had two tasks to complete before class. The first was figuring out the reason for the disappearance of Kuwata’s results, and the second was to warn Sayaka about an error on hers…

And as luck would have it, there was the Pop Idol sat having an early breakfast as well!

“Ah! Good Morning, Sayaka!” Kiyotaka was pleased to see she was up and, more importantly, not being shadowed by Kuwata for once. He knew the pair performed music together but the way Kuwata constantly followed her around seemed to border on harassment at times, despite Mondo’s assurances that Kuwata wasn’t bothering her.

“Morning, Kiyotaka!” She smiled. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to discuss the exam results with you before they got posted on the board…”

She cringed, “How bad _is_ it?” She asked, looking nervously at the papers he was holding.

“Not bad at all! You’ve done very well… it’s just there’s been a bit of a mix up with the exam you had to re-schedule so your overall score in science has been reported as a 47 when it should really be a 68!” He explained. “I just thought I’d let you know in case it didn’t get fixed before the results get put on the board.”

“Oh, thank you… I still can’t believe our manager told me it was an emergency when all he wanted was for me deny some stupid rumours about what I’ve been doing here…” She muttered, irritably. “But I was actually more worried about _Leon’s_ score…”

 _She_ was worried about Kuwata as well!? He knew they practised together, but it wasn’t as if there weren’t other musicians in the school… If only he could have given her an answer!

“Ah… unfortunately, his scores aren’t on the list I was given, but I’m going to head to the examinations department to find out why right away!” Kiyotaka told her.

“Thanks, Taka… He keeps saying he did fine, but I’ve been really worried about this…” Sayaka admitted, “I don’t know what I’d do if he had to leave…” She added, looking quite upset about it…

Was Kuwata really _that_ good of a guitarist!?

* * *

Urg… Leon was even later to homeroom class than normal today, he’d been hoping Sayaka would come back to her room for some post-breakfast make-outs, but nope! And now he was late and probably going to get a huge nagging from the class swot as soon as he entered the door…

Except he wasn’t in his seat… in fact, he was the only person from the class who wasn’t there. That was weird… still, nice not to have to listen to his loud irritating…

“ _I’m so sorry I’m late!_ ” Tch! Spoke too soon…

Lessons were the same old same old… aside from the announcement that the exam scores were going up today… well, _good!_ He’d finally be able to get the hardass to shut up about them!

Several hours of sitting and listening later it was _finally_ lunchtime! Geez, these classes seemed to be getting slower and slower… At least now he might get a chance to chat to Sayaka, even if he couldn’t make out with her. And the dork had just rushed out of the room as soon as the bell went so maybe he could try and convince Sayaka to come and hang out with Mondo as well…

“Ah! Taka, wait up!” The hell!? Why was Sayaka chasing after _him!?_ The holidays were less than a week away, surely she’d didn’t have to do anymore school crap…

Well… Guess it was just gonna be him, Mondo and Chi walking to lunch together then… Or it _would_ be if the hallway wasn’t full of people…

“The hell’s going on?”

“They’ve put the exam results up!” Mondo pointed out. “Guess everyone wants to see if they passed or not…”

Really? It’s not like anyone ever failed those things…

“’Course, I already know I passed ‘cause Taka got the results early…” Mondo sounded way less smug than Leon would have expected.

Yeesh… what a nerd… “Don’t suppose he was willing to admit I did fine, was he?”

“Uhh… he, uhh… needs ta go check something about yours…” Mondo muttered, obviously hiding something.

Tch! Was the hardass busy accusing him of cheating on the test or something? Still, the more he wasted his time doing _that_ the less everyone _else_ would have to put up with him…

“Tch! Guess Chi and I need to find our names then…”

“Umm… Well, I’m not really bothered about where I’ve come…” Chi looked like he didn’t wanna be surrounded by sweaty teens, which was fair enough… “It’s not like I need to worry about passing…”

“Well, yeah… if _Mondo_ could manage it!” Leon grinned.

“HEY! I worked hard on all that coursework and shit!” Mondo got all grouchy.

“And I bet I’m still higher than you!”

“…Yeah, good luck with that…” Mondo gave him a weird look as he and Chi went to eat…

Well, this shouldn’t take long… start at the top, scan the first letters for K’s…

 _Urg..._ seriously, where the fuck was his name! He was already halfway down this stupid list... Why couldn’t they just put all these in alphabetical order? It’s not like anyone with any sense gave a shit about who did better than who in a bunch of stupid tests...

Still... it’d be pretty funny if _his_ name was above the dumb hardass’...

“No… no it _can’t_ be!” Toges had turned up and started yelling at the list like a loon.

“What? Did you fail the year or something?” That’d be sweet, one less d-bag in the class…

“I may as _well_ have! I’ll be the laughing stock of my family to have come _second_ to my own _cleaner!”_

Wait... wasn’t the _hardass_ his cleaner!? _He’d_ done better than _Toges?_

“ _Seriously!?”_ Yep, seriously. There it was, up on the very top of the board, the asshole’s stupidly long and stuck-up name. “How the _fuck_ did he get top of the school!? He’s an idiot!”

“Gck!” Ooooh, shit… now Toges looked _pissed!_ “ _He_ has the sense to study… and he studies _everything_.” He bitched and stomped up and down the hall. “Hmm... I allowed him to best me in politics, it’s his signature class after all, but I should have _more_ than made up for that in economics and music… his science is better than mine, but I should have him beat in language… which means he beat me in _math!?_ ”

“Bullshit, man, he _sucks_ at math!” Seriously, he asked stupid questions over and over in class ‘cause it took him forever to get obvious shit…

“Well, there aren’t any _other_ classes we have a discrepancy in!” Toges got snappy.

“Well, what about PE? You _suck_ at that.”

Toges didn’t move a muscle...

“Did you hear me? I said you...”

“I _heard!_ ” Toges snapped again. “I... I suppose it _might_ have been the reason... and I could at least look my family in the eye if _that_ was the reason for it, especially as I beat the _princess…_ Where’s Ishimaru?”

“Like _I’d_ fuckin’ know? Try askin’ Mondo!”

“Hmph... Probably easier to just head to administration…” Toges stomped off.

Now back to trying to find his fricken name on this stupid list... Wait... did he just go past _Hiro?_ Had he seriously done worse than _Hiro...?_

And there was _Mondo’s_ name... shit maybe he should have done some coursework after all... But there was no way in hell he was gonna admit that... Hell’s Hall Monitor would never let him hear the last of it, and who cares _where_ his name was so long as he’d passed, right?

Aaaannnddd there was the end of the list, with no ‘Kuwata’ in sight... Had he seriously missed it? _Urrgh..._ now he had to go back through it all again...

“Hey, Leon!” Hiro was walking down the hallway towards him. “Have you seen my name?”

“Yeah... it’s here.” Leon followed his finger to the crappy end of the scale.

“Awesome, it’s a prime number! That’s another correct prediction!” Hiro had _something_ to celebrate at least.

“Hey, can ya maybe predict where the hell _I_ am? I managed to miss my name in this stupid thing and don’t wanna go through it _again..._ ”

“Sure! No problem, man! And for you, I’ll do it for just the low, low sum of 10000 yen!”

“Sure thing, I’ll throw another signed jersey your way, alright?” Hiro had predicted they’d be worth some stupid amount of money soon, so it was easy to bribe him with them.

“ _Deal!_ ” Hiro grinned and started doing his muttery prediction stuff. “You’re not on there.”

“ _What?_ Why the heck not!?” Shit... had the hardass been _right..._ had he actually _failed_ from not doing homework...? He couldn’t have! Everyone said no one ever flunked outta Hope’s Peak because of _maths_ and shit _..._ and he’d passed the practical exam easy!

“Dunno... but your name’ll turn up next week though!” Hiro grinned.

“ _Urg..._ That means I gotta wait till _after_ the holidays to tell the nuisance to go shove it...”

“Or you could tell him when you do karaoke together next week!” Man... Hiro really needed to get better at figuring out which of his predications were total bullshit.

“Ok, firstly, neither of us is _here_ next week... and even if we _were_ both in the same vicinity, there’s no way in hell I’d been seen _singing_ with that asshole...”

“Really? That’s a shame…” Yeah, sure Hiro, _such_ a shame he wouldn’t get to sing with the nerd…” ‘I squeezed out the baby but I have no idea who the father is’ would _totally_ have been his jam!”

Wait… The straight-laced loser singing Mioda’s bullcrap?

“Hiro buddy, in _that_ case, I will make it my life mission to get him to sing that song!”

“Great! It’ll be good to see you two get along better!” Hiro patted him on the back…

Really!? Now even _Hiro_ was getting at him about this? How the fuck could anyone _stand_ that stuck up prick!?

* * *

Kiyotaka sat outside the headmaster’s office, trying not to let his irritation show. What a ridiculous day it had been. The examination department had told him to go the general administration office, then _they’d_ told him to go back to examinations, meaning he’d had to attend classes without having an answer. He’d skipped lunch to go back to examinations, then been asked to check with data processing to see if _they’d_ known what had happened to Kuwata’s examination results, only for them to tell him they’d sent them to the administration office and to head back _there_ again, meaning he’d had to spend the afternoon’s lessons worrying about it before he could go there to ask about it, at which point he was _finally_ informed that all three departments had been told that if anyone asked about Kuwata’s exam results they were _supposed_ to have been sent to talk to the headmaster…

And throughout it all, he’d had to deal with questions from several of his class, and various people from outside his class who’d never talk to him otherwise, all wanting to know why Kuwata’s results weren’t on the board… to the point that it felt like the only person who _wasn’t_ concerned with how Kuwata had done in his exams was Kuwata himself!

And not a single person had asked him how _he’d_ done…

Still, maybe that had been for the best, given how _appallingly_ he’d ended up doing! He hadn’t been at the top in a _single_ class! So much for hoping for multiple top spots, when he’d failed to beat the Ultimate Columnist in politics despite her _hating_ the subject and refusing to attend classes!

Where had he gone wrong? All his hard work and effort, and he’d failed to beat someone who didn’t even _want_ to be good at his _best_ subject! Perhaps he _had_ spent too much time socialising…?

“The headmaster can see you now.” The receptionist told him.

“Thank you!” He bowed to her and headed into the headmaster’s office…

“Good Evening, Headmaster!” Kiyotaka bowed to him.

“And good evening to you, Ishimaru.” Kirigiri told him, “Take a seat.” Kiyotaka did as he was told, “Now, how can I help you?”

“It’s about the exam results…” Kiyotaka started.

Kirigiri frowned, “I can understand your shock, but we’ve checked and rechecked her exam, as well as discussed it with her, and we’re certain Hinai really _did_ do that well despite not attending her politics classes.”

“Oh… It hadn’t occurred to me that her score wouldn’t be accurate! Obviously I just didn’t… work hard enough…” Kiyotaka admitted, guiltily. “But what I…”

“What do you _mean_ you didn’t work hard enough!?” Kirigiri interrupted him, sharply.

“Ah… well…” Kiyotaka gulped and looked down at the table as he started to quietly explain, “It’s just… I’ve never had friends before, and I let myself get tempted into spending time with them, which meant I wasn’t as prepared…”

The headmaster sighed, loudly. “Ishimaru, the fact that you, just _barely_ I might add, allowed yourself _some_ time when you aren’t either in class, studying or exercising does _not_ mean you’re not working hard enough!” He said, forcefully.

“But I was supposed to get first in politics…” He sighed, “What’s the point of my being here if I can’t even managed _that!?_ ”

“You aren’t here because of your politics. You’re here because you’re a _compass!_ You’re meant to _point_ people in the right direction!” Kirigiri smiled excitedly at him, “We made the effort of finding someone capable of bringing the best out of everyone, and then surrounded you with the best people in the country! _That’s_ why you’re here! It’s no use to _us_ if you refuse to talk to anyone here because you’re constantly holed up in the library insisting on trying to _beat_ them all at their own games!”

So, in other words, all he good for was bringing out the best in _talented geniuses?_ “With respect, sir, that’s the _school’s_ philosophy. Not my own. I don’t agree with the school’s insistence that talent is more important than anything else, and I intend to show you as much by surpassing the Ultimates with effort!”

“Well… I suppose there’s something to be said for aiming to shoot the moon… And there _has_ been somewhat of a… fanatical aspect to the school regarding _talents_ recently…” Kirigiri sighed, “But, Ishimaru, you’re working _more_ than hard enough! With all the specialist Ultimates here, it’s amazing that someone like yourself even manages to get within the top _three_ in most of your classes!”

“I suppose that’s true… but there were times when I _could_ have been studying, but _didn’t_ and…”

“Ishimaru… I’ve said this to you before. You _need_ to take the time to have breaks from studying! Nobody can focus as intently as you do, _all_ of the time.” Kirigiri said, firmly. “And even the time you’ve spent casually talking with your friends is helping you grow as a person, it’s certainly not a waste, or anything to feel guilty about!”

“You think so?” Kiyotaka asked. Sometimes he wondered if he’d changed all that much… his friends said he _had_ but…

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t!” Kirigiri laughed, “So… does that answer all your questions?”

“Ah… actually it doesn’t answer _any_ of my original questions…” Kiyotaka admitted, wondering how he’d become so side-tracked, “I came to ask about Kuwata’s results. They’re missing from the printouts _and_ the board, and when I asked about them I was told to come to _you…_ ”

Kirigiri blinked in surprise, “You mean he hasn’t told you!?”

“Ah… hasn’t told me what, sir?” Kiyotaka asked.

“The reason his results aren’t listed anywhere is because he’s failed.” Kirigiri stated. “He’s been informed by post, so I assumed he would have told you all himself.”

“Well… it might be that he hasn’t checked his post today. But his failure doesn’t surprise me.” Kiyotaka admitted, “What are his options?”

“Well… he can have his parents pick him to take him home, or make his way back by train…” Kirigiri started listing off transport methods, as if his only options were to _leave…_

“Err… no sir… I mean… he’s failed because he didn’t complete any of his coursework, correct? So… what are his options for completing it now?” Kirigiri was staring at him… “Does he have a deadline he needs to get it done by…?” Kiyotaka suggested.

“Yes. There was a deadline. It was a month ago.” Kirigiri said impassively.

“Ah… yes of course… but… well… he thought he was going to be capable of passing the year with just the exams!” Kiyotaka explained, “I thought… once it became clear he _couldn’t_ get away with that, then he’d listen to me and finally do the coursework…”

And then they’d not argue every time they saw each other and his friends would be pleased with him and maybe he’d get to join in when Kuwata did things like wrestle with Mondo and Chihiro…

“Ishimaru, if _every_ student thought that way, we’d have entire swathes of the school who only did the barest minimum necessary to pass… which is what Kuwata was attempting to do, I might add!” Kirigiri said irritably. “Hope’s Peak is in a very favourable position, but I’m still expected to keep up the appearance of this school as _an actual school_ … _and_ to encourage the development of the students as hopes for the future, not allowing you all to slack off!”

That was all true, but… what would everyone think if Kuwata had to leave? How would _he_ feel once he discovered that his over-estimation of his abilities had led to him being forced out of Hope’s Peak?

“I understand that sir… but I’m sure the threat of having to actually _leave_ the school would scare Kuwata straight!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “There’s no chance he’d be this foolish again!”

“I’m sorry, but the school rules are firm on this matter.” Kirigiri said in an infuriatingly calm voice.

“Perhaps… but the school’s philosophy is based so heavily on… _talent_ that he assumed _his_ would get him through… Especially after his practical exam, went down so well!” At least, he’d _heard_ Kuwata had done well… something about playing a guitar medley, then scoring ten record breaking home runs using the guitar as a bat… He’d been sick that week and as Kuwata hadn’t bothered practising his performance beforehand he never actually got to _see_ it…

“Ishimaru, He’s been given so many warnings from myself, his teachers and _you_ to have known better than that!”

“Ah… It might be that all those warnings just made him want to prove us wrong… encouraged him to try and ‘shoot the moon’ by passing using exams alone, as it were!” Kiyotaka tried to give the headmaster an encouraging smile, but not even repeating his own words was breaking the man’s resolve…

He was really serious about this, wasn’t he? He really _was_ just going to throw Kuwata out, with no chance to redeem himself? Surely that went against the school’s philosophy! “I’m surprised you’re not making an exception just to avoid losing someone as _talented_ as he is!”

“It’s not _my_ job to make exceptions…” Kirigiri said, stiffly.

Not _his_ job…? “…Who’s is it then?” Kiyotaka asked, earning a bemused look from the headmaster, “I mean, whose job _is_ it to make exceptions, if not yours, sir?”

“The steering committee.” The headmaster answered him with a piercing look. “They’re allowed to overrule myself and the school rules.”

“I see! And how can I contact them?” Kiyotaka asked, getting out his notebook.

“…I can give you their addresses…” Kirigiri offered, “But… why are you doing this?”

“Ah… what do you mean?” Kiyotaka asked, confused.

“Kuwata being ejected due to his failure to work be a perfect example of _your_ philosophy.” Kirigiri argued, “But instead of letting it happen, you’re trying to appeal to _our_ philosophy in order to cause him to stay… Why?”

Him having ‘beaten’ Kuwata’s talent, just because Kuwata had been thrown out of the school? “I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect example at all, sir! The perfect example would be if I were to take up baseball, and overtake his _talent_ while he remained complacent!” He argued, “And I’ll never have a chance to do _that_ if he’s expelled over a technicality!”

“Hmm… Good argument.” Kirigiri nodded and started searching through a rolodex. “I must say I’m still surprised though… Kyoko gave me the impression that you and Kuwata can’t stand each other... So why are you so upset at the thought of him leaving?”

“Err…” It was a good question, why _was_ he upset at the thought? Honestly, he thought the class would be a lot more pleasant, quiet and productive without Kuwata around!

But he was the _only_ one who thought that, wasn’t he? Everyone _else_ kept saying that Kuwata wasn’t as bad as he thought, or was really fun to spend time with… how would _they_ all feel if Kuwata left? He wouldn’t be able to look his friends in the eye if he’d let them all lose someone they liked so much, just because _he_ didn’t like him…

But that was a pathetic reason to give to the headmaster!

“Well… the class wouldn’t be the same _without_ him, haha!” He answered with a forced smile as the headmaster sceptically handed over the addresses of the steering committee members…

* * *

“Hey, Sayaka. I’m here to practise!” Leon was at her door, brandishing a guitar case… which was full of massage oils and the fancy sparkling water she liked…

“Great! Come in!” Sayaka brought out one of her awesome smiles and let him in, closing and locking the door behind him. And now would be when she started with the smooches…

“What’s going on with your exam results?” Urg, so much for smooches!

“Urg, it’s fine. They're just not gonna go up until next week…” Leon shrugged, tilting his head back suggestively.

“What? Why not? No one _else’s_ got delayed…” Looks like Sayaka wasn’t biting… “And if there was a problem, why would they not sort it out _before_ releasing the results?”

“I dunno! Maybe there _wasn’t_ a problem until that hardass got his copy to ‘check’ for them!”

“What do you… are you suggesting Taka accused you of _cheating_!?” Sayaka looked at him like he was crazy, “He wouldn’t have done that! He’s been running around all day trying to find out what happened to them!”

Like _hell_ he would have! Why would _he_ care? He was probably just pretending to do that rather than admit he didn’t know when to quit and had forced the school to re-check his results! But Sayaka liked the nerd so much she wouldn’t listen to that so… “Well, he can’t have run to any of the right places, then, ‘cause I’ve been told my results will be up next week!” Which was _true…_ Although Sayaka probably wouldn’t have convinced if he’d said _who_ had told him that…

“Ah… well, if it’ll be alright then…” She _finally_ started with the smooches… and she was wearing that nice cherry lipgloss… kickass! “…But you _will_ tell Taka when you leave, right? Otherwise he’ll spend all of tomorrow running around for them! And he does enough running around for me as it is!”

 _Urrrggghhh!_ “Yeah… all right…” He sighed, “Dunno how you can stand having that asshole pester you all the time though…”

“Heh… _you_ can talk… you’re friends with _Mondo!_ ” Sayaka smirked.

“Eh!? What’s wrong with Mondo!? Mondo’s cool!” Or he _is_ when he’s not hanging with that douchebag…

“Mondo’s _terrifying!_ ” Geez, she was actually serious…

“Aww… c’mon! I know he _looks_ scary, but he’s just a big goofball!”

“A big goofball _who punches people!_ ” Sayaka scowled.

“Well… yeah, he’s punched a _few_ dudes…” And, admittedly, not _all_ of them had been assholes, “But he’s been doing that less lately… and you’re a girl so he’d wouldn’t hit _you!_ It’s against his code or whatever!”

“No… he’ll just shout and scream at me instead!” She huffed.

“Nah… he only does that with chicks he’s trying to flirt with…”

“Babe, I’m the most popular girl in the country! Why _wouldn’t_ he flirt with me?” Well… geez, ego much, Sayaka?! Ok, yeah _,_ it’s _true…_ But don’t just come out and say it like that!

“Well, ’cause he knows you’re dating _me!_ ”

“ _WHAT!?”_ Sayaka went ballistic, “You told _Mondo_ about us!?”

“Uhh… yeah?” The hell was wrong with that? It was just Mondo…

“What part of ‘we need to keep this a _secret’_ did you not _get!?_ ” She snapped into her crazy mode, “It’s probably _him_ who sold all those stories I had to go and deny to the tabloids!”

“Mondo wouldn’t have done that! Hell, if _anyone_ in our class was gonna sell shit to the tabloids, it’d probably be the guy who constantly says he’s broke!” Which was bullshit, ‘cause Togami paid him enough that he shouldn’t have any reason to bitch about money…

“Taka wouldn’t do that! ‘Ultimate _Moral_ Compass’, remember?” _Urg…_ Why couldn’t the school have just called him something like ‘Ultimate Hall Monitor’ so he couldn’t use his title to win arguments…? “Besides, the only reason he’d _know_ is if Mondo’s told him!”

“Well… Mondo wouldn’t have, ok!? If you got to know him better you’d see that for yourself!”

“…Alright, then.” She pouted, “I’ll give him a chance…”

“Awesome! You won’t regret it!” He leaned in for more smooches…

* * *

(Thursday, 22nd March 2012)

Kiyotaka hurried to Togami’s room, hoping the heir wouldn’t be too upset with his tardiness…

He hadn’t _intended_ to be late, of course! But Princess Nevermind had seemed to be in a poor mood this morning, and insisted on taking it out on the dust in her room… especially behind the various large pieces of furniture she owned, which had taken time to move and put back into place.

And his attempt to congratulate her on getting the high score in Geography didn’t seem to help matters at all…

So now he was late to help Togami, on a day when he really needed time to think… He’d need to write the letters arguing Kuwata’s case to the steering committee tonight… which meant he needed to think of _good_ things Kuwata did for the school… and his mind was coming up completely blank on _that!_

“You’re _late…”_ Togami glared as he opened the door, “Did something happen?”

“My apologies, her highness insisted her room be more thoroughly cleaned than usual, but didn’t warn me in advance.” Kiyotaka explained.

“Heh… how childish of her!” Togami chuckled, “I’d never do something so ridiculous.”

“Well… you’d be surprised how much dust builds up behind the beds and wardrobes!” Kiyotaka pointed out, as he started dusting over the desk. “It’s worth you pulling them out on occasion and…”

“As if I’d waste _my_ time with that! Do it sometime over the holidays when I’m not here and I’ll pay you accordingly.” Togami waved dismissively at him.

As if _his_ time wasn’t important either! Of course he’d still do it, he needed the money (he could probably squeeze it in between Togami leaving and Mondo being ready to go tomorrow…), but Togami didn’t have to act as if he was _better_ than everyone else because he could afford to foist his chores off on other people!

How much time did _Kiyotaka_ spend doing chores? There was the hour cleaning for Togami and the princess… and Togami’s laundry took an hour a week… plus his own laundry and cleaning probably took an hour a week as well… That was an extra _three hours_ a week he could spend studying if he was as rich as Togami…

Still, it couldn’t be helped… it wasn’t as if Togami didn’t work hard for the money, in his own way. Who knows how much time he had to spend running his business alongside his school work? He shouldn’t begrudge someone who was nice enough to pay over the odd for his assistance.

“In fact, you can leave the normal cleaning until then, and set up _that_ now, instead.” Togami suddenly decided, pointing at a box nestled between the desk and the wall.

Kiyotaka looked it over, it appeared to be a rack with a series of dumbbells in increasing weights… “You’ve decided to start weight training?” He asked, opening the box.

“Hmm, yes… since Kuwata said that…” Togami started to explain,

“ _Kuwata_ inspired you to exercise!?” Well, _that_ made sense… he was the best male sportsman in the class, and Togami _was_ incredibly competitive! “That’s wonderful!”

Especially as he could _use_ that for his letter to the steering committee! In fact, maybe he should stop trying to think of reasons by himself and just ask his friends! After all, _they_ were the ones who kept saying he was a good addition to the class, so he should ask _them_ why that was the case!

“…Is there anything else Kuwata has done that’s been of benefit to you?”

“…No.” Togami said, flatly, while watching Kiyotaka unpack his new piece of furniture with a bemused expression.

* * *

“So… the top two people in the school are _both_ in your class?” The Ultimate Gardener asked as he passed over a beer.

“Fukei, dude, _don’t_ get me started…” _Huh…_ it was actually a pretty decent beer. “Why’d you think I came all the way up here to _hide_ from the asshole?”

After all, he hadn’t snuck up to the garden to hang with this guy since before he started dating Sayaka…

“…Do you mean Togami or Ishimaru?” Hah! Fair question! But…

“Ehh… Togami’s not so bad, he doesn’t bother you if you leave him alone.”

“So Ishimaru then… yeah, I can get that! That Christmas dinner was bad enough…”

“Christmas dinner?” The heck? Was there some gossip he’d not heard?

…So apparently the hardass was perfectly happy to eat meat and shit when it was _free_ … he was _such_ a cheapskate!

“Anyway, I think I’ve hidden long enough… he’ll be in his room studying by now.” Leon got up to stretch, “Thanks for the beer, man!”

“See ya, Kuwata!”

Well… that had been more interesting than he’d expected… usually all he wanted to talk about was the school garden or his anti-drugs spiel. Still, at least it was better than running into the hall monitor and risking a lecture on how if he’d done his coursework, it wouldn’t _matter_ what exam scores he got and blah, blah, blah… Now Leon could head back to his room and prepare for another ‘practise session’ with Sayaka…

Urg! What the heck? Why was the nerd still stood in the hallway talking to Chi an hour and a half after class ended? Wouldn’t he usually study now…? Did this mean he was using his top position as an excuse to slack?

Well… it’d actually be kinda cool if he _did…_ it’s make the rest of them look better! He looked like he was asking Chi about something… maybe it was videogames or something? He snuck closer to listen…

“Umm… well, he encourages us to do things we wouldn’t usually dare to!” Chi was telling the hardass.

“But half of those things turn into disasters!” Urg… _killjoy!_

“But the other half end up being _amazing!_ ” Chi grinned like a maniac, “There’s no reward without risk!”

“I… suppose so.” Monitor dude muttered as he scratched something into his little pad, “I’ll make a note of it, thank you!”

“Umm… alright then.” Chi looked confused, but overall happy as the nuisance turned towards Leon…

Good thing he was quick enough to scoot aside and hide before he got spotted… and the hall monitor was gone! It was amazing he even gave out detentions at all with _that_ crappy eyesight…

“Hey, Chi! Who’s this awesome-sounding dude you were telling the class rep about?”

“Oh… just a guy I know who’d always coming up with fun ideas…” Chi grinned at him.

“Well… you gonna tell me who he is, or just leave me hanging?”

“Uhh… I know! I’ll bring him up on my phone so you can talk to him!” Chi started tapping away at the phone before turning it towards him. “Say ‘Hi’ Leon!”

He’d just shoved the phone on selfie mode… “Smartass!” Leon sighed as Chi giggled. “So why the hell were you talking to the hardass about me?”

“He asked what things you contribute to the class!”

 _Urgggghhh…_ “What kinda _dork_ asks _that!?_ ”

“One who’s _trying_ to give you a chance!” Chi got snippy. “He even promised me he’s _not_ going to complain about you not checking your post!”

“How the _fuck_ does he know I’ve not checked my post!?” Seriously, was he setting up cameras around the school or something!?

“Probably because Celestia’s been pitching a fit that your pigeon-hole’s so full they keep putting _your_ post in _her_ slot…”

“Urg… fine, I’ll go sort it out…” He didn’t wanna piss of that crazy woman…

“Great!” Chi smiled before heading into his room.

Wow… this post thing really _was_ full… why the hell did he have so much mail… _Urg…_ most of this was just school announcements and other stupid crap the hall monitor had put in there… just the school equivalent of junk mail… no point wasting time sorting this out when he had a pop idol to go make out with, he’d just dump it all in the recycling…

* * *

_Kuwata’s physical talents inspire us to keep ourselves fit and healthy, and he also encourages our class to take risks that we might otherwise shy away from._

Hmm… It seemed reasonable. But it could do with more… weren’t groups of three supposed to be most persuasive? If only he could think of something else to put… but all that came to _his_ mind when he thought of Kuwata was a work-shy idiot who’d got himself into this stupid mess with his arrogance and hadn’t even given him the chance to discuss it with him!

And now, here was Kiyotaka spending even more time he didn’t have to sort his mess out for him… and he didn’t even have a reasonable explanation as to why he was doing it, other than the fact that Kuwata was popular and therefore if he _didn’t_ help him remain in the school then all his friends would be upset… and he couldn’t bear the thought of them being upset… especially not Mondo, who seemed particularly close to Kuwata.

But he could hardly write ‘please let Kuwata stay because my friends will be upset if he doesn’t’ and expect to get taken seriously, could he? So what _should_ he put?

“Uhh… Knock, knock?” Kiyotaka’s thought were suddenly interrupted by Mondo’s voice, as he’d apparently started letting himself in with the spare key.

“Ah! Kyoudai!” Kiyotaka could hear the sound of glass clinking as Mondo entered the room, “Err… sorry, I’m not quite ready to study with you yet.” He apologised, as he continued to look at the not-quite-finished letter with irritation.

“Uhh… no I didn’t come here ta study.” Mondo corrected him.

“Oh! Of course, you must be worried about Kuwata’s results!” Kiyotaka realised guiltily. It had been almost two whole days since he told Mondo he’d sort it out, and he’d failed to report back…”

“Wha? No! Leon already told us all his exams just being marked twice!” Mondo laughed, “I came ta…”

“Is _that_ what he thinks!?” Kiyotaka blurted out. How could he possibly be so mis-informed!?

“Uhh… yeah?” Mondo confirmed hesitantly, “Why… what have _you_ heard?”

“…He failed. He was supposed to have got a letter saying as much.” Kiyotaka explained, trying to keep calm as Mondo obviously wasn’t…

“WHAT! WHADDAYA MEAN HE _FAILED!?_ ” Mondo shouted, “WHY THE FUCK AREN’T YOU OUT THERE TELLING HIM TO DO HIS COURSEWORK!?”

“The headmaster told me it’s too late, and he should have submitted it before exams started.” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’m _trying_ to get an exception made for him… but it involves convincing the Steering Committee to get involved, and I’m having trouble coming up with good reasons to motivate them.” He gestured to the piece of paper in front of him. “I don’t suppose you could give me any suggestions?”

“What…? Shit, no! I mean, he never does his schoolwork and he distracts us in class half the time and the only reason he _goes_ ta class is either ‘cause you dragged him there or no one’ll ditch with him… Why the fuck _would_ they bother giving him another chance?”

“But… then why do you keep insisting I should be friends with him!?” Kiyotaka asked irritably.

“Well… cause he’s a great guy ta be friends _with!_ ” Mondo shrugged, “’Cause… he always knows how ta make ya laugh, and how to make shit seem like it’s gonna be alright, or it’s not such a big deal!”

“How is it a _good_ thing to dismiss problems!?”

“It’s not like that…” Mondo scratched his head, “It’s just… y’know, sometimes there’s problems ya _can’t_ solve… or shit where you’ve just gotta wait for an answer… so there’s no point sitting around an worrying about it ‘cause it just makes ya feel like crap if ya do!”

“And… he’s good at… distracting you from that?” Kiyotaka asked,

“Yeah… that’s why I thought he’d be a good friend for ya… to help stop ya from worrying about the exam results and shit...”

How had Mondo known he’d been worried about that? After all it wasn’t as if he’d been in danger of actually failing, and his worry had been mostly unfounded…

“…but if he has to _leave_ …” Mondo grimaced, “It’s gonna be fuckin’ miserable… and I can’t even think of anything to help ya keep him here!”

“Ah… no I’d say helping with class morale is a vital reason to keep him here!” Kiyotaka told him, “After all, the last time a class were all miserable, it ended up with the gym being blowing up!”

“Ya think it good enough though!?” Mondo asked, worriedly.

“I don’t know… I guess this is one of those problems where we just have to wait for an answer, and try not to worry.” Kiyotaka admitted. “Although it would probably help if I informed Kuwata of his situation, so he could actually talk to the headmaster and make his own case as well!”

“Uhh… you might have trouble with that…” Mondo’s eyes shifted sideways in embarrassment, “He’s avoiding ya cause he doesn’t want to talk about the exams until he gets the results…”

“Which he _won’t_ get unless he talks about them…” Kiyotaka sighed, “Perhaps you could tell him, please?”

“Yeah… least I could do!” Mondo rubbed his hair affectionately. “But for now…”

“Yes, _now_ I need to get on with finishing these letters!” Kiyotaka showed him, “And then get them ready to deliver them to the committee…”

“Oh, uh, yeah! Of course!” Mondo stammered, “I-I’ll let you get on with that then…” There was a tinkling of glass as Mondo left the room and he Kiyotaka got his pen out to finish writing the letters…

Wait… why had Mondo brought _glass_ into the room!?

* * *

(Friday, 23rd March 2012)

One more day… just one more day of lessons and then it was two weeks of _freedom!_

Well… two days of freedom and then a week and a half accompanying Sayaka at her concerts… which would probably mean putting their relationship on ice… but he’d get to play his guitar at one of the biggest concerts in the _world!_ What could top that sort of buzz, right? He’d even practised to get ready for it… not as much as Sayaka had told him to, but she was kind of a worry-wart about her performances… it’s not like anyone was gonna notice the guitarist when _Sayaka Maizono_ was on the stage!

But regardless, it was still two weeks with no school, no classes and no _hardass!_ The only way it could be better was if he got to hang out with his friends as well as Sayaka…

“So, Ishimaru-dono… what urgent matter of business are you attending to on this fateful morning!?” Urrrgg… it was the fatass and the nerd on one of their godawful walking and/or _ego_ trips! Still, at least their stupid loud voices made it really easy to hide from them both…

“Ah! Well… we’re, uhh, going to deliver… requests for assistance… in, err, aiding a young warrior who is… at risk of being unduly punished for a minor misdemeanour!” _Hah!_ As if the rules lawyer would ever try to get help for someone who was being punished!

“…You can just _say_ if it’s confidential, Ishimaru-dono…” Wow, even the manga nerd could see through his crap…

Still… if _those_ two were going off for a walk, it’d be the perfect chance for him to hang with everyone he _liked_ before the school holidays started!

Sayaka and Chi were already sat together at breakfast, which was _great!_ This must be his lucky day! Now he could go sit with them and then just wait for Mondo and Hiro to turn up and it’d be one big happy breakfast together! He made himself some bacon and rice to celebrate, and went back to the table to listen in on Chi blathering at Sayaka about making a voice for a computer or something.

Okay… this table could do with a few more non-nerds… but luckily, here was Mondo to tip the balance in his favour! And he was coming straight over instead of getting his own breakfast… probably intending to steal his bacon…

“Uhh, hey! Leon! I need ta talk to ya ‘bout something!” Mondo announced, clasping a hand on his shoulder from behind him.

“Yeah, sure dude! Take a seat!” Leon pointed to the empty seat next to him…

“Yeah… it’s kinda something private, man…” Mondo tried to pull him off the seat… and Sayaka was giving him an ‘I told you so’ look.

“It’s cool, we’re all friends here!” Leon tried to push him into the seat… although he’d have better luck pushing over a mountain.,,

“Uhh… sorta?” Oh, _great_ one Mondo! Now Sayaka looked _super_ pissed… “But I still need ta talk to ya in PRIVATE!…” Oh, great, now he was starting to lose control of his volume…

“It’s Ok… I’ll go.” Sayaka stood to leave, “That way you three can talk…”

“NO! It’s ain’t YOU!” Mondo started panicking. “It’s just…”

“Yeah, I told you Sayaka, he’s not into you…”

“WHAT!? Of COURSE I’m into her! I mean, LOOK at her, right!? WHO ISN’T INTO HER!?” Oh gods, Mondo, _no!_ Don’t do this bullshit again… Not with _Sayaka…_

Shit… so much from a happy breakfast! Chi was cringing and Sayaka was starting to back away slowly…

“N-NOT THAT I’M GONNA START ANYTHING ‘CAUSE…’CAUSE YA AINT ALLOWED TA… AND EVEN IF YA _WERE_ I STILL WOULDN’T CAUSE YA PROLLY AINT INTERESTED IN ME AND… OK, LOOK I KNOW IM FUCKING THIS UP BUT… _SHIT!_ WILL YA QUIT _STARING_ AT ME LIKE THA…?”

“Mondo!” Chi suddenly managed to shout louder than Mondo! “Umm… you need to leave and calm down now…” _Wow…_ Chi could be pretty forceful when he needed to be…

And Mondo actually listened, taking one last, scared look at them all before screaming “ _FUCK!_ ” and running out of the room… almost barrelling into Hiro on the way out.

“Heh… lucky for _him_ Taka’s not here, right?” Hiro laughed as he came over to the table… hen stopped when he actually looked at them all. “What did I miss?”

“Mondo having a crush on me, apparently…” Sayaka looked worried, which he could kinda understand because, seriously! How fucking long had he been hiding _that_ shit!?

“Umm… I don’t think it’s _that…_ Enoshima’s been suggesting people will think he’s gay for taking Taka on holiday with him.” Chihiro piped up. “So when you said he _didn’t_ like Sayaka…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

“See… I told you.” Sayaka muttered irritably.

Well… shit, she kinda did…

“He’s not always like that though.” Chi gave Sayaka some effective puppy-dog eyes. “He’s just not used to talking to you…”

“I don’t particularly _want_ him to get used to talking to me… he’s awful!”

“Aww… c’mon Sayaka… he’s not _that_ bad!” Aside from being a huge dork around chicks, anyway…

“Yeah! Taka used to think the same thing, remember?” Chi pointed out… and _now_ they were so close people were starting to talk about them being gay for each other…

“Well… I suppose I can give him another chance…” Sayaka sighed. Kickass!

Woulda been nice if she’d trusted _his_ judgement rather than the asshole’s though… What the _fuck_ did she see in him!?

* * *

Dinnertime already,   and he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kuwata _or_ Mondo all day! It seemed he really _was_ being avoided by Kuwata… but why hadn’t Mondo let him know he’d told Kuwata about his failure yet? Or even come to discuss the fact that they were supposed to be packing to go on holiday together tomorrow?

Well… at least Mondo was in the dining room! He was sat by himself looking over at the table Sayaka, Chihiro and Kuwata were sat at… that was _odd_ to say the least, but at least now Kiyotaka would get a chance to talk to him!

“Good Evening, Kyoudai!”

“Oh, uhh, _Taka!_ HI!” Mondo panicked at his approach, “Hey, didya hear anything back from those steering wheel guys yet!?”

“Ah… no... Although they said they’d be discussing it with the headmaster.” Kiyotaka admitted, “What was Kuwata’s reaction to the news?”

“Uhh… well he, umm…” Mondo appeared to look at everything in the room except for him. “Iain’ttoldhimyet…”

Kiytoaka sighed, “Well… he’s over on that table there!” He pointed it out.

“Uhh… yeah… but so’s _Maizono_.” Mondo muttered.

“…what difference does _that_ make?” Couldn’t he just ask Kuwata to talk to him privately?

“Well… ya know how I get with chicks…” Mondo mumbled, miserably. “Ya know… with the shouting and shit…”

“But I thought that was only when you…” Kiyotaka started, before considering what Mondo was getting at… “…You have a crush on _Sayaka?_ ”

“It’s not a crush!” Mondo hissed, “It’s just… y’know… she’s hot… and even though I know it’s not gonna happen, I still think she’s hot and it makes me nervous cause I know I’m supposed to act cool around hot chicks... but then I can’t think what to say and I start panicking and _fucking everything up!_ ” Mondo was sweating, breathing heavily and pulling at the loose hair on the back of his neck…

It was true Sayaka was aesthetically pleasing, with her nice uniform contrasting her interestingly coloured hair, but he wouldn’t have said it should be to the point where Mondo was getting into a panic just thinking about her! And yet here he was… and it almost _hurt_ Kiyotaka to see him so upset…

“Kyoudai…” Kiyotaka sat down opposite him and gently tugged his sleeves until he let go of his hair and let Kiyotaka pat his hands reassuringly… “I’m sure if she was able to have a boyfriend, she’d want you!”

“Urg… That’s bullshit! And you’re just saying it ‘cause you’re my friend…” Mondo griped.

“Well… in a way, I suppose I am.” Kiyotaka admitted, “You’re a good Kyoudai… so I know you’ll be a good _boyfriend_!” He explained after Mondo looked at him in irritable bemusement, “So of course she’d want you! After all, _who wouldn’t!?_ ”

“…Thanks, Taka.” Mondo muttered, moving his hands out from under his own to straighten the hair he’d mussed up earlier.

“So… now you can go and talk to…”

“Uhh… No, I really _can’t…_ ” Mondo cringed at the suggestion.

“Ah… well… I guess I’ll try to catch him at some point then?” Kiyotaka sighed, and Mondo just nodded in embarrassment.

What a shame his pep talk wasn’t enough… he’d even meant every word of it! Mondo would be a _fantastic_ boyfriend, if just _one_ woman that he liked would see past his nervous yelling and give him a chance!

If only _he_ was a woman and could help…

But he _wasn’t,_ of course! So it was pointless thinking like that! All he could do was distract Mondo from his women worries with his constant supply of manly friendship!

“So… regarding our trip to meet your gang… What do I need to pack?”

“Oh, uhh… just a tent, if you’ve got one, warm clothes help… we’ll be moving a lot though, so try to keep it light…” Mondo started to explain the practicalities of camping by motorcycle, and stories of the trouble they’d had when they’d over packed or not packed enough and the types of places he was thinking of taking the gang…

“Oh, hey… haven’t you gotta ring ya Dad soon?” Mondo suddenly asked.

“Hmm? What do you mean? I don’t have to ring for another…” He checked his watch…

_7:52_

“…Did we really just talk for an entire _hour!?_ ” Kiyotaka looked around the dining room in dismay, as he realised most of the tables had emptied out while he was talking with Mondo. “I was supposed to study for a while after dinner…”

“Really!? It’s the last day of school! Can’t ya take a break from studying for once?”

“No! I am a student, and therefore I study!” Kiyotaka replied, “It’s the reason I’m _here,_ remember?”

“Yeah, I know… it’s your _thing!_ ” Mondo rolled his eyes, “Now go ring ya Dad and I’ll meet you in your room to help ya pack up shit!”

“Alright then!” He nodded and headed out of the dining room…

But really… a whole _hour_ just spent talking to Mondo? Admittedly, he’d learnt about camping during that time, but it was still concerning that he’d failed to notice the time passing so quickly… how many other times had he let it slip by so mindlessly?

Was that why he’d failed to get top spot in politics? Had he wasted time without realising it?

A feeling of dread filled him… he was about to talk to his _father…_ and he’d promised to let him know how he did in the exams… and his father would be expecting him to be top of several classes… it’s what he’d suggested he was expecting _last_ week, after all!

And yet know he’d failed to get top in even a single class… and all he had to show for the time he'd not spent studying was some nebulous suggestion from the headmaster that he’d ‘changed as a person’! How could he explain _that_ to his father?

Well… he was going to have to do it now… either that or try to gloss over the news, after all, he _had_ got distinctions in every class!

He typed his father’s phone number in…

"Good evening, Father! I hope you've had a good week!"

"Yes, thank you! Did you get your exam results back?"

"Yes, I did! I received distinctions in every subject!" He said, hoping his father wouldn’t ask…

"Haha! _Wonderful_! And which classes were you the top at?"

 _That…_ "Err... well... none of them..." He cringed.

"What... Not even _politics_!?" His father was understandably shocked, after all he’d been so confident about that class in particular _last_ week but…

"Err... no... For someone who hates politics, the Ultimate Columnist has a spectacularly good grasp of it... She beat me by 3 points..." He explained, shamefully.

"You mean you lost to someone who wasn't even trying?" His father was so disappointed. "You _did_ study for it, didn’t you?"

"Of course I did! I studied for _all_ of them!” He cried, “But... this is what Hope's Peak is _like_! It seems like no matter how much effort I make there's always some... some _genius_ Ultimate in every class that no amount of effort lets me catch up to! The headmaster says it's amazing that I even come second and third in so many classes..."

“Hrmm… _Kiyotaka_ …” Kiyotaka flinched at the disappointment in his voice. “…Are you _sure_ you’re not just using that as an excuse?”

“I…”

“I didn’t say anything before, because I trust you… But you _do_ seem to talk about spending time with your ‘Kyoudai’ and ‘friends’ quite a _lot_ …”

“I…Nngghh…” His father was _right_ , of course… he’d spent all that time worrying about his ability to socialise, when he should have been studying harder…

“Well… It’s never too late to correct mistakes!” His father pointed out. “You’ve got the holidays to yourself, don’t you? It’s the perfect time to start catching up, right?

“I… Err…” He’d been planning to spend the holidays with _Mondo_ …

“ _Right!?_ ”

“Err… Of course!” His father was right, he had to admit it… He’d been indulging himself… spending too much time with Mondo. And now he’d let his studies slip… He didn’t _deserve_ to go spend time on bike rides and camping and meeting Mondo’s gang…

“Good! Don’t let yourself get disheartened! It’s only a minor setback, I’m sure… And now you know not to let yourself get distracted so much!” His father said kindly.

“Yes, thank you, Father!” He said, trying to sound upbeat… And yet even with his father’s advice, all he could think about while saying goodbye was how disappointed Mondo was going to be…

“Hey, Kiyotaka…? Is everything alright?” Makoto had come to talk to him, as he did every Friday… This was another _thing_ he always spent _time_ doing with his _friends_ , wasn’t it?

“Ah… Makoto… I’m sorry I haven’t got time to chat…” He explained, apologetically.

“Oh, right! I bet Mondo’s left it to the last minute to pack all your stuff…” Makoto laughed.

“Well… yes.” Kiyotaka admitted, as his stomach lurched… at least it meant that Mondo hadn’t packed everything up only for him not to need it… but that didn’t make him feel better at all…

“Oh! And well done on the exams!” Makoto slapped his back… although the words felt more like a _stab_ in it… how could he _say_ that when he’d wasted so much time and failed to live up to his standards… to the point where he was having to let Mondo down to make up for it?

His walk away from the phone was even more filled with dread than the one _to_ it had been… Was it fair of him to suddenly drop out of the trip? What if Mondo had already told all his gang he was going to be bringing a friend along? Would they make fun of him for then arriving alone?

He opened his door and stepped through, he needed to think of a way to break the news to Mondo before he came to help him pack…

Kiyotaka flinched as the sound of the doorbell pierced through the room… It would appear he’d have to improvise… Starting with opening the door.

“Hey! I, uhh… I didn’t get a chance to say it before, but congrats on your exam results!” Mondo was stood in the hallway, grinning and holding a bottle of orange juice and two glasses. “I thought I’d get you something to celebrate how well you did!”

“…I didn’t do well, though…” His head hung in shame.

“Uhh… _What?_ REALLY!?” Mondo shouted out of awkwardness. “But… but Makoto just came and told me you did really well….”

“Well… I suppose by _his_ standards I may have, but I didn’t come top in a single class…”

“Shit… not even politics?”

“No… the Ultimate Columnist somehow beat me… despite not turning up to class…ever.”

“Well… Damn that’s fucking annoying… but that’s kinda how it is here… Every class has an Ultimate who’s just at the top with no effort… It’s still fuckin’ awesome even if you came in second!”

“But… but I can’t just settle for that! I need to _surpass_ these people! To show everyone that effort trumps talent!”

“Well… yeah… But you’re not gonna do it overnight, ‘specially not when you’re splitting your time between everything and they’re just working on one thing...” Mondo affectionately ruffled his hair. “Hey, why don’t we share the drink, and then we can get your stuff packed for the trip…”

“Ah…” He… he needed to tell Mondo his change in plan, but…

“What’s the matter?” Mondo face furrowed with concern, “Are ya worried about meeting my gang? ‘Cause if ya _are_ I…”

“No! It’s just I…” He swallowed, unable to meet his friend eyes “I need to study…”

“Geez… Was it really _that_ bad…?” Mondo squeezed his shoulder. He nodded, tears starting to form in his eyes as he remembered the disappointment in his father’s voice. “Alright… I get how it is.” Mondo grinned and slapped his shoulder.

“Y-you do?” He’d been expecting his kyoudai to insist that he was being ridiculous… that he should lighten up and not worry and just hang out with Mondo instead…

“Well, yeah! Studying… and not being able to settle for second place… it’s kinda your _thing_!” Mondo’s arm moved across his shoulders into its usual friendly hold. “Like how riding my bike and scaring big tough assholes is _my_ thing! So I’m not gonna stop you doing what you need to do… cause it’s what makes you _you_ … and I wouldn’t change that for the world!”

Kiyotaka slipped his own arm around his friend’s waist to pull them tighter together …Sometimes Mondo managed to say things that just made everything seem… right!

“Even if I _do_ think you’re kinda being a stupid dumbass about it and could do with an _actual_ holiday!”

…And then he usually followed it up with something daft like that! And Kiyotaka wished he wouldn’t get so nervous about women and that his plans for the holidays didn’t involve roughing people up… but still…

“I wouldn’t change you for the world either, Kyoudai!” Kiyotaka told him. “I… I’m going to miss you…” He wished he could stay with his friend. When Mondo and he were together, it felt as if he didn’t have to worry about anything in the world. That he could stop studying and relax next to his warm body, and it wouldn’t matter because he was good enough to get away with wasting a little time.

But he _wasn’t_ good enough. He wasn’t someone like Togami, who could afford to pay others to help with basic chores to save a few hours a week. Nor was he like Kuwata, who seemed to manage to pick up skills without spending any time on them. He needed every spare second he had to catch up with these people, and thinking that he could afford time to relax and socialise had been foolish…

“Yeah, me to.” Mondo sighed. “Still, it’s only two weeks, right?” He ruffled Kiyotaka’s hair again. “And you’ve got my phone number, so you can ring me whenever you want a break, ok?”

Well, _obviously_ he’d still need to take study breaks, else his mind would wander and he’d just end up wasting his time…

“Ah, yes! Thank you!” Kiyotaka felt himself smiling, this wouldn’t be anywhere near as lonely as the winter holidays had been…

* * *

Sayaka had been wearing strawberry lip-gloss today… and now she was cuddled up in his arms, as was their usual post-‘practise’ routine…

“…I would have thought Mondo would have tried to apologise at dinner.” _Wha!?_ She was bringing that up _now!?_

 _“_ Urg… no, babe. He’s gonna be too embarrassed about that to try to talk to you for a _month!”_ If not longer… “He, uhh, probably feels like crap about it though... his bro was always going on about not upsetting women, soo…”

“Seemed like his _new ‘_ bro’ was doing a good job cheering him up, though…”

She had a point, guess the guy was good for _something…_

“Speaking of which, its curfew soon…” She pointed out, making no effort whatsoever to get rid of him…

“Guess I’ll wait ‘till _after_ it and then no one will catch me leaving your room!” And then he’d get to spend more time with her…

“Haven’t you spent _enough_ time with me?” Well, apparently he had, as she was mind-reading him again… “You’re about to spend two whole weeks with me.”

“It won’t be enough…” Most of that would be them pretending they only cared about playing music together…

“…And we’ll be _actually_ practising together tomorrow!” They would!?

Ok… she’d been saying they’d practise together for months, but… how the heck were they supposed to focus on practising when they couldn’t spend five minutes in private without starting to flirt? Much easier for them both to practise alone! And that way he didn’t have to spend, like, a whole _hour_ practising like she always did... he could just play through the song he was doing a few times, to make sure he still had it, and go off to drink with his pals.

And she agreed with him! Her intuition let her know that he was getting on with it by himself, and she always said ‘Nice practise last night, Leon!’… even when he only did it once or twice, like this week… or the week before…

Eh… maybe she had a point, he should probably actually practise _with_ her, at least once… but still… “It still won’t be enough… they could add extra hours to the day for us to snuggle and it still wouldn’t be enough!” He couldn’t imagine ever getting sick of Sayaka Maizano… he was even starting to think…

“I love you too, Leon…”

Well… no way he wasn’t breaking curfew after _that!_

* * *

(Saturday, 24th March 2012)

“You _sure_ you don’t wanna come with me, Kyoudai?” Mondo had come to his room in an attempt to break his resolve to stay one last time before he left.

“It’s not that I don’t _want_ to! It’s that I _can’t!”_ Kiyotaka explained, feeling guilty in the face of Mondo’s sad expression regardless. “Besides… I still haven’t sorted this mess with Kuwata out yet…”

“WHAT!? I thought you were gonna try catching him last night!?”

“I did… I was ringing his doorbell all the way up until curfew, but I had no response!” Kiyotaka complained, “His stubbornness is _incredible!”_

 _“…_ Or he was in someone _else's_ room.” Mondo pointed out.

“Ah… that… didn’t occur to me.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“D’ya need me to stick around and help ya find him before I go?” Mondo asked.

“No… you have your gang to get to, remember? A lack of preparation on _his_ part does not constitute an emergency on _yours!”_ Kiyotaka pointed out, “Besides, Sayaka and he will be here for a couple of days, so I’m sure she can help me catch him!”

“Yeah… that oughta work!” Mondo looked a little less worried. “Well… good luck and have a good two weeks then!”

This was going to feel odd, he’d seen Mondo almost every day for the past few months and now they wouldn’t see each other for _two whole weeks…_

“Yes, enjoy your… two weeks… motorcycling…”

…his two weeks riding a metal death trap on busy roads with a group known for reckless behaviour… not to mention his plans for getting into fights… he was probably going to come back with more scars, or broken bones… assuming he actually came back _at all_ instead of trying some foolhardy stunt and getting himself killed... and leaving Kiyotaka without a _Kyoudai…_

“Taka? What’s wrong?” Mondo asked anxiously, most likely because he’d stupidly made himself start to cry slightly… “It’s only gonna be two weeks!”

“M-my apologies… I… I’m not very good with goodbyes!” He admitted, trying in vain to wipe the tears from his eyes. “J-just… promise me you’ll… keep within speed limits!” That should keep him safe… unless… “Unless it’s a matter of life or death, of course! And remember to wear flashy clothes so other motorists notice you… and…”

And Mondo was suddenly hugging him…

“Kyoudai, I’m the Ultimate Motorcycle Gang Leader! This ain’t the first time I’ve gone on a road trip!” Mondo was patting his back, “I’ll be back before ya know it… It’s a _promise…!_ A _man’s_ promise! _”_

“…Thank you.” Kiyotaka hugged him back until his tears dried, at least he knew now that Mondo would take his own safety _seriously!_ He really did manage to say just the right thing...

“And _you’ve_ gotta promise to keep Leon here so we can all hang out together!”

…And then ruin it by saying something _daft…_

* * *

_Aahh…_ Nothing like sleeping in on a weekend, and a holiday weekend at that! Still, he couldn’t lie in bed _all_ day… his friends were going to be heading off home and he wanted to say goodbye to them. (Except for Mondo and Chi because, _holy damn_ , Chi had booked a stupidly early train!)

First thing was to pick up Hina’s present… No chances of forgetting _that_ when she’d been bouncing around the school for the last week!

And whaddaya know, there she was, coming down the corridor, hugging an armful of presents and envelopes…

“Yo! Hina! Happy birthday!”

“Hehe! Thanks Le…”

“HappybirthdayHinasorryIcan’tstayI’mrunninglatehaveagooddayandenjoyyourholiday!” Makoto suddenly ran out of his room with a suitcase, thrust a parcel (Which looked worryingly identical to the one _he_ was holding) at her and ran off in the space of a rushed sentence.

“Woo! Thanks Makoto!” Hina yelled after him.

“Enjoy the holiday, dude!” Assuming he got home, anyway… “Anyway… Happy Birthday!” He passed over the donut themed bath set he’d found on the internet… Well, at least now if she liked it, she’d have extra!

“Yee! More presents! Thank you!” Hina jumped around like she hadn’t been expecting to get _any_ , let alone the armful she was carrying.

“Yeah, that’s quite the haul you’ve got!”

“Yep! Sakura got me Protein X, and some cute jewellery, Chihiro made some software that analyses my swimming technique, Kyoko got me a new swimsuit, which I was thinking of upgrading to, Yamada got me a donut themed bath set…” Oh, _goddammit!_ “…Plus I’ve got… _something_ from Hiro, Togami’s usual chocolates and Taka’s vouchers…”

So, he was still being a cheapskate… “Well, good luck actually _using_ those…”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t keep asking him to abuse his position as hall monitor, he might actually say _yes_ …” She sighed, “Besides, I’ve already got him to do the room tidying one over the holidays!”

“How’s he’s gonna do that when he’s out meeting Mondo’s gang?” Don’t tell him it meant…

“Oh, he’s changed his mind! He’s staying here to study now!” She shrugged, “He’s really upset at not getting first place in politics… he didn’t even let me finish congratulating him on getting first place in the school!”

 _Urggh…_ So much for him loosening up! Maybe he could have a word with whatever smug jerk had beaten him and tell them to cool it next year…

“Oh! But thanks again for _your_ present! I can’t hang around ‘cause my bus is coming soon, but I’ll open it once I get home and call you!”

“Alright! See you in two weeks!” And off she went… man, school was gonna be a lot less fun without all these guys around… especially if the hardass was sticking around! Hopefully if he’d stayed to study then he’d do what he apparently did _last_ holiday, and spend the whole of it holed up in his room...

Lets see… Hiro wouldn’t be up yet, so that meant he’d said goodbye to all the people he _really_ wanted to for now, awesome! Although he could keep an eye out to give a polite goodbye to Toges, Enoshima, Kirigiri or the Ogre…

No sign of any of _them_... and Sayaka was talking to the nerd, _urg_! Time to find a seat as far from _him_ as possible!

He ended up sat near some of the weirdos in class 77… at least Nekomaru hid him from the hall monitor, but how the heck did Junko put up with with the likes of _Mioda_? Even though she wasn’t ‘singing’ her awful crap she was still muttering and scribbling creepy ‘lyrics’ down… at least Leon assumed they were supposed to be lyrics… they kinda looked like some of the weird ‘evil pentagrams of doom’ Hiro had been ranting about a few weeks ago…

Well, at least it looked like he wouldn’t have to stay next to her for _too_ long… the hall monitor had finished nagging Sayaka and was wandering out of the room with his food… Only to stop to chat to Enoshima! Man today really wasn’t his day…

“ _Urrrggghhh!_ Ibuki doesn’t understand why anyone cares about that plastic pop princess…” Mioda stopped writing her weird bullshit for a moment…

“Plastic? You mean Sayaka?” Man, if only he could tell this jealous bitch that Sayaka was all natural! “He’s our class rep, he probably only cares if she’s doing all her homework!”

“It’s not _just_ him! Ibuki heard Maizono invite him to her room to watch her practise and now _Enoshima_ is asking him to tell her what goes on there!” The heck? How could she hear _that?_ And why would Enoshma give a crap about their practise session? “Ibuki does all _sorts_ of scandalous things in _her_ room! That would be worth _much_ more to the tabloids!”

What!? _Enoshima_ was the one selling stories to the press? That fuckin’ _bitch!_ No wonder Sayaka never wanted to talk to her! And now she was getting the hardass involved as well? Great… there was no _way_ he’d be able to go and practise with Sayaka _now!_ Even _he_ would pick up on the pair of them flirting right in front of him!

Oh well… he could just do his usual few run-throughs of the song and then go for a drink with the other guys who’d stayed at school for the holidays… He knew what he was doing, after all… and Sayaka had been fine with him missing all his _other_ practise sessions…

* * *

Right! This was _it!_ He’d wasted half a day trying to flush out Kuwata, to no avail, but _now_ he knew _exactly_ where the baseball player was going to _be…_ thanks to Sayaka inviting him to watch the pair of them practising together earlier.

Now all he had to do was go to Sayaka’s room, minding out of the way of Kuwata and a few of the students who’d been here at Christmas and…

_Wait…_

“Ah… Kuwata!” He shouted back down the hallway to the sportsman, who was definitely _not_ heading to Sayaka’s room! “You’re _supposed_ to be practising with Sayaka!”

“Nah, it’s _cool!_ I know what I’m doing!” Kuwata arrogantly dismissed the notion, “I’ll be good enough for the concert without practise tonight!”

“Err… then I need a moment of your time to…” Kiyotaka started trying to convince him to listen to his news.

“ _Later,_ Rep!” Kuwata snapped and quickly took a sharp turn to the stairs, bounding up them with his friends…

“NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS! OR UP THE STAIRS!” Kiyotaka strode after them… however by the time he’d got to the stair well, there was no sign of them… _Curses!_ He could have gone _anywhere!_ Now what!?

Perhaps Sayaka would know… Or perhaps he should stop trying to keep her from worrying and tell her what was going on… he wouldn’t be _able_ to avoid _her_ once they were getting ready to travel together…

He rang her doorbell, and she promptly answered and let him in. “Hi Taka! Leon’s just having a pre-practise snack, and then you can see how much effort he’d been putting into his guitar!” She smiled, gesturing to Kuwata, who was eating yet another weird combination of food, this time it appeared to be beef jerky with chocolate in it…

 _Hang on…_ _What?_ How was Kuwata in _here?_ Kiyotaka had just spoken to him _outside…_ And he’d said he _wasn’t_ going to practise and even ran off in the opposite direction! This didn’t make any sense, unless there were _two_ Kuwatas…

…Hadn’t the headmaster once said something about checking for imposters?

“Err… I need to see your student IDs.” Hopefully no one could fake one of _those_ …

“Ah… Ok?” Sayaka handed hers over immediately… But ‘Kuwata’ didn’t.

“What? Dude, _why?_ You _know_ who I am…”

“The school rules state that for verification purposes students are expected to allow Hall Monitors to…”

“That doesn’t explain _why…_ That’s just you being a hardass…” ‘Kuwata’ was still being recalcitrant… but then the _real_ one would as well…

“…I have reason to think you’re an imposter.” Honesty was always the best policy.

“Haha… _What!?_ ” Sayaka laughed… But ‘Kuwata’ had _stiffened_ …

“I have reason to believe you’re an imposter.” Kiyotaka said it again. “Please let me see your ID so I can dispel my doubts…”

“ _Urg…_ This is _bullshit!”_ ‘Kuwata’ rolled his eyes and started walking for the door… “I can’t practise with Captain Hardass in here… He’d totally harsh my…”

Kiyotaka _really_ hoped he was right about this… Because otherwise Sayaka was going to be _incredibly_ disappointed that he’d grabbed her guitarist by the arms, pinned him to the wall, and was now going through his pockets in order to find…

“…My ID!” ‘Kuwata’ cried, “ _Alright! Cut it out, man! Get the fuck off me, you stupid hardass!”_

“…Taka are you _serious!?”_ Sayaka was starting to look very worried…

He didn’t answer her, he just used his free hand to turn on the ID, suddenly hoping for _her_ sake that he _wasn’t_ right, and that it was the Kuwata _outside_ who was the imposter… And that this ID was about to come up with the words ‘Leon Kuwata’ like it was supposed to and…

_???_

That was all that came up on the ID- which also seemed to be registered as both male _and_ female…

“Huh… W-why is it just questions marks?” Sayaka cried… “Is… is it _true_ there’s a student whose talent is…?”

“Al-alright! Geez! I admit it! I’m not the ‘real’ Leon!” The imposter rolled his eyes… still _acting_ like Kuwata. “But _I’m_ the guy you’ve been _practising_ with for the last two _months_! Doesn’t that count for _something!?_ ”

“W-what!?” Sayaka stammered. “So… L-leon’s not been…?”

“NO! He _hasn’t!_ Not _once!_ ” The imposter yelled. “So why don’t you forget _him_ and…”

Sayaka turned pale and backed away from him. “No… I… You…” she stared at him for a moment, before blinking. “That… that’s why you eat so weirdly when we practice… and why you… you seem different…”

“So? Does it matter that I’m not exactly the same as him? What’s so special about him? _I’m_ the one who _practised_ with you, so…”

“I’m calling security.” She said harshly, getting her mobile out. “Taka, keep hold of him.”

“Err… right!”

To his credit, the fake Kuwata didn’t struggle… he just looked horribly dejected, to an extent that it looked like a different person from Kuwata completely. He barely even complained when the headmaster arrived with a team of security staff who escorted him out of the room.

“…I suppose I should explain…” The headmaster sighed. “They _are_ a student here- their talent is impersonation.”

“Then why isn’t their name listed in their ID?” Kiyotaka asked.

“They don’t have one.” The headmaster sighed. “They have no identity of their own at all… I’d _hoped_ they’d take the opportunity to make their own identity while here… But instead they just keep pulling stunts like this…” He grimaced. “I don’t suppose you’re able to determine what they’ve done exactly… I mean, the things that _they_ did as opposed to the real Kuwata…”

 _Could_ he…? Kiyotaka hadn’t seen any differences between the two until after he’d caught them… Assuming he’d ever actually met the _real_ Kuwata in the first place… “No… I only realised they were an imposter because I saw Kuwata outside a few minutes ago…”

“I _can_ …” Sayaka said firmly, “I… I’m _certain_ the only thing he’s done is practise guitar with me.”

“That’s… something at least.” The headmaster muttered. “I can assure you both that this _will_ be dealt with!” He added to them both.

“…Thank you.” Sayaka said, distractedly.

The headmaster looked at her worriedly, then gave Kiyotaka a pointed look before heading out of the room.

…Did he want _him_ to make sure she was alright? Wouldn’t _he_ be far better at that!? Still… if the headmaster had… _hinted_ that he _should…_

“Err… are you al…”

“ _Urrrgggg…_ I almost _kissed_ him!” Sayaka’s legs gave out and she slumped to the floor.

“ _What!? Why?”_ He’d looked exactly like _Kuwata..._

“I thought he was _Leon!”_ Sayaka cried, “I mean… I guess there _were_ differences, like his food and the fact that he didn’t seem bothered about making out with me… But I just assumed that was how he acted when he practised!”

Wait… She’d _wanted_ _Kuwata_ to _make out_ with her!?

“I mean… Lots of musicians learn to lose interest in their girlfriends when they practise… I thought he was the _same_!” She continued. “Was… was that just me being an idiot…?”

“You… You're Kuwata’s _girlfriend!?”_

“What? You didn’t know already!?” She stared at him in shock, “Ah… Taka! _Please_ don’t tell about this! _Pleeease_!”

“…” _Her_ … and _Kuwata!?_

“Ah! The favour!” She exclaimed, “You still owe Leon a favour, right!? _That’ll_ be the favour! _Don’t tell anyone about this!”_

“ _Why!?”_ Why would _she_ be dating _Kuwata!?_

“Ah! I guess you wouldn’t know…” She muttered, “Pop Idols aren’t supposed to have boyfriends… It’s in my contract even… So if anyone…”

“Err… I know _that!_ I mean… Why _Kuwata?”_

“Well… _He’s_ not going to want to see my career over either and as you haven’t given _me_ a voucher yet…”

“No... I mean… Why are _you_ dating _Kuwata!?”_ She just stared at him in bemusement… “You’re the most popular girl in the country! Surely you have better prospects than _him!_ ”

“ _That’s_ what you’re stuck on!?” She asked incredulously.

“Err… I… I’m sorry. I just… I can’t fathom what you _see_ in him!” Kiyotaka tried to explain. “I mean… why risk your _career_ for _him!?”_

“He’s fun.” Sayaka said, smiling. “He always makes me laugh, he listens to me when I’m just moaning about stupid stuff and… and he’s really not as lazy and unmotivated as you _think_ he is.”

“Well, I find that hard to believe, given we’ve just established that he’s skipped out on two months’ worth of practising with you!”

“AH!” Sayaka flinched as she realised he must be right… “Well… Ok, he is _so_ going to be in the doghouse for that!” She decided. “But he still does other stuff… he makes me feel like… like I’m ok… that it doesn’t matter that I’ve done bad things…and I _like_ him… That’s pretty much it.” She smiled fondly… she really was smitten with him, wasn’t she?

“…I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to the follies of love then.” He conceded. “But I still think he’s terrible.”

“...Urg, I really didn’t think I’d get this from _you...”_ she muttered in quiet disappointment.

“I beg your pardon?”

She rolled her eyes. _“_ I suppose you think there’s someone _better_ for me in the school?”

“I’d say there’s several in our class alone, but…” _but if you like him that’s that…_

“Oh, go on then!” She sighed irritably. “Why don’t you _say_ who this ‘better person’ _is_ …”

“Err…” He hadn’t actually had a specific person in mind, just… just _not Kuwata!_ But who would be the best example… Someone single, who was _fun, made people laugh_ and _listened…_

“Let me _guess_ … She started, “ _You_ think I should date…”

“Mondo.” Was the obvious answer.

“ _What?”_ She stopped and blinked at him.

“Mondo!” He said again, jovially… It was a lovely idea! He liked _her_ after all! And he could drive her to gigs on his bike and then they’d secretly kiss backstage and he’d come back to school and be able to happily brag to him and Chihiro… In secret of course but it’d finally give him some much-needed confidence and he’d be so _happy_...

“HAH! AHAHAHAHA!” Sayaka laughed so hard she ended up falling backwards onto the floor… “Are you… Ahahaha… Are you _serious!?”_

 _“…_ Yes…”

“Pah! Pahahahaha!” She burst into more laughter…

“It’s not _that_ funny!” He scowled.

“You... you think _Mondo_ would be a good boyfriend!?" She cackled, “The guy who shouts and punches stuff when he gets nervous?”

“He… He’s getting better at not doing that!” Kiyotaka insisted, “And at least _he_ cares enough to actually _get_ nervous about things, instead of just casually swanning through life like _Kuwata…”_

“Geez…  You think it’s a _good_ thing he gets angry at people?” Sayaka sighed at him. “I suppose I’ll just have to chalk it up to the follies of _friendship_ then…” She rolled her eyes. “Was he your _only_ suggestion?”

“Err… Well… I’d say Makoto, but I think you’ve missed your opportunity there…” He admitted.

“Hmm… I don’t think it would have worked too well anyway… we both had our own idea of what the other was like that probably didn’t match reality…” She mused. “Anyone _else?”_

“Err…” To be honest he hadn’t actually had any ideas other than Mondo… “Well… Togami’s quite… respectable?”

“Togami? _Really?_ ” Sayaka giggled. “You’ve not said the most obvious thing yet!”

An obvious thing? What did she mean? “…You’re not thinking of replacing Leon with the imposter, are you?” He asked, “I mean… I realise he _did_ practise with you, but doing so under the guise of…”

“ _No,_ I didn’t mean the imposter…” She interrupted, cringing at the thought. “…You really haven’t thought of it?” She asked.

“Err… thought of what?”

“Usually when a guy insists ‘there’s a better guy’ for me, they usually mean _themselves…”_

“OH!” Sayaka… and _himself?_ _Dating!?_ The thought had never occurred to him… “I… I didn’t mean it like that… I just meant… someone who’s _not Kuwata_ …” He emphasised the point. “…Or _me_ , I suppose.” He added.

“Why not?” Sayaka asked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why _not_ you?” She asked, “Do you have something against Pop Idols?”

“Of course not!” He replied, “I just… don’t think of you in that way…” He tried to explain. “…My apologies.” He added, in case she was disappointed.

She didn’t seem to be… “You’re not still hung up over Tsumiki, are you?” She… well she phrased it like a question, but it seemed she knew the answer was going to be…

“No… I… didn’t really feel that way about _her_ either…” He admitted.

“That’s good!” She smiled, “Is there _anyone_ you feel that way about?”

“Err…” He thought about all the girls he knew… “…Not really…” he realised, which was odd considering half of his class had a romantic interest of some kind… “Should there be?”

“What… haha, no!” Sayaka giggled, “I’m just being nosy… You don’t _have_ to start dating!” She stood up and picked up Kuwata’s guitar, “If anything, I’d recommend you _don’t…”_ She sighed.

That was all very well to _say…_ but he’d have to start dating eventually, and it was worrying that he felt no urge to whatsoever...

He didn’t get the chance to say as much though… Sayaka opened the door and beckoned him through it before closing it behind them. “See you after the holidays, Kiyotaka!” She smiled and waved as she walked off in the direction the real Kuwata had gone earlier.

“I hope your concert is enjoyable!” Kiyotaka waved in reply.

Really though… Sayaka and _Kuwata!?_ How long had _that_ been going on for!?

Well… it explained why she’d been so worried about whether he’d passed the year or not! If he _hadn’t_ he’d have to leave the school and she’d lose someone she obviously cared about…

But what could he do? Other than try to catch Kuwata tomorrow and hope he had enough clout with the steering committee to have given him a second chance...

* * *

“I still can’t believe we lost that loser so easily!” Niwaki laughed as he reached for his second beer.

“Well, I’ve had lots of practise!” Leon griped before taking another swing of his first can.

“ _I_ still can’t believe he beat Princess Sonia’s exam scores…” The skateboarder chick muttered, downing her third can.

“ _Urg…_ Can we _not_ talk about that?” Leon begged. “There’s gotta be some more interesting gossip than the fucking _exam results…_ ”

“Hah! Yeah… got anything good, Fukei?” The Seamster asked.

“Me? Why’d you think _I’d_ have any gossip?” The gardener asked.

“You spent all of today with Hinai! Don’t tell me she didn’t tell you anything…” Niwaki explained.

“Umm… We weren’t really _talking_ all that much…” Fukei turned red.

“Heh… Niiiice!” Always good to see a bro getting some…

“Tch… alright for _some!_ ” The skater griped, reaching for a fourth can.

“What’s _your_ problem, Suketo?” Niwaki raised an eyebrow at her. “You and Inuta have a fight?”

“Well… sorta. He had to go home to look after his mom, and refused to take me with him!” She complained, “Something about her thinking he’s the Ultimate Poet and having a heart attack if he brought home a skateboarder…”

“Well, that sucks… No fun having to hide your relationship…” Leon could sympathise, what with Sayaka having to deal with her ‘no boyfriends allowed’ bullshit.

“You sound like you know that from experience…” Suketo commented.

 _Whoops!_ Better come up with a reason for that, that _wasn’t_ Sayaka… “Well… my cousin kinda had this thing for me and used to stalk me on my dates, so…” _Sorry Kanon_ …

“She sounds like a fruitcake…” Niwaki muttered, “But how come you haven’t had any dates _here?_ ”

“Eh, I ain’t got time for dates, I’m breaking into the music scene!” Leon chuckled, “Going on a mini concert tour with the Ultimate Pop Idol tomorrow!”

“Was _that_ what the hall monitor was getting at you about?” Fukei asked, “You were supposed to practise and blew her off…?”

…Man, his life would be so much easier if he didn’t have to keep half of it a secret…

“Well… I know what I’m doing, and she’s pretty cool! She won’t get upse…”

“You _ARE_ here!” Oh, shit… sounds like he’d missed one practise too many… “I _knew_ you’d pick the place most likely to upset Taka!”

Ok, maybe sitting getting wasted in the library was a bit too obvious, but it woulda been hilarious if _he’d_ come and found them here, instead of Sayaka… But instead he was gonna have to explain that he was totally ready for the concert tour…

“Heeey! Sayaka!” Flashing his best smile usually helped as well…

“I guessing from the fact that you’re _here_ and not practising like you _said_ you would, means you think you’re ready for the concert tomorrow!” She thrust his guitar at him… or at least, something that was almost identical to his guitar… “ _Prove it!_ ”

“Yeah, okay then…” It’s not like he didn’t have this… he’d played this song plenty of times…

“You messed up that cord change!” Sayaka snapped.

Okay… so one little mistake… She didn’t need to look so pissed off about it…

“And that one… and _that_ one!”

Oh, come _on!_ You could barely hear the difference!

“And tha…”

“I’d be messing up less if you weren’t bitching at me about it!”

“I wouldn’t have anything to ‘bitch’ about if you’d _practised_ this as much as I _told_ you to!” Shit… she had a point… but maybe he could blame the beer… “And don’t try to blame the beer, it’s been twenty minutes! It wouldn’t even have hit your system yet!”

Shit… ok, next plan… try and sweet-talk his way out of this… “Aww… c’mon Sayaka! Who’s going to notice a few little mistakes from _me_ when _you’re_ on the stage!”

“That’s not the _point_ Leon! I stuck my neck out to give you a chance to perform live, and you couldn’t even be bothered to practise for an hour a week!? What do you think would happen if I turn up and the guy I recommended sounds like an amateur!?”

Well… crap, they’d probably realise she’d done it because they were dating, and then that would be the end of her dream…

“Yeah… I get your point… Look, give me another chance, I’ll spend the whole night practising and then I’ll be ready for the concert!”

“No. It won’t be enough. You can’t _cram_ for a concert!” Sayaka was glaring at him. “And you’re not _coming_ to the concert! We’re _done!_ Okay?”

 _What!?_ She was _dumping him!?_ “What!? No! That’s _not_ okay! C’mon Sayaka… _Please!_ What am I supposed to do…?” They’d been together for most of year! How could she just… cut him off like this!?

“You can stay here and annoy _Taka,_ instead of my boss, my bandmates and _all of my fans!”_ She snapped, before storming off.

Crap… she was serious, wasn’t she? Now what the fuck was he supposed to do!?

“Umm… ‘nother beer?” Fukei asked awkwardly as he collapsed back onto his chair…

Yeah… getting wasted sounded pretty good right now…

* * *

(Sunday, 25th March 2012)

Kiyotaka was stood waiting worriedly in the corridor. Sayaka had spent most of the evening frantically making phone calls regarding replacement guitarists, and he’d been unable to locate Kuwata in any of his usual haunts before curfew. His only hope _now_ was to hope that he pair hadn’t left before curfew ended…

…Otherwise, Mondo was probably going to be upset that he hadn't just waited for them even _after_ curfew started… Why hadn’t he thought of that last night!? He could have just given himself detention for it afterwards! _Urggghh…_ He was such an _idiot!_

He almost cheered with relief when the door to Sayaka’s room opened. “Ah! Sayaka! I’m glad I’ve not missed you! There’s something I need to speak to Kuwata about…”

“Well, you’ll have plenty of chances over the holidays… He’s staying _here!_ ” Sayaka grumbled as she dragged several bags into the hallway.

Was _that_ what she’d meant by putting him ‘in the doghouse’!? It that made sense, given she’d been looking for guitarists… he needn’t have panicked at all…

“I see… thank you! Would you like help with those?” Kiyotaka pointed at the bags she was struggling with.

“Please… I was expecting Leon to do this…” She admitted, looking disappointed.

Kiyotaka resisted the urge to point out that she probably shouldn’t have _expected_ Kuwata to help with _anything_ as he picked up all the bags and walked with her down to the front entrance, trying to think of _something_ to talk about to distract her from him…

“…For future reference, I’d prefer it if you didn’t refer to the _school_ as a _doghouse.”_

 _…Urgh…_ How did everyone but _him_ manage to think of sensible conversation topics when they needed to!? Now he’d gone and _scolded_ her on top of everything _else_ she was dealing with…

“Pfft…” His head snapped sideways at the sound of Sayaka stifling a giggle. “Haha… Sorry Taka… I didn’t mean it like _that…_ It’s a saying for when girls are mad at their boyfriends and don’t talk to them.”

“Ah… I see…” Yet another saying he’d somehow not learnt yet...

“Oh… But speaking of Leon, can you ask him to give you his voucher for me? I didn’t get a chance to last night…”

Leon’s voucher? “Why does Leon need to give me his voucher?”

“Well… because… because you’re not going to tell anyone about me and him… _right!?”_ Sayaka asked in a panicked tone.

“Of course not! But I don’t need a _voucher_ for that!” Kiyotaka told her, “Not spreading your private business everywhere isn’t a _favour,_ it’s just common decency!”

“Even if you could sell it for money?” She asked, curiously. “Not doing something that you could benefit from sounds like a personal favour to me…”

Had… had she heard Junko’s suggestion yesterday? He’d rather hoped no one had heard that… he’d had no intention of selling anyone’s secrets for financial gain and once he’d explained what a hideous breach of trust it was, Junko had promised to stop doing it herself, as well…

“Perhaps, but I refuse to ruin _your_ name, or anyone else’s, just to clear my own a little!” He explained, “So as I would never have sold your secret, I don’t need the voucher _not_ to!”

She just smiled at him, although he didn’t understand why she did so with so much disbelief… “Thanks Taka. I hope Leon doesn’t give you too much trouble over the holidays.”

“And I hope you can find a replacement guitarist with minimal difficulty!” He replied as her car arrived and the driver took her bags and she got in.

He tried to wave her off happily, although he suspected that Kuwata’s presence would have been more effective at cheering her up... Perhaps it was time to give _him_ some trouble! At least until he discussed his examination results!

* * *

_Urggh… Why_ had he thought getting wasted was a good idea!? Sayaka had _still_ dumped him and now he felt like crap as well! God, he was such a fucking idiot! He might as well just stay in bed and rot…

 _*Ding dong* Urg!_ Why did the freaking doorbell have to hurt so much!?

 _*Ding dong*_ Who would be ringing it today, anyway?

Wait… _Sayaka!_ She must have regretting dumping him already! Goddammit, why didn’t he realise last night that she’d probably change her mind? He could have done that practise she wanted… or at least not looked like a hungover piece of crap when she came to apologise…

“Sayaka… I’m sorry I…”

“Sayaka’s left already.” _Oh_ for fuck’s sake! It was just the douchebag and his painfully loud voice! “However, I have something I need to discuss…”

To hell with that! Leon slammed the door, and then regretted it when the noise made his head pound… well, if Sayaka really _had_ gone without him, he might as well go back to bed until his hangover cleared…

Dammit… why the _hell_ had he got drunk instead of trying to deal with this shit last night? Hell, why had he gone off drinking so many times instead of practising guitar like she’d wanted him to? Why hadn’t he thought to practise the song in front of _her_ at least _once_ so she could tell him if he ‘had’ it or not? Instead he’d just assumed it’d be fine, and now she’d dumped him…

Still… she might have _said_ they were done… but she was still crazy for him, right!? She’d even said she _loved_ him a couple of days ago! She wouldn’t be able to just cut him out of her life, just ‘cause he’d messed up once! A couple of weeks without him would show her how much she needed him… and he could practise that song a few times to sweeten her up a bit… he’d be _fine!_ He just needed to sleep off this hangover first…

 _*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* GRRR…_ That asshole had to be kidding! _*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_ Was he seriously going to keep _doing_ that!? _*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_ Didn’t he have better things to do!? _*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_ Well, _fine!_ He could press the damn bell all _day_ for all Leon cared! He could just block out the noise with his headphones!

Okay, so this wasn’t helping his hangover any, but at least it was better than speaking to the hall monitor! He’d have to give up eventually…

 _*Ding dong.*_ Three songs later, he _still_ hadn’t given up. Still, after the next song, he was bound to…

_*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_

_Really?_ What the fuck was wrong with this guy! _*Ding dong.*_ What sort of lunatic stood at someone’s door and hit the button for twenty minutes straight!? _*Ding dong.*_ And why the hell wasn’t his next song playing!?

Leon blearily opened his eyes to check his computer… which was off… as was his digital clock, his Tv and the lights… _*Ding dong.*_ In fact everything in his room was shut off except for that _fucking doorbell!_ Had the asshole tripped a fuse or something?

Leon yanked the door open, “Alright! How the hell… did… you...?” The hell? There was no one stood in front of door…

“ _Ah-ha!_ ” Leon almost jumped outta his skin as the hall monitor suddenly grabbed his arm while sat on a chair next to him, dropping a book on the floor as he did it.

“…You taped the doorbell down so it’d ring constantly while you studied…” Leon groaned.

“Indeed!” The smug shout made Leon’s skull want to split open. “I wouldn’t usually take such drastic measures but…”

“Whatever, how the hell did you turn my electricity off!?”

“I… I didn’t do that.” He lied awkwardly.

“Well, _someone_ did!” Leon snapped, “And who else but _you_ would bother!?”

“...Did you tell the school you were staying over the holidays?” Of course he hadn’t, he’d only found out last _night!_ “If you didn’t they would have turned off the electricity as a cost-saving measure. You’ll have to talk to the headmaster to get it switched back on.”

 _Urg…_ Kyoko might be alright, but her Dad was a total square… But he couldn’t stay in his room with no power… Buuut… maybe he didn’t have to stay in _his_ room… Where was that shitty voucher…

“But you need to speak with him regardless! You see…”

“Switch rooms with me then!” Ooh boy… he looked seriously pissed now, okay, so maybe asking him to live with no power for two weeks was a bit shitty… “Or at least let me crash with you!”

Okay… why the hell was he just switching his stare between the voucher and Leon like Leon was a crazy guy? “C’mon! Letting me crash with you is a _personal_ favour! And it’s not like you’ve not let our other classmates in there…”

“ _You FAILED your EXAMS_!” The hardass suddenly yelled.

“What…?” But… Hiro had said…

“You failed your exams! I’ve been trying to tell you for _days!_ ” Well… he looked pissed off enough about it for it to be true… “Not that I should have had to, given you were sent a letter stating as much…”

 _Seriously!?_ He was gonna get kicked out of the school, and they let him know by _letter!_ That was bullshit!

Wait… that _was_ bullshit, wasn’t it? Fucking hell, he’d almost let this dumbass pull one over on him… “Hah! Nice try, dude! Now quit weaselling out of your favour and let me stay in your room…”

“You… you think I’m _lying_ about this!?” He got pissed off at having been caught, “What would I have to benefit from _that!?_ ”

“Well, maybe you’d get to pretend your annoying bullshit is actually helpful…” His first guess only made the liar frown a bit… that can’t have been his reasoning… “Or maybe you’re hoping I’ll be so grateful to you for helping with the coursework, that I’ll get everyone to _like_ yo…arrrg!” _That_ had got a reaction! The jackass had tightened the grip on his arm…

“Err… I…” He shot is hand away like it had been burnt and stared at it worriedly, “Sorry! Did I hurt you? I don’t know why I…”

 _“Hah!_ I _got_ you!” Leon gloated, “ _That’s_ why you’re lying about this!”

Geez, he was so slow… it took him forever to react… “…Just… _just go and talk to the headmaster!”_ He finally snapped, before stomping off into his room and closing the door before Leon could stop him.

Urg… annoying jerk! Welshing out of his favour… Well, if _Leon_ couldn’t enjoy the holidays, neither could _he!_ The piece of tape was still on the doorbell… he just had to move it to the asshole’s doorbell and then he could sit here playing guitar until he got annoyed with the noise and opened the door!

…

…

…

 _Urg!_ It had been over half an hour! How the hell did that noise not bother him!?

This was stupid… he was too hungover to play right and sitting in the corridor made him look crazy… not to mention he probably wouldn’t have actually wanted to spend two weeks rooming with that jerk anyway… he should probably just go talk to the headmaster. Once he’d had some breakfast and a wash in the baths, anyway…

* * *

Kiyotaka took one of his earplugs out briefly…

_*Ding dong* *Ding dong* *Ding…*_

Kuwata was _still_ out there!? It had been over an _hour!_

Well… if he wanted to be stubborn about it, that was _his_ problem! Letting him run away from his problem was no _favour!_ Especially not if it meant having to put up with him in his _room_ for two weeks… If they couldn’t manage one conversation without him inflicting physical harm on Kuwata, then how did he expect them to live in close quarters for a fortnight!?

Why _had_ he got so angry at Kuwata’s suggestion though? It wasn’t as if it was actually _true!_ He had plenty of friends! He didn’t need Kuwata’s help making more… even if Kuwata _was_ far more popular than _him…_ and his encouraging some of the other students to give Kiyotaka another chance _would_ help his standing in the school immensely…

He shook his head. He shouldn’t be wasting precious study time thinking about foolish ideas like that! Besides, Kuwata probably wouldn’t help anyway… Kiyotaka knew _his_ type! Popular _jackasses_ who made themselves look good by mocking people who actually bothered to _work hard_ and _follow rules…_ He’d wasted half a year trying to get Katsushika to like him, in the vain hope that if he did enough things to help the ‘cool kid’ then maybe his other classmates would be friendlier...

He certainly wasn’t going to waste time begging the likes of _Kuwata_ for help! No matter _how_ long he spent standing in the hall, ringing his doorbell! After all, he had enough snacks to last him until the middle of the afternoon… Kuwata was _sure_ to have given up before _then!_

* * *

“The headmaster will see you now.” The lady sat at the desk _finally_ told him… Seriously, he could have brought his breakfast up _here_ and eaten it in the amount of time he’d been waiting…

“Cool, thanks…” He muttered as he got up to walk into the office, which was still way less swanky than he’d first expected it to be… “Y’know, if _I_ was head of Hope’s Peak, I’d get some gold trim and shit in here…” He mentioned to Kyoko’s dad as he sat in the chair, “Y’know… jazz the place up a bit!”

The headmaster just looked at him with his jaw open in slight shock before sighing… “So, you’re still here?”

Typical square, straight to the point… still at least it meant he’d get his electricity back! “Yeah… Change of plans with Sayaka, so I need the electricity back on in my room!”

“ _That’s_ why you’ve come!?” The headmaster scowled. “So, you’ve not spoken to Ishimaru then…”

Was the hall monitor supposed to have _told_ him something? “Tch! Yeah, I spoke to him. But he just came out with this bullshit about me failing the exams…” Leon told him.

The headmaster just raised his eyebrows and stared pointedly at him… Why was he just looking at Leon as if expecting him to figure something out… It wasn’t as if he’d _actually_ failed, right!?

“…Did you _really_ not wonder why you’re results hadn’t been posted!?” Kirigiri shook his head.

“But… but Hiro said my results were gonna come up next week…” Leon stammered… he couldn’t be _serious…_

“And you _trusted_ him!? He’s hardly infallible!” The headmaster snapped, “They’re not up because you failed, and are no longer considered a student here…”

“Oh _come on!_ That’s _bullshit!_ I passed my practical exam, that’s the one that _matters_ here, right!?” Leon snapped, “No one ever fails Hope’s Peak ‘cause they couldn’t do _math_ and shit!”

“ _That’s_ because we’ve never had a student who refused to do _any_ homework whatsoever!” Kirigiri sighed, “We have some of the most lax academic standards in the country and you _still_ failed to do even _that_ much!”

“Yeah… but there’s loads of people who don’t do the coursework, like Matsuda!” Hell, he’d had this argument with the hardass a dozen times…

“His recent publication in Nature Neuroscience was counted as bonus points… not to mention he got some of the best exam results in the school…” Kirigiri explained.

“Well… what about Fukei, he didn’t do science coursework…”

“Because he was too busy reviving several endangered species of plant.” Kirigiri interrupted.

Really!? Crap, Leon hadn’t done anything like that…

“Uhh… Okay, but Inuta didn’t do language…”

“In his exam he wrote an in-depth discussion comparing Shakespearian poetry with modern rap, entirely in iambic pentameter.” The headmaster stated, “Which was enough to score more than the necessary 75% to pass with exam only.”

Shit… he’d needed _75%!_ Why the hell hadn’t the annoyance told him _that_ instead of just nagging at him that he should ‘do his homework’!?

“Alright, I get it…” Leon shrugged, irritably. “I guess now’s when you give the failed students a chance to get their coursework done?” After all, it’s not like Hope’s Peak would let one of their precious talents got just because they’d made a dumb mistake…

“That’s not how it works.” Kirigiri said blankly.

“Eh!?” What did _that_ mean…?

“The school rules state coursework has to be completed _before_ the exam results come out in order to count. If we didn’t have that rule we’d have no end of students who only bothered to do the least amount they had to in order to raise their scores to passing level.”

“But… but then how do I get a pass?” There had to be _something_ he could do now… _It’d be_ _fine, right!?_

“According to the _school rules,_ you can’t. You should have started packing up when you got the letter and/or email stating that you’d failed.”

What did he _mean_ there was no way to pass!? This was _bullshit!_ “Are you _fucking with me!?_ I’m getting kicked out of the school and you tell me _letter and email!?”_

“It’s not the school’s responsibility to run around after you because you’re too lazy to check your mail.” Kirigiri scowled, “Especially as you aren’t technically a student here anymore.”

He… wasn’t a _Hope’s Peak student_ anymore…? He wasn’t an _Ultimate_ anymore…? He wasn’t going to get to see Sayaka, or Hiro, or Mondo or Chi or Makoto or… anyone else from this school anymore!? This couldn’t be _real…_ it had to be a _joke!_

Wait… that was it! “ _Hahaha!_ ” He slammed a fist onto the oaken desk, “ _Man…_ You almost _had_ me there!”

“This isn’t a _joke_ Kuwata.”

“Aww, c’mon! Ishimaru totally put you up to this, _right!?_ ” And Leon was gonna _kill_ him for it!

“ _WRONG!”_ Kirigiri slammed his own hand on the table, so loud Leon flinched as he realised that _this was serious…_ “Ishimaru has nothing to do with what I’ve just told you…I’m merely explaining the school’s rules.”

_No… No this couldn’t be happening! Nononononononono…_

“ _However…_ Ishimaru _did_ do _this!_ ” Kirigiri reached into a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper.

What the hell had he _done!?_ It was written in his stupid fancy writing and addressed to some guy he’d never heard of…

“ _I regret to inform you that my **incredibly talented** classmate, Ultimate Baseball Player Leon Kuwata, has overestimated his abilities over the course of his first year here, and as a result has failed to pass the core subjects required for continuation of his studies here at Hope’s Peak.”_

The hardass really wrote ‘incredibly talented’ like it was a _compliment!?_ Leon could just imagine him pulling his stupid scowl as he did it… In fact the ink was thicker there, like he’d pushed on the pen harder while he did it…

_“I understand that the school rules state that he should be expelled at this time, however I would like to humbly request that you use your ability, as a distinguished member of Hope’s Peak Steering Committee, to make an exception in his case. I ask this of you not just for Kuwata’s sake, but for that of the other students in the school, as no longer having Kuwata as our classmate would be a great detriment to the other Hopes of the World both in class 78 and those he interacts with outside of it.”_

Like he honestly believed that! Hell, he probably thought it’d be _great_ if Leon got kicked out and there was less _fun_ shit and more studying going on in school!

_“Kuwata’s physical talents inspire us to keep ourselves fit and healthy, and he also encourages our class to take risks that we might otherwise shy away from…”_

“He totally stole that bit from Chi…” Leon realised, how much _else_ of this smarmy shit had he cribbed…

“You’re lucky he so much as bothered to lift his _pen_ the way you behave towards him! Let alone bother to impress the committee further by hand writing several letters and taking a classmate with him to _personally_ hand-deliver them all!” Kirigiri snapped, “Especially as he _did_ succeed in having an exception made for you.” He added, sighing.

“Wait… what!?” So… those ‘requests for aid’ the hardass had been blathering about were for _his_ sake!? Not to mention he’d got his precious school rules _broken_ for _Leon!?_ Maybe he wasn’t such a… well a _hardass_ after all…

“I’ve had the steering committee ringing me all day insisting that you be given as fair chance to redeem yourself… and as you’re apparently staying here over the holidays that seems like a fair time to do it.” Kirigiri threw a USB stick at him, which of course he snatched out of the air like a pro. “ _This_ is all of the uncompleted coursework for each of the core subjects that you failed in, as well as software that will mark the work once you’ve completed it… you need to earn another 20 points in each in order to get yourself to a passing mark. I expect you to be done before the final term begins.”

 _Urg…_ so he still had to _do_ the work…? Still… it couldn’t be _that_ difficult if _Mondo_ managed to do it… “Got it! And if Hiro’s right, I’ll only need _half_ that time!” He got up out of the chair.

“Hah… Good luck, Kuwata.” Weird… for a moment there the headmaster seemed like he actually _meant_ that…

* * *

Kiyotaka checked his clock… 8pm already!? He was supposed to be taking his break now… but his studying had been the only thing to distract him from his growing hunger… How could Kuwata be this stubborn!? He’d been checking periodically, but the baseball player hadn’t left his doorbell alone all day!

Still… _he_ must be getting hungry as well! Maybe he could check again… Kuwata _must_ be giving up soon, surely!?

He reached for his earplug… _Please be gone, please be gone, please be gone…_

* _Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_

 _URRRGH!_ This was ridiculous! How was he _doing_ this! Was he getting other people to take over for him in shifts!?

_*Ding dong.*_

That was probably it, wasn’t it? After all, the other students who stayed over the holidays actually liked _him!_

_*Ding dong.*_

They probably thought helping to trap Kiyotaka inside his own room was hilarious!

_*Ding dong.*_

Well, he’d show them! He wouldn’t give up! Even if there _were_ four of them, he could _still_ hold out longer than _them! He_ was used to hardship, but _they_ would probably all get bored and go off to intoxicate themselves when at _some_ point! It would hardly be the first time he’d gone hungry… perhaps it was even good for him to be denied food for a bit, after all he must have got too used to his cushy life here if going half a day without a snack was making him uncomfortable! That was it wasn’t it? Hope’s Peak had given him everything he needed without having to make an effort for it, and he’d grown complacent and taken it for granted! No wonder he’d done so poorly in his exams with _that_ attitude!

Well… now he knew better… he knew he needed to study, even if his stomach was growling and the doorbell was…

_…_

_The doorbell had stopped! They’d left!_ This was his chance to get _food!_

He’d barely finished thinking that before he was bounding towards the door and throwing it open…

To find headmaster Kirigiri standing outside, inspecting a piece of tape quizzically. “Ah! Headmaster! Good Evening!” He saluted. “I apologise for not answering sooner… Kuwata has been harassing me with the doorbell all day and…”

“Kuwata’s been in the library all afternoon.” The headmaster informed him, “Although _this_ was stuck to the button…” He held out the piece of tape. The same piece Kiyotaka had put over _Kuwata’s_ door…

“He… he taped the button down and then _left…_ ” Kiyotaka realised… he could have gone for food at _any time!_ _Damn_ _Kuwata!_

“Have you really not left your room _all day!?_ ” The headmaster stared at him worriedly… which was understandable, given what an _idiot_ he’d been! How could he _not_ have thought that perhaps Kuwata had turned his own trick against him…?

“I’ve not have reason to leave… I’ve been studying.” He told the headmaster, hoping to seem less foolish than he felt… And he might have succeeded, had his stomach not turned traitor and growled loudly at that point.

“…But not _eating_ …” Kirigiri commented, wearily. “Well, we can talk on the way to the kitchen then.” He stepped aside and gestured down the hallway.

“Yes, Sir!” Kiyotaka nodded sheepishly as he exited and started walking alongside the headmaster, at a slightly slower pace than he would have liked.

“Your letters worked...” Kirigiri started the conversation.

Well… _that_ would cheer Mondo up! And to think he had enough clout with the _steering committee_ for his request to be put through so quickly! They must be really impressed with his ideals and work ethic to…

“The steering committee had been nagging at me all _weekend_ for even _considering_ removing a student as naturally talented as Kuwata, just because he didn’t ‘waste his time with pointless classwork’!” Kirigiri griped, “Especially after his practical exam…”

…Or they just _really liked Kuwata_ despite him never putting any effort into getting them to do so _…_ Just like everyone _else_ seemed to!

“So, are there any conditions to his staying?” Kiyotaka asked, although if the committee like him _that_ much, then they’d probably just let him get away with this and he’d be able to coast through the whole four years of school…!

“I thought it was reasonable to make him complete enough coursework to bring his grades up to the pass mark.” Kirigiri explained, “And that setting a time limit of the end of the holidays might scare him enough that he’d avoid doing this again next year…” He added.

Well… that all seemed reasonable! At least the headmaster had the sense to turn this into a teachable moment for Kuwata! But why did he look so concerned about it…? “That seems more than fair!” Kiyotaka assured him, “Assuming you think it’s actually doable?”

“It… _should_ be… But he seems to be struggling more than I expected.” The headmaster frowned, “To be quite honest, I thought he would have come and asked you for help…”

“ _Hah!_ Heaven forbid he admit to my face that I was _right!_ ” Kiyotaka smirked wryly.

“ _Or_ perhaps he realises you’ve already done more to help him than he has any right to ask of you, and is too embarrassed to ask you for yet more help.” Kirigiri replied in a warning tone.

“I… suppose that’s possible…” Kiyotaka admitted, even _Kuwata_ must have a limit as to how much he was happy to freeload… “But, I’m guessing from the fact that you’re _here,_ that you want me to go and offer my help regardless…”

“It _would_ make my life a lot easier…” The headmaster admitted, “Maybe you could consider it a _Personal Favour?_ ”

…a _Personal Favour…!?_ Had he missed the _headmaster’s birthday!?_ Kyoko hadn’t mentioned it, but she _still_ didn’t have the best relationship with her father so it was entirely possible she wouldn’t have mentioned it… Why hadn’t he thought to look it up!?

“…If you don’t mind giving them in advance, of course…” Kirigiri added.

“Ah… no, sir! That’s not a problem at all!” Kiyotaka smiled in relief, he still had time to find out when the headmaster’s birthday was… “I’d be more than happy to help!”

“Wonderful! I’ll let you get your food then!” The headmaster patted him on the shoulder as they got to the kitchen, “You can’t help Kuwata if you collapse from hunger, after all!”

“Yes, that’s true! I certainly don’t want to render myself incapable of helping… Kuwata…” _Wait a minute…_

“Good lad!” The headmaster gave him a final friendly pat on the shoulder before departing…

_What had he just agreed to!?_

* * *

(Monday, 26th March 2012)

This shit was _impossible_! So much for ‘a fair chance’! How the fuck was he supposed to get another 20 points in three different subjects by the end of the holiday if it took him more than half a day just to get 2 points on a maths project! He might as well just give up now!

No… no, he couldn’t do that… if he gave up he’d have to leave and go to a _normal_ school, like some talentless loser! And then he wouldn’t get to hang out with his friends… and there’d be no hope at all for patching things up with Sayaka…

…He _could_ try asking the nerd but… Urg, _no!_ He’d probably just get super smug about ‘having to go above and beyond to save you from your own laziness!’… The _last_ thing he wanted was to owe a favour to the overbearing overachiever…

Maybe he’d manage to get on quicker with the science stuff… He’d start with the one at the top…

… What the hell did any of _that_ mean!? How the fuck was he supposed to do _any_ of this shit!? Shit… maybe he really _did_ need help from…

“ _AH!_ You’re wasting your time doing _that…_ ” _GRRR… Great!_ Just as he was considering giving the asshole a chance to be _nice_ , he decided to come and be _smug_ at him instead!

“Oh, fuck _you!_ I’ll show you I can get this shit done! And when I _do_ I’m gonna shove my pass certificate down your _throat!_ ” Geez… Leon was right in his face and he barely flinched… the guy was too used to Mondo… all his threat had done was make the asshole look slightly awkward…

“Ah… my apologies… I miss-worded that.” Nice backtracking, jackass… “What I meant was: if you’re attempting to earn points, then doing _that_ particular piece of work isn’t an efficient use of your time.”

“What do you mean? Shouldn’t they all be worth the same?”

“Well… you’d _think_ but… some of the pieces that are more… relevant to day-to-day life are… weighted a little more favourably, in order to increase the chances of the less academically-proficient students…”

“…In other words, there are pieces of ‘gimme’ work for dumbasses like Mondo…”

“Mondo is NOT stupid!” Now the loudmouth was getting in _his_ face! “He’s a _fantastic_ leader! That takes _far_ more intelligence than anything _you’ve_ ever done! And he might do better in subjects if it weren’t for your attempts to sabotage him!”

 _Sabotage?_ “…What the _fuck_ are you on about?”

“I’m talking about you encouraging him to miss-read words!” …Did this guy realise how scary he looked? And when the hell had he encouraged Mondo to read badly? Hell, when the heck had Mondo even _tried_ to read anywhere _near_ him…?

“Wait… are you talking about me letting him call boa constrictors _constructors?_ ” He nodded… _urg_ was he serious? “Jesus, dude! That was a _joke!_ ”

“Well, perhaps if you didn’t constantly _joke_ about… that kind of thing, then he’d be more confident in himself and…”

“Dude, no! My joking about him being a bit thick is NOT why he screams at girls!” Seriously… anyone with half a brain could see that was probably some macho shit his gang or his brother had dumped on him… “Anyway… so which of these pieces are the easy ones then?”

“…You’re lucky you’re so _talented…_ ” He snapped bitterly as he started messing around with files on the computer, “I’ve put the eight most time efficient pieces at the top of each subject. Doing those _should_ earn you the points you need to pass, even if you don’t get them done perfectly, and if you get on with it you _should_ be able to complete them in the timeframe you’ve been allowed.”

“Kickass!” At least this nerd was good for _something…_

“Of course, if you’d just _listened_ to me in the _first_ place…”

“Whatever, I’ve not got _time_ for you to lecture me, right?” He sat down to get on with this coursework bullshit…

“…Very well. If you need any help I’m just getting some books and then I’ll be in my room, or the dining room at mealtimes.” He finally marched off further into the library.

“Yeah, sure…” Leon muttered, looking at the first piece… it didn’t seem anywhere _near_ as difficult as that last thing he’d done…

* * *

Kiyotaka jumped slightly as his alarm clock went off… time for his break already!?

And Kuwata hadn’t asked for help at all… He could only hope he was actually _doing_ the coursework, especially after the steering committee had apparently been so impressed with him!

But that wasn’t his concern… Kuwata knew he was available to ask for help… it would be his own problem if he was too foolish to seek it! For now, he had a Kyoudai to go and ring! After all, Mondo should be finished travelling now…

Kiyotaka punched Mondo’s phone number in and waited for it to be picked up, if it actually _would_ be…

“Taka? Issat you!?” Kiyotaka could barely hear Mondo over the sound of air rushing around him… surely he wouldn’t have picked up the phone while _driving_ would he?

“Affirmative! But are you riding your bike at the moment?” He answered, raising his voice slightly over the background noise.

“Yeah, sorry…” Mondo started.

Of course, he didn’t need to explain to Kiyotaka that he couldn’t talk while _driving!_ “Understood!” Kiyotaka replied and hung up.

Hmm… but now what to do? He still had time from his break to fill... perhaps he could…

His thoughts were cut short as the phone rang. Perhaps Mondo had been able to pull over…

“Good Evening, Mon…” Kiyotaka started to give his usual greeting as he picked up the phone, but stopped when he could _still_ hear the rush of wind through the speaker. “Are you _still_ driving!?”

“Well, yeah…” Mondo replied casually. “Why…”

Kiyotaka felt his gut lurch and hung up the phone, didn’t Mondo know how dangerous it was to distract yourself while driving!? Hopefully he’d have got the message this time…

The phone rang again, worryingly quickly. Kiyotaka picked it up…

“Why’d ya keep…” Mondo’s voice could barely be heard over the rush of air and the sound of engines around him.

“Stop using your phone while _driving, it’s dangerous!_ ” Kiyotaka snapped, in a voice more panicked than the authoritative tone he’d been aiming for.

He just about heard Mondo muttering something as he hung the phone up yet again. Well… hopefully _now_ Mondo would be less reckless while he was driving and…

The phone rang again.

Kiyotaka sighed… he’d give Mondo one more chance…

“Have you stopped driving?” He asked as soon as he picked it up.

“Yeah, I’ve pulled over the _entire_ gang _just_ ta talk to ya, are ya _happy_ now!?” Mondo groused, and Kiyotaka could hear various other men muttering in the background.

“ _Happier_ yes! But you should be pulling over to talk to everyone on the phone! Do you have any idea how many accidents are caused by distracted drivers!?”

“Yeah, but I ain’t some dumbass chump who can’t talk and drive at the same time.” Mondo argued, over the voice of a man shouting in the background.

“It doesn’t matter _how_ skilled you are at driving, talking will still distract you!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “It’s dangerous enough that you ride that metal death trap in the first place…

“I’ve told ya, it’s only a death trap if you’re an idiot…” Mondo snarled, over the sound of a woman crying. “But anyway, what’s going on with Leon?”

Kiyotaka tried not to let the thought that Mondo had been willing to risk his life just to get a status update regarding _Kuwata_ bother him. “Apparently the steering committee are so impressed with his _talent_ that they nsisted he be given another chance…” He tried not to sound as bitter as he felt about it, “If he can complete enough coursework to get to a passing grade in the three core subjects, then the headmaster will let him stay in the school.”

“ _Really!?_ That’s _awesome!”_ Mondo was ecstatic, _“_ Is he gonna be _able_ to, though?” He added, worriedly.

“Well… I’ve told him which pieces are most time-efficient… if he knuckles downs and gets on with it, he _should_ be able to get it all done by the end of the holiday…” Kiyotaka assured him. “And of course, I’ll be here to tutor him whenever he needs help!”

“Thanks Kyoudai! You’re really great, ya know that?” Mondo announced through the phone, making Kiyotaka glad no one was around to see how flushed his face went. “So how’s your studying going?”

“Ah… It’s going reasonably…” He started

(“You thought you could stead her purse, asshole? Well, too bad, ‘cause I’m the Michi’s-Ex-Machina, _bitch!”_ ) Kiyotaka suddenly heard a young sounding voice in the background, followed up by several yelps and groans from another man...

“Err… What was _that_ just now?” He asked Mondo.

“Oh... We happened to pull up alongside a mugging so my bodyguard, Takemichi’s, just beating the shit outta the asshole...” Mondo replied casually.

“Well, _firstly_ you should have reported the incident to the police, not partaken in vigilantism!” Kiyotaka told Mondo, “But I was actually asking about the ‘Ex-Machina’ part...” He certainly hadn’t been expecting to hear Latin phrases coming from Mondo’s gang, assuming he hadn’t misheard.

“Oh, _that!_ It’s just a catchphrase the Diamonds have for we ride in outta nowhere and rescue people!” Mondo explained happily.

Well...that was _almost_ the correct term for what Mondo was describing, but why was the first word wrong... It was as if Takemichi had substituted the Deus part for his own name for some reason... but _why?_ Had he heard someone _else_ do it first? Perhaps someone with a name that sounded like Deus… _AH!_

“Was this something _Daiya_ started, by any chance?” He asked Mondo.

“Yeah! How’d ya guess!?” Mondo sounded impressed.

“Well… the joke works better with _his_ name than…” Kiyotaka felt himself grinning as he proudly explained how he’d come to the conclusion.

“JOKE!?” Mondo yelled down the phone, “Are you calling my bro’s catchphrase a _JOKE!?”_

 _“_ Ah! No! I didn’t mean it like _that!”_ Kiyotaka tried to explain quickly. “But it _is_ a play on words, isn’t it?”

“The hell are you talkin’ about? It was just some awesome-sounding shit Daiya came up with, alright!?” Mondo snapped back.

That couldn't possibly have been true, Daiya _must_ have known the reference, even if none of his gang did! But… was it a good idea to carry on this conversation when Mondo was obviously getting upset by it?

Well… if he _didn’t_ then Mondo and his gang would be inadvertently going around making it obvious they were saying things they didn’t really understand the meaning of…

“Kyoudai, I don’t think he _did_ make that up… have you never heard the phrase ‘Deus Ex Machina’?”

“It’s pronounced ‘ _Daiya’_ , for fucks sake, ya musta heard me say it a thousand times!” Kiyotaka held the phone away from his ear as Mondo shouted through it.

“No… I’m not talking about your brother… I’m talking about a narrative trope!” Kiyotaka corrected him calmly.

“Don’t change the subject, we’re talkin’ about my bro, not that nerdy crap you talk about with Hifumi and Chi!” Mondo growled.

“I’m not changing the subject! It’s relevant to your brother’s catchphrase!” Kiyotaka told him forcefully. "Ok... You know how stories often have things, or people, turning up at just the right time to save an otherwise hopeless situation? In a coincidence that wouldn't usually happen in real life?"

"I guess...?" Mondo answered, "Although Daiya always used to turn up outta nowhere and rescue people as well!" He added.

"Yes! _That’s_ why this is relevant!" Kiyotaka agreed, "The earliest example of that was in Greek theatre, where the Gods would often turn up near the end and fix things with their powers...”

“Ok, that sounds kinda cool, but what’s it got to do with _Daiya?_ ” Mondo asked, sounding slightly calmer.

“Just bear with me a bit longer…” Kiyotaka asked, "So… In the plays the actors were suspended above the stage and winched up and down with ropes... So they started being referred to as 'the Gods in the machine'... And then, once the Romans took over, it got translated into the Latin phrase: 'Deus Ex Machina', which is what those coincidences are known as today!" He finished, hoping Mondo understood now…

"Heh…That sounds like Daiya's name!" Mondo picked up on the similarity, " _Daiya's_ Ex... Machi..." He trailed off as he finally got Daiya's joke, “…This is why he always said only _he_ was allowed ta use it, isn’t it?” He asked, sounding as if he was cringing.

“That _does_ seem likely…” Kiyotaka agreed. “I must admit, my first thought was that your bodyguard had misheard the phrase…”

“ _Dammit!_ Now I gotta tell the gang not ta say it anymore!” Mondo sighed.

“And my scheduled break time is over as well…” Kiyotaka checked his watch. “I hope you have a good day tomorrow, and please drive safely!”

“I told ya, quit worrying about me!” Mondo snapped. “But yeah… good luck helping Leon…” He added, before hanging up.

* * *

(Tuesday 27th March, 2012)

 _Bleh…_ Another day at the grindstone…

Still, he couldn’t bitch _too_ much about it! He’d managed to get those eight pieces of science work all done and dusted yesterday, and had bagged a sweet 20 points for them… Guess he owed the class rep a favour after all… _Or_ he could just give him back that stupid voucher instead…

Well… onto the language work!

Heh… this shit was all pretty obvious to! Awesome! At this rate he’d be done by tomorrow evening and be able to spend a week and a half relaxing!

And trying to figure out how to apologise to Sayaka, of course… But he was better off not worrying about that ‘till he was done with _this_ shit…

About the time he submitted his first piece of work, he noticed a shadow on the computer monitor…

“Yo, headmeister! What up?” Leon span round to chat to him.

“…You seem to be getting on well with the coursework.” The headmaster replied, boringly.

“Well, it ain’t _that_ hard… at least once Mr Moral Compass told me which pieces score the most points!”

“Was that _all_ he did?” Kirigiri suddenly got all suspicious…

“What!? You think _he’d_ help me _cheat!?”_ Leon laughed, “All he did was tell me which eight pieces to do for each subject and say he’d be in his room if I needed help!”

“Hmm… Well, given how _quickly_ you seem to be getting through them, I’ll have to supervise you for a while.” Kirigiri pulled up a chair, “I hope you don’t mind…”

“Well, if you wanna waste your time, that’s your call…” Leon shrugged, “Dunno why you’re acting like this shit is hard though…”

“ _You_ did it first! Think how much less hassle you’d have had from your teachers and Ishimaru if you’d just done this earlier…”

“Yeah, sure… I’ll make sure I do it _before_ the exams next year…” Leon sighed, at least it might mean les arguments with the nag…

“Good! Glad to see you’ve learnt _something_ during your time here.” Kirigiri smirked.

“Yeah, well here’s something _else_ I’ve learnt!” Leon smirked back and started answering the assignment…

Urg… all this work was getting boring though! How did the nerd do nothing but study, study, study whenever he had time? Didn’t he ever want to stop and talk to people?

Well… that was assignment two of eight finished… maybe he could chat to the headmaster… “Yo, so…”

Wait… where the heck _was_ the headmaster?

…Oh well…  If he got on with this boring shit _now_ he could spend the rest of the holidays talking to cooler people than the _headmaster…_

* * *

Kiyotaka walked to the phone, irritably. Another end-of-day break and Kuwata _still_ hadn’t requested his help! This was going to end up being some last minute dash because he was procrastinating, wasn’t it?

Regardless, it wasn’t his concern… He was busy studying… at least he would be once he’d rung Mondo…

The phone was picked up quickly. “Good Evening, Kyou…”

The sound of air rushing through the speakers caused him to stop short and hang the phone up.

About half a minute later, the phone rang.

“I TOLD YA I can DRIVE, ALRIGHT!?” Mondo snapped through the phone. “Quit hanging up on me just ‘cause I’m on the road!”

Kyoudai! I already _told_ you, driving and talking simultaneously is dangerous! How do you think _I’d_ feel if we were talking and you ended up in an accident because of me!?”

“That’s _not_ gonna happen…” Mondo growled.

“Only because I refuse to talk to you unless you’ve parked beforehand!” Kiyotaka told him.

 _“Seriously!?_ You’re gonna make me do this _every night!?”_ Mondo groaned. “It was bad enough explaining that whole ‘gods in the machine’ shit to the gang…”

“You explained that to them!?” It was nice to think Mondo’s gang were interested in what he’d had to say, even if it was just because he’d been able to explain Daiya’s logic to them.

“Well yeah… they wanted a bit better reason not to use Daiya’s old phrase than just ‘it sounds fuckin’ stupid when _we_ say it!” Mondo groused, “Fuckin’ Daiya! Why didn’t he just _tell_ us what the hell it meant, instead of just letting us think he was clever and made up something cool!?”

“Well… perhaps he was trying to impress you all, so you’d be more willing to follow him?” Kiyotaka suggested, “People want their leaders to be creative, right?”

“Ehh, the Diamonds didn’t really care... it’s not we thought the _words_ were that impressive, it was the fact that he always swooped into the rescue that was cool…” Mondo sounded nostalgic, “There was no need for him to pretend ta be smart…”

 _“Pretend_ to be _smart?_ ” Kiyotaka repeated sceptically, “If anything it sounds like he was doing the opposite…”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well… you said he read books, but _hid_ them? And he obviously knew what Deus-Ex-Machina means, but let you all think he’d just made up some meaningless phrase…” Kiyotaka explained, “Perhaps he actually _liked_ learning!” Like _Kiyotaka_ did…

“Well… I guess…? Maybe?” Mondo sounded unsure. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, that he had anything in common at all with _Daiya Oowada…_

“Well… Either way, I would have liked to have the chance to meet him!” He said truthfully… it would have been nice to meet the man Mondo had looked up to so much.

“…yeah.” Mondo said stiffly, after a long hesitation. Had he been expecting Kiyotaka to elaborate?

“Err… I mean, it sounds as if he…”

“What time are ya ringing tomorrow!?” Mondo suddenly asked, loudly.

“Ah… 8pm… Why?”

“Well… I gotta get moving now, but I’ll make sure I’m parked somewhere sensible before ya ring tomorrow, alright?” Mondo promised. “I mean… ‘cause ya wouldn’t wanna make me have an accident or anything…”

“Ah! Yes, _thank you!_ ” Kiyotaka smiled, it was nice that Mondo listened to him! “I’ll speak to you tomorrow, Kyoudai! Please drive safely!”

“Yeah… sure thing… Kyoudai…” Mondo muttered hesitantly before hanging up. Had Kiyotaka upset him somehow?

* * *

(Wednesday, 28th March 2012)

Urg… man this maths work was tedious… _easy,_ but still tedious… Still, it was just one more day, right?

“ _There_ you are!” Oh, hey! It was Niwaki! Someone to talk to! “…What the heck are _you_ doing in the _library_?”

“Urg, turns out I failed my exams so I’ve gotta do _this_ bullshit by the end of the holidays to make up for it.” Leon explained.

“Isn’t that the stuff they had us do at the beginning of school? You left it until _now?_ ” The seamster squinted at the screen.

“Yeah, yeah… I’m a dumbass, I know…” Leon admitted. “I thought I’d get away with just the exams… But I should be done by this evening…”

“Oh, really? ‘Cause the headmaster left this morning so a bunch of us are meeting up this afternoon to have some beers…” Niwaki nudged his arm.

 _Huh…_ Maybe he _could_ take the afternoon off and do it tomorrow instead?

Then again, that had been the type of thinking that almost got him thrown out of the school… thinking he could just leave doing any of the work until the mid-year exams. There was always the chance this shit was harder than he expected…

“Eh… I’ll meet up with you once I’m done… then I’ve have something to celebrate!”

“Alright then, see ya later!” Niwaki headed off…

Huh… he’d been expecting the guy to be more of a distraction… Still, at least now he could get on with work in peace?

 _Wow… There_ was something he never thought he’d think! At this rate he’d be moaning at people for _running in the_ _halls_ soon…

…

“Okay, okay okay… I got one! Everytime he _stretch_ es, we take a drink!” Fukei laughed just as Leon was halfway through stretching.

“YES!” The other students agreed, and Leon could hear them all sipping drinks behind him…

Well… so much for no distractions! He’d been just about to start his last piece of work when they’d all turned up, slightly buzzed from the homebrewed beers in their hands, to come and watch him finish… and turn it into a drinking game when he’d taken to long… Still, he was almost done now and then _he_ could join in as well…

Hah! Done! Finally ready to submit! “Hey, I’m about to submit this for marking!” He let the others know, to cheers from the group.

“Oh! I know! When you pass, we’ll all down our drinks!” Suketo giggled, which was met with bigger cheers…

“Yeah, pass me one so I can join in!” Leon asked, he needed to start catching up… “Okay… aaaand… sumbit!”

The computer took an annoyingly long minute to scan the work and assign his mark… which was _juuust_ enough to put him up to 20 points in math…

“Wooo!” “Yeeaahh!” “ _Finally!”_ The others cheered as they all downed their drinks together…

“Woooah… that’s strong shit…” Leon gasped once he’d downed it… he probably should have _eaten_ before doing that…

“Lightweight!” Suketo stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey… what’s that it’s saying about printing a final score?” Niwaki was noseying at the computer again.

“ _Oh!_ Yeah, I gotta do _that…”_ Leon remembered, “I’ve gotta go stick it up on the board and rub the hall monitors face in it!” That’s what Hiro had said would happen, right?

“Dude, they took the results down Friday afternoon…” Fukei said, with a slight slur.

“But Ishimaru’ll be doing his nightly phone call with Oowada in 5 minutes…” Hinai added.

He was ringing Mondo every night? Well, that made sense, they talked about _everything…_ Which probably meant Mondo had known he’d failed… which was why he’d wanted to talk in private last week before yelling at Sayaka… Crap… he probably ought to apologise to him for not just letting him talk in private in the first place…

“Alright, I’mma go tell him now then!” Leon decided. That way he could let Mondo know he was in the clear as well…

* * *

8pm already! He’d had another productive day of studying, with no interruptions! That was good, right!? Even if it meant Kuwata _still_ hadn’t asked for his help…

Why was that irritating him so much? It was _good_ that he was able to study productively, without the baseball player wanting to pester him for help! So why had he kept finding himself wondering if he should head back up to the library to check if Kuwata was getting on alright?

…It was probably just because he knew Kuwata would leave it until the last possible moment to admit he was in trouble and then it’d be an even bigger waste of time as he had to scramble to help him, right!? After all, it wasn’t as if Kuwata would be able to do all that work by himself, without any help whatsoever! He’d have to be a _genius_ to pick it all up just from half-listened to classes…

Still he’d just have to deal with Kuwata’s foolishness when it came to it… trying to nag him before he was ready would probably just delay Kuwata even further, and then Mondo would be annoyed with him…

And, thinking of Mondo, he quickly dialled the number for Mondo’s phone…

“Hey, Kyoudai!” It was picked up almost instantly, with no sounds of high-speed driving to be heard…

“Mondo! I’m glad to hear you’re safely stopped!” Kiyotaka couldn’t help but laugh at the sound of his voice.

“Yeah… I found a nice forest and had the gang set up camp early so I could…” Mondo explained.

“That sounds fun! What sort of forest is it?” It would have been nice to go and explore some of the nature he’d read about in person… If only he’d worked harder and had been able to go himself, instead of living vicariously through his kyoudai…

“Uhh… One with trees?” Especially as Mondo’s grasp of nature was almost non-existent… “ANYWAY, I wanted to tell you…”

“Well, do you have a camera? Maybe you can take some pictures and when you come back we can look through them and try to identify the type of forest!” Kiyotaka suggested, sharing holiday photos was something friends did to get closer together, right?

“Uhh… It doesn’t really matter… ‘Cause I’m TRYING ta tell ya…”

“Oh! And if you know note down where you are we can look it up on the internet and…”

“WILL YA SHUT UP ABOUT THE TREES I’M TRYIN’ TA TELL YA MY BRO WASN’T SMART!” Mondo suddenly yelled down the phone…

“W-what!?” Why would Mondo _say_ that!? He’d _never_ said anything insulting about Daiya before!

“I _SAID_ DAIYA WASN’T SMART LIKE YOU ARE _!”_ Mondo shouted even more loudly, as if Kiyotaka hadn’t heard him the first time… “SO YOU WOULDN’T HAVE…”

“Ah! I _can_ hear you, Mondo!” Kiyotaka replied as clearly as he could, in case the phone signal wasn’t good, wherever Mondo was… “I just wondered what made you say that!”

“Well… Daiya was _strong!_ ” Mondo answered with information he’d already been told.

“And…?” Kiyotaka asked, irritably… after all, it wasn’t as if _he_ wasn’t strong either…

“Uhh… Well… in order ta _get_ strong he had to work out and shit… so he wouldn’t have had _time_ to be reading and crap!”

“ _That’s_ your reasoning!?” Kiyotaka sighed, partly because of Mondo’s poor logic and partly because Kuwata had suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor with several other students and was now rapidly approaching him…

“Well… _yeah!”_ Mondo snapped back, as Kuwata waved at him and Kiyotaka quickly put up his hand to signal that he was busy.

“Kyoudai, it’s perfectly possible to balance working out _and_ a stimulating mental regime!” Kiytoaka explained while Kuwata _completely ignored_ his signal and came up right next to him… “Look at how much progress Chihiro has made!”

“Uhh… Maybe… but… he still ain’t _that_ strong…!” Mondo muttered, while Kuwata started waving his hands right in his _face…_ “And… and Daiya had _the gang_ ta look after as well!” Kiyotaka swatted Kuwata’s hands away… “That took a _ton_ of time… so he didn’t have _time_ ta get smart and shit!” Mondo finished his argument just as Kuwata started trying to grab at the phone…

Kiyotaka wasn’t sure what was more irritating… Kuwata’s persistence or Mondo’s insistence on putting down his brother…

“I still believe it would have been possible for Daiya to do that _and_ read regularly!” He countered, putting his free hand firmly on Kuwata’s chest to prevent him from getting too close to the phone. “Consider _myself_ for example! I manage to balance my responsibilities as hall monitor and class rep, along with my studies _and_ physical training!” Kuwata was _still_ trying to get the phone… So Kiyotaka started moving him back towards the wall… “And in case you _don’t_ think I’m strong, remind me which of us it was who threw the other onto the _floor_ a week ago!?” Kiyotaka managed to pin Kuwata against the wall just in time to round off his argument…

“Uhh… I guess…” Mondo agreed, well _that_ was settled… maybe they could have a _nice_ conversation about Mondo’s holiday now…

“Throwing him on the _floor..._ Is he _gay_ …?” Kiyotaka flinched as _Hinai_ of all people had followed Kuwata and overheard his conversation… Now he was going to have to rebuke _that_ before it got put in the school paper and also Kuwata had now managed to break free of his grip and started reaching for the phone again…

So much for a nice conversation… He’d not be able to talk to Mondo until he’d got rid of _this_ lot, would he? Why had Kuwata chosen _now_ of all times to finally pester him!?

“I’ve got to go.” He quickly explained to Mondo before hanging up the phone. “I’m _not_ homosexual, I threw Mondo on the ground out of mistaken self-defence!” He explained testily to the group who had followed Kuwata, before turning to the baseball player himself “And what do you _want_ that’s so important that it couldn’t have waited ten minutes for me to finish my _only_ conversation with _Kyoudai_ today!? _”_

“I _wanted_ to tell Mondo I’ve _passed_ …” Kuwata sighed irritably.

Why didn’t he just _say_ so!? But at least he _had_ been working! That was good! And apparently he was a third of the way to completing the headmasters demand. “Oh! Well… Congratulations! Which subject have you passed?”

“All of them!” Leon grinned, “See!” He thrust a piece of paper at him…

It was a printout of Kuwata’s final score… with the necessary 30 points in the three core subjects, plus his high score in sports and a reasonable score in music had netted him 196 points total…

“You… you really did _all that_ in _three days!?”_ Kiyotaka gaped, “ _HOW!?”_

“Eh… they weren’t _that_ hard… and like you said, I didn’t need to do perfectly at them, so I was able to get them done quick!” Kuwata shrugged, “So…”

“Yeah! So suck it, nerd!” One of the students with Leon yelled, the Seamster if he remembered rightly, “We don’t need to do any of that stupid schoolwork you keep nagging him about!”

So… Kuwata had come and brought a little _gang_ to mock him!? He _knew_ the jackass wasn’t going to be in the _least_ bit grateful for…

“What!? No! Niwaki, the only reason they didn’t kick me out as soon as I failed was ‘cause my class rep here bailed me out!” Leon suddenly turned and gestured to him genially. “And I’m pretty sure the school isn’t gonna let me or anyone else get away with submitting coursework _after_ the exams next year…”

 _Huh…_ Apparently Kuwata at least appreciated the amount work he’d done for him… possibly? Or he was just warning his friends not to try the same stunt _next_ year… Regardless they all looked confused at his outburst…

“So… Can I talk to Mondo and let _him_ know?” Kuwata asked.

“Ah, of course!” Kiyotaka handed the phone over and dialled Mondo’s number for him.

“…He’s not picking up.” Kuwata announced after a minute.

“Ah… He must have started driving again…” Kiyotaka said sadly, he’d have to wait until _tomorrow_ to talk to his kyoudai now… and it would be another night where Mondo was likely to worry about Kuwata’s score… But thinking of which… “Although… you’re still able to submit coursework on the system, aren’t you?” He asked Kuwata.

“I dunno… Why would I want to?” He shrugged.

“Well… at the moment you’ve _passed…_ But if you submitted more work your overall score would improve!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Urg… Why would I do _that!?_ ” Kuwata rolled his eyes.

“Yeah! All he _needed_ was a pass!” The… gardener wasn’t it? Pointed out.

“But… you could do even _better!”_ Didn’t he _want_ to do the best he _could!?_

“So? I don’t _have_ to…” Kuwata said, as if talking to an idiot.

“Yeah! He’s fiiiinished now, we can go chillll…” The skateboarder said, swaying dangerously as she did so.

“I’m not trying to _nag…_ But you’d feel so much better is you _did_ better!” Kiyotaka told him, although all he did in response was roll his eyes again. “Like Hinai, for example! I’m sure she’s very proud for coming in top place in politics!” He looked to her for confirmation…

“ _Urrrggh…_ Don’t talk to me about that!” She snapped, “I only _did_ that stupid exam because the school _made_ me! Now my Mom found out I came _top_ somehow and keeps wanting me to write for her column…” She complained. “So, y’know, thanks for _screwing up_ and _losing_ to me!”

Kiyotaka flinched as felt tears prick at his eyes… She was right, he _had_ screwed up and…

“Uhh… well… how’s about we start that celebration!” Kuwata suddenly suggested.

“C-celebration? What for?” He hadn’t heard any good news recently… aside from the recent announcement of a cease-fire in Syria, but that didn’t seem like the type of thing Kuwata would be aware of…

“Leon passing the exams, _duh!_ ” The girl who was swaying about laughed, to which the others appeared to agree…

 _What!?_ They were _celebrating_ the fact that Kuwata had just _barely_ met the minimum requirement for staying in the school! How was _that_ fair!? How could Kuwata look so _pleased_ about it when Kiyotaka had done so much _better_ than him and _still_ felt like an utter failure!?

No… he shouldn’t be letting this bother him! Kuwata and his friends just had appallingly low standards! They might be happy _now…_ but once they were out of school the _real world_ would eat them alive, whereas Kiyotaka would _thrive!_ At least… as long as he didn’t keep getting complacent…

“…Do you want to come with?” Kuwata suddenly asked.

“ _What!?”_ Kuwata was inviting _him!?_ His friends looked as shocked as Kiyotaka _felt…_ It was obvious he wouldn’t be welcome, even if he _had_ had the time to waste… and there was half a chance Kuwata had some joke planned, like that time Katsushika had invited him to a get-together and then set a bucket of water on top of the door and filmed it…

“No thank you. I have studying to get on with.” He said, as he walked around the group and back towards his room…

* * *

“…Why the hell did you invite _him!?”_ Niwaki asked once the nerd was out of earshot…

 _Good question…_ “I dunno… he just looked upset at being left out… And he helped me out even though he didn’t _have_ to! I just thought I’d give him a chance to hang out…”

“Well, lucky for _us_ he didn’t take it…” Niwaki smirked, “Trust me, having a party with _him_ is _awful…_ ”

 

(Thursday, 29th March 2012)

Leon winced as the sunlight piercing into his eyes woke him up. Why had he _drunk_ so much last night?

Well… mostly because the party had been pretty awful, even _without_ his dorkiest classmate… Firstly, everyone else had been two stages drunker than him, which always sucked! But worst of all, Hinai had spent the evening trying to press him for details about whether the ‘kyoudais’ were _more_ than that… _and_ what _Leon’s_ love life was like as well, which meant he had to be constantly on guard in case he slipped up and Sayaka’s secret ended up in the school paper!

At least she’d finally shut up and started making out with the gardener once Niwaki got called away by his girlfriend. But then Suketo had ended up getting wasted and he’d ended up carrying her back to her room… only for her to end the night by drunkenly making a pass at him! Good thing he’d been able to use the fact that _she_ had a boyfriend to turn her down, instead of having to bring up _Sayaka_ …

Was this how it was gonna be all _holiday?_ He didn’t mind a drunken night once in a while, but hanging with _that_ lot for almost _two weeks!?_

Well… they _were_ the only people in school… it was either _that,_ not talk to _anyone_ for _ten_ days… or talk to the _class rep…_

Haha… like that was gonna happen! Maybe some alone time wouldn’t be too bad… after all, he needed to practise his his guitar for when Sayaka apologised and he could listen to music and had movies to watch… He’d be fine for a few days!

…

Was he _seriously_ so desperate for someone to talk to that he was about to hit the _nerd’s_ doorbell, of all things!?

Apparently he was! He hadn’t even managed a few _hours_ before wanting _someone_ to talk to…”

“Hello?” The class rep cautiously opened the door, “Kuwata? Was there a problem with your results?”

“What? No they’re fine!” He’d even pinned them to the empty space they _would_ have occupied if the results were still up… “Just came to see what you’re up to.”

“Ah… Well, I’m studying! I’m currently reading up on the background of Syria, given its current…”

Oh boy… _why_ had he done this!? Of _course_ the nerd was just gonna blather on about politics! What was his obsession with all this boring crap, anyway!? Just ‘cause it was his best subject? Or it was _supposed_ to be, but he’d still lost to Hinai anyway…

Oh, maybe that was it? “Hey… You didn’t take what Hinai said last night seriously, did you?”

“Ngh! Well… her annoyance at coming first seems unfounded… but she still raised a valid point that I _should_ have been able to get a better score than her…” What, ‘cause coming _top of the whole school_ wasn’t _good_ enough for him!? “So, I am taking steps to do so _next_ year! From now on I’ll redouble my efforts and prevent myself from wasting time so that I…”

So he was gonna be even _more_ uptight from now on? Goddammit Hinai… “So I don’t suppose you wanna chill and hangout, then?” Leon sighed.

“… _Why?”_ Geez, what’s with the irritable scowl?

“Well, you just _said_ you were gonna avoid wasting time…”

“No… I mean, why are you asking _me?”_ Geez, he looked like he was being offered the chance to buy a bridge in Brooklyn… “You’ve been nothing but vitriolic to me since the day we met… why would you suddenly want to talk?”

“Well… mostly ‘cause everyone _else_ is hungover and I’m bored.” Leon admitted, “How did you not go crazy last winter?”

“I busied myself with productive study!” Was the obnoxious reply, “Which, incidentally, is what I was _attempting_ to do when you decided to interrupt _me_ as a _last resort!_ ”

“ _Urg,_ don’t you _ever_ take a break!?” Leon sighed, “I mean, _Mondo_ keeps saying we should try to get along, right!?” If _that_ didn’t work, nothing would…

“Ah… I suppose I can move my allotted time forward a little…” _Home run!_ “Although I _had_ planned on watching the footage of Sayaka’s concert that Chihiro sent us…”

Huh? Footage of _Sayaka?_ From this week? Maybe he could see how she looked… she’d probably be miserable without him, right!?

“Well… why don’t we do that!? We can watch it on my computer… the screen’s better than anything in the school library!”

“…I suppose that makes sense…” Well, he’d agreed and was coming out of his room… but why did he still look like he was expecting to be conned…?

* * *

This _had_ to be some sort of joke… With all the books to read and free reign of the computers in the library, how could anyone get so _bored_ that they’d willingly go talk to someone they _disliked?_ It might be the case that Kiyotaka _was_ missing his _friends_ … but he’d certainly had no desire to talk to the likes of _Kuwata…_ So why would _he_ want to talk to _Kiyotaka_ , unless it was a setup for some stupid prank…?

Still, Mondo would be irritated with him if he didn’t at least give Kuwata a chance… which probably meant he was going to have to spend the afternoon laundering his clothes… Still, he could at least _try_ to avoid any pranks… firstly by insisting Kuwata enter the room first, regardless of how stubborn it made him appear to be…

At least, that had been his intention, until Kuwata opened the door and strode through it, lazily pushing it further open as he walked through rather than actually hold the door open or send Kiyotaka in first… So it would appear _that_ wasn’t what his plan was…

Kiyotaka cautiously followed in after him… what _else_ might he have tried? The room looked innocent enough, there was nothing set up to trip him… The wardrobe had been left open, mostly due to the pile of clothes spilling out from it, so there was nowhere for a co-conspirator to jump out and try to scare him from… Kuwata himself was just busying himself at his computer, checking through his emails to find the one from Chihiro…

“Yeah, I know the room’s a mess!” Kuwata sighed, as he pulled up the correct one and glanced back at Kiyotaka. “Do you wanna watch this at 720p or _not?_ ” He gestured to the computer.

Kiyotaka headed towards the computer… Was this really _not_ a prank? Could it really be that Kuwata actually wanted to try and be friends with him? Or at least acquaintances who could _tolerate_ each other…? It still felt like there must be some catch to it… And yet all Kuwata appeared to be doing was bringing up the video that Chihiro had sent…

The concert seemed to be… _fun!_ Sayaka and her group were performing several upbeat numbers with tunes that were catchy, and yet simple enough that even _he_ wave his hands in time, even _with_ his lack of experience of musical performance. _1_ , 2, 3, 4… _1_ , 2, 3…

“Are you _conducting!?”_ Kiyotaka jumped at Kuwata’s sudden question.

“…I thought it was customary to wave one’s hands at a pop concert…” Kiyotaka explained apologetically… He’d got so into the performance he’d forgot Kuwata was even _there…_

“Yeah… but not like _that!_ ” Kuwata laughed, “ _Normal_ people do _this!”_ He waved his hands above his head, although he wasn’t in time with the music _at all…_ No wonder Sayaka had left him here instead of having him perform at her concert…

“…Like this?” Kiyotaka tried waving his hands, _in time,_ above his head… This just felt ridiculous… Maybe Kuwata was filming him looking ridiculous, was _that_ his plan?

“…maybe you’re just one of those people who are better off _not_ trying to dance …” Kuwata suggested.

“That isn’t very useful feedback!” Kiyotaka complained as he lowered his arms.

“Whatever, this isn’t a class, just enjoy the show…” Kuwata rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen.

Well, he _had_ been until Kuwata had pointed out how foolish he’d looked…!

Well… there was only one song left… He’d just have to control himself and stay still this time…

It started with a loud cheer from the audience as a handsome red-headed guitarist in a white suit and loose yellow scarf came out onto the stage… the performance seemed to focus around him, with several members of the band dancing around him, and in Sayaka’s case whilst leaning on him wantonly… although something about her didn’t look quite right, but Kiyotaka couldn’t determine quite what it _was…_

At least, not until there was a close up of her and guitarist together… _Ah!_ That was it… it was her smile… she looked a little like _he_ did when he tried to force smiles… Not to the ugly extent that _he_ did, of course… but enough that it looked a little off-putting…

Kiyotaka glanced over at Kuwata… it would seem he’d noticed it as well, as he glared at the screen irritably for the rest of the performance and didn’t even _speak_ once it finished.

“Err… Well, that was a nice break?” Kiyotaka said, trying to break the silence… or at least get Kuwata’s attention… “I should go back to studying now though.” No response from Kuwata… “Perhaps I’ll see you later…? I’ll be eating lunch at 1pm…”

 _Still_ no response! Not even as he let himself out of the room and shut the door… Was he _that_ upset at seeing Sayaka unhappy?

* * *

What the _fuck_ was that!? She’d _replaced_ him!?

How the hell could she _do_ that! He’d made, like, _one_ stupid mistake and she was draped over the side of that _wimpy_ _pretty-boy_ from _Tornado!?_

…He was too hungover to deal with this shit… he needed a drink…

…

 _Fuck…_ this drink wasn’t working… what he _really_ needed was someone like Mondo to go bitch at, but for some _stupid_ reason the biker wasn’t picking his phone up! And there was no one here he was gonna trust with Sayaka’s secret, even if she _was_ being a cheating bitch!

…Well, not _cheating…_ ‘cause she’d _dumped_ him… but she couldn’t have _really_ meant it, right? He’d thought it’d be okay once she go back and they talked… everything _else_ always worked out for him, even the stupid school crap, so why should he have had to worry!?

But… she’d been _all over_ that guy! _URRRGGHHH…_

He’d really fucked this up, hadn’t he? He’d been dating _Sayaka Maizono_ and he’d _fucked it up! Now_ what was he supposed to do!? Other than have another drink…

…

Well… if he wasn’t dating _Sayaka…_ He’d just have to find some _other_ chick! It wasn’t like Sayaka was the only woman in the world! He’d find someone _else,_ someone _way_ better than that stupid pretty-boy and then it would be _Sayaka’s_ turn to feel like _crap! Ha!_

Yeah… that was it! It was _spring break_ after all, there’d be _ton_ of girls in the local clubs and stuff… he’d could go out dancing, show everyone his sweet moves and pick up a hottie… or several, even!

But he couldn’t go out clubbing _alone…_ he’d look like a total _loser_ if he did _that!_ But who could go with? The only dudes here already _had_ girls… well, expect the hall monitor, but there was no way _he_ was going to spend a _whole night out…_ he wouldn’t do _Leon_ that kind of _favour…_

Ah! Aha! _The voucher!_ The _stupid effing voucher_ he’d been trying to get the cheapskate to accept for _months! That’s_ how Leon’d get him to come out! Hell, he wouldn’t just _come out…_ he could _help_ as well! After all he _owed_ him! And this had _nothing_ to do with school rules so he wouldn’t be able to use _that_ as an excuse to wriggle out of it!

The nerd would be in his room, right? He’d go tell him _now,_ and then they could get ready and go out _tonight!_ This was a _great_ idea!

“Ah... Good afternoon, Kuwata! Are you feeling al…” Leon shut him up by shoving the voucher in his face.

“I’m gonna go out, and I’m gonna pick up some _chicks!_ ” “And _you_ … are gonna be my _wingman!”_ Let’s see how tries to _worm_ his way out of _this_ favour…

“Very well then!” …Wait… he actually said _yes!?_ No argument!? “But I must warn you that I don’t have any experience with farming _or_ aviation!”

…This was a _stupid_ idea wasn’t it?

“No, dumbass… I mean I’m gonna go to a club to meet women and you’re gonna help me impress them…”

“…I see…” Why the _hell_ did he look so suspicious!? “And when are we doing this?”

“Tonight! I’ll swing by here and pick you up, say, six-ish… Make sure you look good!” Leon ordered.

“I shall wear my _best_ uniform!” …This was a _really stupid_ idea, wasn’t it?

“What… no! You can’t wear a _uniform_ when we go _out!_ Don’t you have any _other_ clothes?” He _knew_ he’s seen the guy wear _something_ different… at least once or twice, hadn’t he!? When was _that?_

“No! I am a student and therefore…” Urg… not this spiel again…

“The _date!_ You’re date with _Tsumiki!_ You wore that suit Celes got you!” _That’s_ what he was thinking of! “You still got that?”

“Well… I _do…”_ Why did he look so upset? If he didn’t want to wear the gay-looking suit, maybe he should buy himself a _better_ one!

“Great! Wear _that!_ I’ll see you later!” Leon headed off to his _own_ room… he needed to shower and gel his hair and find a good look to impress someone _even hotter_ than _Sayaka…_

* * *

Kiyotaka followed Kuwata off the shuttle with trepidation, wondering when exactly whatever he had planned would come into play… He’d _thought_ it might just be a case of Kuwata making him walk around in this hideous outfit with those cursed _heeled_ things on, but then Kuwata had insisted he change back into his normal boots, so it couldn’t be _that…_

But, this _had_ to be some sort of prank, surely!? Why would Kuwata want to chat up women when he already _had_ a girlfriend… he might be lazy, arrogant and obnoxious… but he wasn’t the type to _cheat…_

At least, Kiyotaka _hoped_ not… How on _Earth_ would he break the news to Sayaka if he _was…?_ It would probably be like that time he’d caught Katsushika arranging dates with two different girls, only for everyone to accuse him of lying to stir up trouble…

Either way, he was certainly putting an unusual amount of effort into this… _whatever_ it was! His hair was styled slightly differently to usual, although it _still_ wasn’t as nice as the practical haircut his previous baseball team had recommended. His clothing was somewhat… _tighter_ than he usually wore as well, as if he was trying to show off his toned physique… not that he had much of one to show off… not compared to someone like _Mondo_ , anyway!

“Hey… so, what’re you gonna tell the chicks about me?” Kuwata suddenly asked, as they walked along the brightly lit streets, amongst various people their age who were heading in the same general direction as they were.

“Why would I tell them _anything_ about you?” Kiyotaka replied, he generally _avoided_ that topic of conversation!

“’Cause you’re being my _wingman…!”_ Kuwata stared at him as if that explained everything…

“And…?” Kiyotaka prompted.

“You’ve seriously never heard of a _wingman?_ ” Kuwata sighed, “It means you help get girls interesting in me! Y’know… point out good prospects, make sure I don’t get distracted by assholes and tell chicks good stuff about me so they’re interested!”

…He was worryingly serious about this…

“Sooo… what’re you going to tell ‘em about me then?” Kuwata asked again, “Say it the way you’re gonna once we get in the club.”

So he had to think of _good_ things about Kuwata, did he? Well… at least he’d already done this… “Kuwata’s physical talents inspire…”

“ _Urg… NO!”_ Kuwata groaned, “You can’t say shit like in that letter! You sound like a robot!”

“Well, what do you _want_ me to tell people then!?” Kiyotaka asked testily… this was probably going to be some superficial nonsense…

“Shit people actually care about… like me being good at sports and playing guitar!”

“Alright then… _Kuwata_ is good at sports!” He recited. “How’s that?”

“Well, it’d be _nice_ if you didn’t say ‘Kuwata’ in the same tone of voice as most people say ‘asshole’!” Kuwata complained… “Try again, dude…”

Honestly… if he was picky about this, why didn’t he just impress women _himself!?_ This was just like that Katsushika had asked him to put a good word in for him with their teacher… and he’d stupidly gone ahead with it, going up after class and saying…

“ _Katsuhika_ works very hard at his music and…”

* * *

Wait… _what_ did _that_ mean? He was too buzzed to be understanding long words like that… “What did you just call me?”

“AH!” Dude jumped like he’d been caught with his hands in the cookie jar… “Err… I meant _Kuwata_ works very hard…”

“Then why’d you _say ‘_ Katsushika’?” Was it some fancy swearword he didn’t know or something? He’d said it with even more poison than he usually said _Kuwata_ with.

“Err… That was just a mistake… I was remembering a time one of my middle school classmates asked me to do something similar to this…”

“So you _have_ been a wingman before!” So why was he acting so _crap_ at it?

“N-no! He was asking me to put a good word in with our _teacher,_ not women…”

“So… nothing like this at _all_ then…” Leon pointed out.

“Well… it’s similar in that you want _me_ to put in the effort to get other people to like _you!”_  He snapped, “ _And_ you have similar styles and personalities…”

 _Oh did he?_ So, what? Had Leon been reminding the nerd of some _other_ guy he used to help out all year…? “Where you guys friends then?”

“ _Hah!”_ Wow, _that_ was a bitter sounding laugh… “No! He used to tell everyone I was _awful_ and make them _laugh_ at me, and they all went along with it because he was _cool!_ ”

Wow… he’d never heard someone say ‘ _cool’_ like it was a swearword either… “So why did you _help_ this asshole!?”

“Well… I was naïve… I thought perhaps if I helped _him…_ then maybe he’d help _me_ become… ‘ _Cool’…_ and then the other students at school might want to _talk_ to me!” Oh, hell… was he gonna _cry?_ “But instead he just _abused_ my good nature and then set _pranks_ on me instead of helping!”

Waaiit… Why had glanced right at _Leon_ when he said _pranks…_ was that why he kept looking suspicious whenever he asked him to hang out? Because he thought Leon was like _that_ asshole? In fact, if he thought they were the _same…_ “This is why you _hate_ me, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me!?”

“ _He’s_ why you can’t stand _me_ , isn’t he? You think just ‘cause there was a ‘cool’ guy at your old school who was an asshole, that _every_ guy who’s ‘cool’ is gonna be an _asshole, right…?_ ” Leon smirked… and he wasn’t denying it either… “ _That’s_ why you’ve bitching at me all year… ‘cause all _you_ see is the asshole who made fun of you in middle school!”

“…Perhaps that true…” He admitted, after a moment. “But _you’re_ guilty of something similar! I realise the first impressions Hifumi and myself gave at the beginning of the year may have been _poor_ … But we’ve _both_ changed since then! And yet you _still_ think of us as the ‘fatass’ and the ‘hardass’ respectively, _don’t you!?_ ”

What kind of argument was _that!?_ Yamada _was_ a fatass and _he_ was a… a… oh, right…

“…That stunt you pulled with the steering committee was pretty cool…” He remembered.

“I-I beg your pardon…?” He looked like someone had said he’d won a million yen, “You think I’m _cool!?”_

“ _Hell no!_ I said that thing you _did_ was cool!” And there was his usual frowny face again, “But alright, you’ve got a point. How’s this? We forget everything we thought we knew about each other and start over?”

“Very well then!” He nodded, “Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m _Kiyotaka Ishimaru_ …”

 _Urg…_ He was gonna get stroppy about this unless Leon used his _name,_ wasn’t he? “Alright, Ishimaru… this is the club, let’s get inside…” He seriously needed another drink after all _that…_

* * *

So, this was the club Kuwata wanted to visit, was it? What sort of club would it _be?_ It sounded like there was music coming from inside… so a club for musicians? Kiyotaka hoped he wouldn’t be expected to play anything… unless they happened to have a pair of castanets in there…

He went to join the back of the queue, whereas Kuwata turned towards the door. “Err… there’s a queue!”

“No, dude, it’s _fine…_ ” Kuwata said, as casual as ever, “We’ll be able to get in, trust me!”

...Well, he was supposed to be giving Kuwata a fresh start… He’d just have to apologise to the doorman for the hassle… “Very well.” He walked past the queuing students to the doorman.

“Yo, we’re Kuwata and Ishimaru!” Kuwata announced, to which the man looked at a list… Ah! Kuwata must have reserved their entrance time! Perhaps he _wasn’t_ as disorganised as Kiyotaka had _thought…_

 _“_ Ahh… the Moral Compass and… Baseball Star!” The man read, excitedly. “Can I get your autograph?” He held up a small book and pen to Kuwata.

“Sure!” Kuwata took it and happily signed it… He supposed this must happen quite a lot to the sports star…

“And yours as well?” The man held the book up to _Kiyotaka…_

“Err… _Why?_ ” He asked in surprise… which caused Kuwata to slap his own forehead.

“Oh… I like to collect all the Hope’s Peak student’s signatures!” He admitted.

Hmm… why would he do _that!?_ It sounded slightly suspicious… perhaps he’d best check there wasn’t a contract sneakily printed somewhere in the book…

“Heh… it’s not a very _good_ collection…” The doorman mumbled as he looked through it… it honestly _did_ just seem to be a collection of signatures of various Ultimates from the last few years’ worth of intakes, some of which he recognised, and one of which made him stop flicking through the book entirely…

“When did _Mondo_ come here?” He asked, his kyoudai had never mentioned coming to a club.

“Oowada? Probably a couple of weeks after the school year started…” The doorman answered, “I was lucky to _get_ his, actually, seeing as…”

“Uhh… Dude, are you gonna hurry up and sign that or not?” Kuwata suddenly interrupted, “We’re holding up the line!”

“Oh… right!” He quickly flipped to a fresh page and signed the booklet, he’d have to ask Mondo about it some other time…

The inside of the building consisted of a dark hallway, leading into a large, dimly lit room with flashing lights and full of students dancing to music that was so loud it seemed to cause the floor to vibrate! “This _can’t_ be a reasonable volume!” He commented, although it went unheard.

“Alright! We’ll start by getting some drinks, point out any good lookers to me!” Kuwata suddenly leant over and yelled in his ear… Which was understandable, given the ambient volume, but still aggravating…

He nodded in agreement and followed Kuwata to the bar.

“Whattaya having?” The bartender asked… at least Kiyotaka _thought_ that’s what he’d said…

“Tap water!” He answered, after all, he didn’t have much money on him and he wanted to save it for an emergency…

“ _What!?_ No, man, you can’t just order tap water! Everyone’ll think we’re cheapskates!”

…What was he supposed to say to _that!?_ He didn’t like not being able to buy a proper drink, either, but he _couldn’t!_ So what was he supposed to _do…?_

“Urg, fine… I’ll buy you a drink, _cheapskate!_ ” Kuwata snapped.

“If you insist, thank you…” Kiyotaka shouted hesitantly… as much as he appreciated the offer, he did wish Kuwata had actually _wanted_ to help him, rather than just doing it out of embarrassment… “I’ll have orange juice then.”

“ _Urg,_ that’s the most boring drink possible!” Kuwata moaned. “Why don’t you get a cocktail or something?”

“ _I beg your pardon!”_ He shouted back, “I don’t think I heard you correctly, it sounded like you said to get… _a male-birds-tail?”_

Kuwata just slapped his own forehead and passed him a piece of card from the bar, entitled ‘cocktails’.

…Why would fruit juice mixtures be names after part of a bird? He’d have to look this up once he got back to school… He looked through the list while Kuwata was asking the bartender something… They did sound nice, except for the fact that they all had some type of alcohol present in them, so he _wouldn’t_ be able to order one anyway, unless the alcohol culd be taken out?

“Hey, here’s some cash… Get me a Bud Light once you’ve picked what you want…” Kuwata suddenly handed him a 1,000 yen note and wandered off in the direction of a stage that was being set up…

“Err… Excuse me? I like the sound of the Tequila Sunrise, but I’m underage…” Kiyotaka shouted to the barman.

“So, virgin?” The man replied, reaching for a glass…

“Err… well, _yes,_ I _am…_ although I think that’s a rather _personal_ question to be asking your customers!” Kiyotaka scolded him.

“No, kid… _virgin_ means a drink without alcohol!” He laughed, as did a couple of girls stood next to him who’d overheard.

“Ah! In that case yes, please!” He said, sheepishly, “And I also require a ‘virgin’ Bud Light!” He added, remembering Kuwata’s order… and also his _other_ request as well… he was supposed to be telling girls nice things about Kuwata…

“Err… I don’t think there _is_ a Bud Light without alcohol…” The barman replied apologetically, “We’ve got a different brand, though…”

“I’ll take _that_ one then!” He nodded, “My classmate, Kuwata, is responsible enough that he wouldn’t be drinking underage!” He said, loudly enough for the two girls to hear…

“Alright then…” The bartender shrugged and took a bottle out of a fridge, then looked at some instructions and started mixing various different juices into a single glass to make his own drink…

Perhaps he should take this time to try and help Kuwata again… after all, it _was_ his birthday favour… _finally!_ “Ah… so… do you girls like baseball…?” He tried to strike up a conversation with the girls next to him… “Because Kuwata, my…”

“Not interested.” The girl next to him said sharply.

“In baseball or my classmate?” He clarified.

“Both.” Well… that settled that… But it meant he’d completely failed at doing what Kuwata asked him to… and it seemed he _still_ wasn’t capable of holding conversations with strangers, either…

He paid for the drinks and scanned the room for Kuwata, who was stood near the stage holding a book and pointing out something to the man operating a piece of machinery there.

“Ah! Kuwata! I have your drink!” He held out the beer, “They didn’t have a virgin version of the brand you requested though, so I got _this_ instead!”

“What do you…? Is this _non-alcoholic_ ” Kuwata took the bottle and stared at it, “Dude, I _wanted_ the alcohol, dumbass! No one drinks beer for the _taste!_ ”

“What!? But you’re underage!” Kiyotaka snapped, “It’s bad enough _adults_ choose to regularly _poison_ themselves, but do you have idea how much more damaging it is to a younger body! Imagine what it could do to your sporting abilities!”

“’Regularly poison themselves’?” Kuwata repeated his words mockingly, “It’s just _beer_ man… But… whatever! I signed you up to do Karaoke!” He snatched the bottle from Kiyotaka’s hands.

“Karaoke? Me!?” _Him singing? On stage?_ “Why not sign _yourself_ up!?”

“Well… I thought it’d be fun to pick each other’s songs! Y’know, add a surprise to it!” He shrugged, as if it wasn’t enough of a surprise that he was apparently doing karaoke now! “So look through the book and pick something for me to sing!”

…This had all the hallmarks of a prank… but then why would Kuwata also give him the opportunity to make as much of a fool of him and he could of Kiyotaka? Perhaps this really _was_ just a bit of fun… In which case, he should pick something that would make Kuwata sound impressive, right?

Hmm… but he didn’t recognise any of these songs… the only ones he knew were Sayaka’s, but it was unlikely that he’d sound good singing _those…_

 _AH!_ The school anthem! _Everyone_ sounded good singing _that!_ And it would solidify Kuwata’s _impressive_ position as a Hope’s Peak student!

He pointed out his selection to the man, who nodded approvingly and then announced to the hall that Karaoke was about to begin…

Kiyotaka took his place at the stage, noticing that Kuwata had brought his phone out to take a picture… or a video maybe? He seemed to be grinning as well… Kiyotaka suddenly wished he hadn’t agreed to Kuwata’s suggestion… it wouldn’t be beyond him to pick a song he’d sound awful at… pretty much any of the songs on that list would have done, given he didn’t _know_ any of them…

Too late to do anything about it now though… the video was coming on… it seemed to be starting with a women in labour? What kind of song _was_ this?

Whatever it was, it seemed to be popular with several men who had been sitting near the back of the room, as a large group of them came towards the stage to get a better look at him, making him wish he could go run and hide in the bathrooms instead.

But there was no way he was going to give Kuwata the satisfaction of seeing him give up! He’d stand here and try and sing whatever it was that the baseball player had chosen for him, even if it _killed_ him!

Once the woman on the screen had finished giving birth, the actual song appeared to start. Although ‘song’ might be a bit of a stretch… the music seemed to consist of wailing children and guitars, punctuated with screams and what sounded like nails on a chalk board…

What _was_ this noise!? And why did it seem familiar…?

Ah! Of course! It was the song he’d tried to dance with Tsumiki to! Well… at least Kuwata had picked something he knew the rhythm and tone to, even if he wasn’t quite sure what the words were… or if he could pull off Mioda’s growls and shrieks…

Still, he should always try his best! And here were the first set of words… she’d started with a low growl, hadn’t she?

“ _The mess of life drips down my legs_

_As I lie down here in the hospital bed_

_I’ve been here an hour, and thought I’d be gone_

_But I’m still alive now the work is done_

_I’m handed a baby, told it looks like me_

_But that’s a darn pain, because you seeee”_

The next part was shouted, wasn’t it? Best take a deep breath…

* * *

Why was he _growling_ the song? Was he seriously that pissed off that Leon had picked this one… this joke had seemed funnier when Hiro first mentioned it… or maybe he was just losing his buzz because _someone_ had decided to buy a freaking _‘virgin’ beer!_

Well… he looked like he was taking a breath… maybe he’d be less pissed off during the chorus…

“I SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FAAAAATHER IIIIISSSSSS!”

Jesus holy _fuck!_ Did Ishimaru get _possessed_ or something!? Is that what these songs _did!?_ Is _that_ why there were people stupid enough to think this _crap_ was better than Saya _…_

“I SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FAAAAATHER IIIIISSSSSS!”

Whatever this was, it was fucking _terrifying!_ He’d gone from his ‘pissed off at being made to sing this crap’ growl to outright _screaming_ down the mike in _seconds_ …

“DON’T YOU DARE EFFING JUDGE ME OR I’LL RIP OFF YOUR HEAD!”

Oh crap… that sounded like he _meant_ it… everyone was gonna think he was a psychopath…

“AND THEN I’LL FEED IT TO THE BABY AND YOU’LL BE GOSH-DARN _DEAD_!”

“Why’s he screwing with the lyrics?” _Huh..._ apparently the dudes around him didn’t care that he was screaming crazy insults at the top of his voice?

“AND THEY’LL BE NO ONE TO SQUEAL, CAUSE LIKE I JUST EFFING SAID...”

“Yeah, fuckin’ man up and _swear_ or don’t sing Mioda man…” Lots of peeps were bitching about the Moral Compass refusing to _cuss_...

“I MAY HAVE SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FATHER IS!”

Wait… _That’s_ the problem people had with this… _nightmare_ of a song? His refusing to _swear_ while screaming that he was gonna rip people’s heads off!? The fuck was _wrong_ with these people?

“ _I’m staring at the baby, but I still can’t see_

_Anything that hints as to who the father could be”_

Ok… he’s back to the pissed off growl… what the hell dude, pick a creepy singing style and stick with it… or, even better, pick one that _wasn’t_ creepy!

_“Guess the kid’ll be fatherless, that’s just fate_

_And now the nurse is filling in the birth certificate”_

How could he sing this stupid crap with a straight face? Heck, why hadn’t he just stormed off stage as soon as the song title came up?

_She says ‘do you know the Dad?’ and the answer is ‘No’_

_Cause which dude knocked me up, I just don’t knoooooow…”_

It’s like he was actually _trying_ to do a good job of copying Mioda… despite not being an Ultimate singer _or_ the right gender _or_ quite as fucking insane as _she_ was! Did he not care how dumb and crazy he looked?

“I SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FAAAAATHER IIIIISSSSSS!”

 _Especially_ when he switched back into _that_ voice!

 “I SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FAAAAATHER IIIIISSSSSS!”

Geez… maybe he really _was_ possessed! After all, he’d not sounded anything like himself since the song start…

“DON’T YOU DARE… Err… I mean...! Keepyouruselessjudgement’causedon’tyousee!”

Okay... _that_ had sounded like the dumbass! Didn’t he know fixing a mistake on stage looked worse than just going with it?

“THE BABY WON’T CARE WHO IT’S FATHER MAY BE! ITS LIFE WILL BE AWESOME, CAUSE IT’S GOT _ME!_ SO IT DOESN’T GOSHDARN MATTER THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FATHER IS!”

Aaaand back into the crazy possessed mode... was he even going to keep this up for the next part, where Mioda just shrieked a bunch of names like a mad banshee?

“ _Err..._ ” Apparently not... he was staring at the words on the screen in confusion. “It... it doesn’t matter if it’s Harry, or Carl or Stan...” Okay... so he’d given up and switched to awkwardly talking his way through? That was cool!

“Don’t want it to be Stuart, or Mark or Dan...” Wait no, not _cool..._ Just... better than that other shit, as least!

“The hell’s he _doing?_ He was nailing it before!” Apparently the dudes at the front of the stage didn’t agree...

“It could have been Kennith or Callum...?” Ishimaru was looking worried now...

“It’s like he’s not heard this part of the song before...”

“But maybe if I’m lucky it was... _Oz-talon_?” Yeah, those dudes were right, he’d never heard _this_ part... he wouldn’t have fucked up that rhyme if he _had..._

“And I guess I’ll never know... Ah! AND I’VE GOT STRETCH MARKS TO SHOW! THAT I SQUEEZED OUT THE BABY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE FAAAAATHER IIIIISSSSSS!”

He suddenly figured out the ‘tune’ again right in time for the end of the song, then went from screaming like a loon straight into his usual rigid bow and marched down the steps from the stage...

The dudes who’d rushed forward were giving him polite applause, while all the _sane_ people were just staring at him like he was crazy…

* * *

Kuwata was staring at him as if he was crazy as he came down from the stage.

“Was my performance that bad?” Kiyotaka barely managed to croak out at him… he really _hadn’t_ been capable of pulling off Mioda’s shrieks!

“Uhh… well…” Kuwata was surprisingly quiet for once.

“Aside from you changing the words, it was pretty decent… I mean, for someone who isn’t _Ibuki Mioda!_ ” One of the men who’d come to the front told him, which the rest agreed with.

Well, at least he hadn’t made a _complete_ fool of himself…

“What happened with that last bit though?” One of them asked.

“I… haven’t heard that part of the song….” Kiyotaka struggled to explain through his aching throat.

“I’m surprised you’ve heard _any_ of it!” Kuwata admitted, “Since when are you a _Mioda_ fan?”

“Well… I took nurse Tsumiki to one of her concerts…” He started to explain, “But I ended up tripping and causing a disturbance in the last part of the song…”

“Oh… yeah, _that…_ ” Kuwata commented.

“Wait… so you did that just from hearing it _once…_ That’s pretty good!” One of the other Mioda fans slapped his back, “Hey, how’s about you come sit with us and we can show you some of her videos!?”

“Err… well…” He was _supposed_ to be helping Kuwata, wasn’t he?

“Yeah… you go enjoy yourself!” Kuwata slapped his arm in a friendly way.

Well… if it was alright with Kuwata…

* * *

Well, that had got him away from the crazy-looking people… now maybe he could get a chance to impress some cute girls… if he could actually _find_ any cute girls, that is…!

“Kuwata! You’re up next!” The karaoke DJ announced. Well, maybe he’d have a better view from up on stage…

He sauntered up on stage and looked around… damn, the lighting in here sucked! He could barely see a few feet away from the stage, and there weren’t any hotties _there!_ Oh, well, guess he’d have to sing whatever random song Ishimaru had picked for him…

He checked out the video on the karaoke screen… why was it just a photograph of the _school!? Urg!_ Surely, not even _Ishimaru_ would make someone do Karaoke of…

“ _Hope’s Peak’s Anthem”_

Oh, goddammit… at least _this_ just made him look like a nerd, rather than a total _lunatic…_ but _still…_ he _hated_ this pompous classical crap!

“All rise for Hope’s Peak’s School Anthem!” He joked just before the music started…

 _Huh…_ Some people actually _had_ stood up and were coming towards him… and most of them were girls as well, and they were all looking up at him with smiles and a few were joining in… And as he stepped back down from the stage most of them came to talk to him…

Guess Ishimaru was a better wingman than he realised… now if only some of these girls were actually _cute!_ Seriously! What was it, ugly night…!?

* * *

“So!? Whatdya think!?” Several excitable men asked him as the discordant noise finally finished and he heard Kuwata finishing the last few bars of the school anthem, to applause from several respectable looking reserve students… Darn, he’d been hoping to hear Kuwata sing that!

“Err… well, it was certainly… _unique!_ ” Was the best thing he could think to say about it.

“What was your favourite bit?” Someone else asked…

He managed to stop himself from saying ‘ _The bit when it was finally over’…_ mostly because these men all looked like the sort who would throw punches if their idol was insulted…

“Err… the-the beginning?” He answered, hoping that wouldn’t be deemed an incorrect answer…

“Well, if you like _that_ part, you’ll probably like _this_ track!” The man now sat on his right adjusted his phone and gestured for him to put the headphones back in…

 _Urg!_ This was just more _noise!_ And the volume was up _far_ too loud! How could anyone stand to _listen_ to this hideous mess!

Was he going to have to listen to this and pretend it was even _reasonable_ music for the rest of the _night!?_ It appeared so… Kuwata was stood surrounded by apparently awe-struck girls and hadn’t noticed his dilemma at all!

Why did Kuwata have to have decided to bring _him_ here!? Why couldn’t he have just come _alone,_ like _Mondo_ apparently had! It wasn’t as if he’d had any trouble impressing the girls here, so why had he gone through that ridiculous façade of asking Kiyotaka to play ‘wingman’!

Was it to rub it in his face how much _better_ Kuwata was at talking to people!? Or maybe it just to torture him!? That’s what it _felt_ like, with all the music in the floor pounding in his head and his throat turning hoarse from constantly having to _shout_ everything and all the shouting from everyone _else_ was blending into the background music and turning into that annoying fuzz from last week…

 _Ah! That_ was happening again… what had Gekkogahara said to do… find somewhere quiet to take a break… and he’d been carrying the earplugs with him… perhaps he could sit quietly in the toilets or something…

“Which way are the toilets?” He quickly asked the man next to him as he took off the headphones…

“ _Hah!_ Having _that_ reaction, eh?” He laughed in a painfully loud voice… Apparently these men were familiar with sensory overload as well… “It’s in that corner…”

He sped walked to the room as quickly as possible…

* * *

_Urg…_ None of these chicks were even close to _Sayaka…_ And they were all boring as hell as well! _Sure,_ they were all laughing at his jokes and stuff, but none of them had anything interesting to say at _all…_

…This had been a mistake, hadn’t it? There was no _way_ he was _ever_ going to find someone who’d live up to Sayaka, was he? He’d been dating the perfect woman and he’d screwed it up! And now he was just pathetically trying to pretend he _hadn’t_ by going on the rebound… What the _hell_ had he been _thinking…?_

“Where’s that crazy guy running off to?” One of the boring girls was asking… Wait, _crazy guy!?_ Did they mean Ishimaru?

Leon looked up, just in time to see the guy race into the toilets… The heck was _his_ problem? Still… it gave Leon an excuse to get away from these bores… “I’mma go check it out…”

He headed into the bathroom, to find Ishimaru panicking and fumbling with a little plastic box with some white stuff in it… _No way!_ Had he rushed in here to do _drugs!?_ Was he taking _speed_ or something!? That might explain why he managed to do so much shit all the time…

“Ah... no!” Ishimaru had somehow opened the box so badly that the contents flew out everywhere… at which point Leon just caught half of them out of instinct… huh… they just seemed like little stubs of waxy stuff… Which Ishimaru was scrabbling around on the floor to pick up and… stick in his _ears!?_

Oh, right… Chi had said he’d started wearing _earplugs… duh!_

But yeah… he _really_ wasn’t coping well with noise, was he? Even with them in he was still covering his ears with his hands and had his eyes closed tight and was breathing heavily… was he actually ok? Should Leon _do_ something? Maybe he should just… leave him to it for now and see if he got better or worse? Yeah… that’d probably be fine… right?

… Well, his breathing was slowing down… that was _probably_ good?

“…Hmm…” His eyes flicked open and he blinked a few times, before they widened in shock!

“AH! KUWATA! HOW LONG…?” He shouted even louder than _usual_ before remembering he’d stuffed wax into his ears and taking it out… “I mean… how long have you been there!?”

“Ehh… since you sent these flying…” Leon held out the handful of wax he’d managed to catch.

“Ah… my apologies…” He stammered as he took them back. “They kept making me listen to these awful songs by Mioda… and with the noise in this building as well I got a bit… overwhelmed.”

“Wait, so you _don’t_ like Mioda’s stuff!?”

“Of course not! It’s _terrible!_ There’s no sensible rhythm or beat, the lyrics are disturbing at _best…_ ” He started going off on a rant…

“Yeah, I know she sucks… But if you hate it that much, why’d you try to _sing_ … or well, _yell_ it so well then?” If he didn’t like it, he could have just refused to sing, right?”

“Well… because _you_ told me to!” He snapped, “And if don’t like her songs either, then why did you pick it!?”

“Uhh… ‘cause Hiro said you’d be good at it…” He admitted, “And I thought it’d funny to see your reaction… I didn’t think you’d actually _go_ for it!”

“So it _was_ a prank!” Oh, great… now he back to thinking he was that Katsu guy… “I made a complete _fool_ out of myself, didn’t I!?” And _now_ he looked like he was gonna _cry_ again…

“Well… yeah, kinda!” He could hardly lie about that… “But it’s not gonna _matter!_ You’ll probably never see these people again, and even if you do, you can just say you did it on a _dare!_ People will probably think it’s good to see you _unwind_ for once…”

“…You think so?” He looked a _little_ better…

“Yeah… now lets get out of here and go back to school…”

“Ah… already?” He looked surprised, “You seemed to be having a good conversation with all those girls…”

“Ehh… I was just being polite, they were all pretty boring…” _And not Sayaka…_

“…Very well then! Let’s leave!” He couldn’t have looked happier…

* * *

_Finally_ they were away from that _noise!_ He’d been lucky not to get caught by those men again as he was leaving, but at least now he felt like he could breathe again! _And_ it would seem that even if Kuwata _had_ been considering cheating, he’d changed his mind! He should probably monitor the situation, of course, but he probably wouldn’t have to upset Sayaka unless Kuwata _actually_ cheated, which he was unlikely to do if they were just going back to school now!

This evening hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected… although it _was_ a shame he’d had to skip his talk with Mondo to come out… Hopefully his kyoudai hadn’t gone _too_ far out of his way to park up and wait for him…

Still, he’d have something interesting to talk about! He’d done Karaoke for the first time! _And_ he’d be able to ask Mondo about when _he’d_ visited the club! He couldn’t wait until Saturday, when he’d get to talk to…

“ _Gangway!_ ” His pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a familiar shout as the Ultimate Skateboarder recklessly displayed her talent at high speed _right next to him!_

“ _Suketo! No skating in the halls!”_ He yelled on instinct… although not as loudly as he’d hoped… his throat was still sore from the yelling…

However, for once, she actually came to a stop and turned to face him… “We’re not _in_ a hall! _”_ She shouted back, laughing. “What are _you two_ doing out here, anyway!?” She asked, although the question seemed directed at Kuwata rather than himself…

“I thought a night on the town might get him to unwind a bit!” Kuwata lied as he pointed a thumb in his direction, “What about you?”

“Going to the skate park… they’ve got rental stuff if you’re interested in getting shown up!” She stuck her tongue out at them.

“You!? Show _me_ up!?” Kuwata scoffed.

“Well… she _is_ an _Ultimate…”_ Kiyotaka reminded him… it was foolish of him to think he’d best her unless he had sufficient practise…

* * *

_An Ultimate… Huh…_ Maybe _that_ was why none of those other girls lived up to _Sayaka… They_ weren’t Ultimates! But Suketo _was… and_ she’d made a pass at him!

“Ehh… I reckon I might still show her a thing or two…” He used Ishimaru’s comment as an excuse to pull a flirty smirk.

“Heh! Well, it’s down the road and to the left if you boys want a challenge!” She smirked back and kicked-off on her board down the road…

“Alright, let’s go!” Leon headed off after her.

“Wha…? We’re going skating now?” Geez, keep up Ishimaru…

“Well, _yeah!_ She just challenged us, man!” _That_ oughta get him on board…

“Well, _yes_ … I’ve never skated though…” He was still dragging his feet …

“So!? Neither have I! But you don’t get good at shit without trying, right?”

“Hmm… I suppose… and what better inspiration than a challenge from an _Ultimate_ , right!?” Ishimaru laughed as he _finally_ got into the spirit of things…

By the time they got to the park, Suketo was already showing off to a group of skater-bros, who’d all stopped to watch appreciatively… Well, he’d blow _those_ idiots out of the water… And then Sayaka’d be _super_ jealous when she got back!

“I assume we get our equipment from that kiosk?” Ishimaru was pointing at a wooden shack.

“Look like.” Leon nodded and headed over…

He paid to rent some roller-blades, and also some skates and all the safety gear they _had_ for Ishimaru…

“You should really consider a helmet! Do you have any idea how many fatalities could be prevented with a…”

“I’ll be _fine! See!_ ” Leon was already getting the hang of this… gliding around on these things was pretty fun, and he could see Ishimaru was getting jealous as he was having to spend _forever_ adjusting and strapping on all the different pads he’d got…

“Right! That should do!” He announced, just as Leon was experimenting with small jumps… “Now I just need to st…AAAHHH!”

Oh, geez… he’d tried to jump up and gone flying forward instead…

“ _Ahahahaha!”_ He could hear Suketo laughing while doing tricks as he rolled over to check Ishimaru was alright…

Well, he was back on his hands and knees, and now he was clambering over to the wall to use it as a brace while he pulled himself up onto his feet… “Right… let’s try that again…” He muttered, taking his hands off the wall and moving one foot to _march_ forward…

“Wha… AAAHHH!!” He yelled again as both his feet slid forward and landed right on his ass…

“ _Snerk!”_ Leon couldn’t help but snicker at the stupid look of shock on his face… and apparently Suketo thought it was funny to, as she was laughing just as loud as before…

“How is this _funny!?_ ” Ishimaru pouted, “I _could_ have been _hurt!”_

“ _Are_ you?” Leon was _pretty sure_ he wasn’t…

“No, but…” _Knew it!_

“Well, then it’s funny! Seriously, you looked hilarious! You’re like a _genius_ at slapstick!”

“I’m _not_ a _genius!_ ” Woah… why’d _that_ piss him off so much? “And what’s slapstick?”

Was he serious? “It’s like… people getting hurt in funny ways…” Leon explained.

“Ridiculous! People getting hurt is _never_ funny!” _Urg…_ He needed to lighten _up!_

“Well not if it’s _serious!_ ” He wasn’t an asshole, after all, “But if the person’s alright after, _then_ it’s funny!” He didn’t look convinced… “Look, I bet if I took a video of that, and showed it to Mondo, he’d think it was hilarious!”

“He… _does_ seem to like that sort of stunt humour in movies…” _Whoop!_ He’d won the argument! “…But that doesn’t apply to real life!”

“Why not? So long as no one’s crippled or whatever, what’s it matter?”

“Tch… By _that_ logic, my falling on Nurse Tsumiki would be deemed humourous!” He snapped, which was a weird example, ‘cause…

“That _was_ funny!” Seriously, that video Chi had found was a _riot…_

“ _WHAT!?”_ Okay… obviously _Ishimaru_ didn’t agree! “ _How can you SAY that!?”_

“Well, okay, you getting accused of assault _sucked!”_ As much as Leon couldn’t stand him, the way the _whole school_ had turned on him was kinda bullshit… “But it’s all sorted now, right!? So we can all have a laugh at the vid…”

“It’s _not_ sorted at _all!_ ” _It wasn’t?_ “Nurse Tsumiki is still afraid of me…”

“Wha… seriously!?” Hadn’t she _seen_ the video…? “What do you do when you need to go to the med center?”

“I haven’t, yet… but I believe the headmaster has hired a separate nurse to be on call for if it happens…” They’d have to hire another member of staff?

“Okay… so maybe _that’s_ not funny then…” Maybe he ought to delete the video from his phone? “But, if you’d just fallen ‘cause of your stupid shoes and, I dunno, broken your arm and had recovered by now… it’d be kinda funny that you’d worn such stupid shoes, right? And we’d be able to talk about that time you did something stupid and got hurt!” Ishimaru was just looking at him like he was crazy… “Well, _most_ people would find it funny!”

“…I see.” He sighed as he pulled himself back up… “Now… how are you _doing_ that!?” He was staring at Leon’s feet, which were still gliding around the floor, ding the occasional hop or spin as he got used to the rollerblades...

“I dunno… just sliding around!” He shrugged… He was probably getting good enough to go impress Suketo now…

“Sliding huh…?” Ishimaru let go of the wall and inched one foot forward… and then did an impromptu split…

“ _Ahahaha!”_ Suketo and Leon both laughed at the same time… “Maybe you should just hold onto the wall…” Leon suggested, noticing that Suketo was making her way up the stairs to a big half-pipe…  “Anyway, if you want me, I’ll be up _there!”_ He pointed and skated his way up behind her…

By the time he got up there, she was already going up and down the half-pipe on her board, pulling some impressive looking flips and twirls as she did so… heh, she didn’t look too bad doing it either… not as good as Sayaka when she was dancing… but maybe good enough to get Sayaka _jealous_ …

“Nice tricks, Suketo!” He flashed her a nice grin as she finished up and headed over to a cooler she must have brought up here…

“Thanks! You want a beer?” _Hell’s yeah!_ A girl he could have a _drink_ with!

“ _Yes!_ I made the mistake of getting Ishimaru to order my drink in the club!” He’d have been more annoyed with her laughing at him if she _hadn’t_ thrown him a beer while she did it… “Anyway, mind if I practise a few tricks of my own?”

“Go for it…” She pointed her can at the half-pipe before taking a gulp.

Alright… time to impress the Ultimate at their own game! He dropped himself over the edge, bending his knees to pick up speed lie he’d seen on Youtube videos and turning his body mid-air to change direction… _heh!_ Not bad for a first attempt!

“ _Ahahaha!”_ Tch! Obviously Suketo didn’t agree… time to up his game! This time he did a couple of those sideways tuck-flips he’s seen… _There!_ Nailed it!

“ _Hehehehe!”_ The hell!? What had he done wrong… okay, time to pull out a big one… the backwards flip he’d seen that got tons of cheers when the dude on the video did it…

 _“Bahaha!_ ” Oh, what the hell! This time he’d just do a simple grind so he could turn around and face her and see if she had the nerve to laugh at him _then!_

 _“Hehe!” …_ She wasn’t even _looking_ at him! She was facing back down the bottom of the stairs! Dammit! He’d pulled off all those cool tricks as well!

“What’s so funny?” He asked, once he’d got back up to the platform and rolled over to her.

“ _Him!”_ She giggles and pointed down at the stairs, where Ishimaru was clinging onto the railing for dear life as he slowly dragged himself up them… “He’s even worse than _Inuta_ was when he first came here…”

 _Oh great!_ The klutz was reminding her of her _boyfriend!_ Some wingman _he_ was! Still, maybe he could use it to big himself up… “D’you ever wish you were with someone who wasn’t such a dork?”

“Sometimes…” _Yes!_ “But look at how determined he is to follow you up here, even though he sucks at it… I guess it’s a nice trait in a boyfriend, right?”

The _hell!?_ Why was she asking _that!? W_ as she thinking of hitting on _Ishimaru!? Worst. Wingman. EVER!_ And what the hell did she see in _him!_ He was a dorky, pushy, _nuisance_ … well, except when you asked him to do stuff for you, then he’d run all over the school without complaint like he did for Sayaka and…

Crap, he probably _would_ be a good boyfriend, wouldn’t he? He needed to get her off of _that_ line of thought! “I dunno… trying asking _Tsumiki_ about that…”

“Huh…? Why would you…?” Why was she looking at Leon like he was an asshole? Shit... did _she_ not think it was funny either? Crap, now he’d made himself look like an asshole! “Oooh! I get it! I’ll keep it in mind then…” She smirked…

Oookay? What the heck? Had it just taken her that long to remember Valentine’s Day? Maybe she wiped out a bit too much? Either way, there was no point trying to impress her unless he could be sure she was paying attention… Maybe once Ishimaru got his butt _up_ here he could _finally_ act as an actual _wingman!_

* * *

_Curse Kuwata!_ Why had he insisted on coming skating! And why had he also insisted on going to the single, most difficult place to _get_ to!

It… it wasn’t _fair!_ How did he manage to do this so much more easily than Kiyotaka, if it was true they’d both had the same level of experience? Why was it that everything the baseball star/guitarist/apparent rollerblade rider tried his hand at was so _easy_ for him!? He’d even managed to get the school work done faster than Kiyotaka had!

No wonder he had so many friends… whereas Kiyotaka had to spend hours practising to be good at everything, Kuwata just managed to pick it up and get it done straight away, so _he_ could go out and practise being _likeable!_

Still… he wasn’t going to give up! These wheels on his feet and the stairs were like a metaphor for his existence… He might not be the best at climbing upwards, and Kuwata might have a head-start, and he was being laughed at the entire time, but he’d catch up regardless! He’d make it up there through _effort and determination!_ Just like everything else! Even if he _did_ fall over multiple times!

“Hah! _Made it!”_ He finally pulled himself up the railing to the top of the stairs…! And then suddenly found himself on the floor as one of his legs had trembled and caused him to slide over again…

 _“Ahaha!”_ The skateboarder was laughing at him again…

“Hey… you alright there?” Kuwata asked, as he effortlessly wheeled over and dropped to his knees to talk quietly… “I got a plan… You’re gonna hold my beer while I do this awesome trick…” 

“Alright…” Kiyotaka took the drink and smelt a familiar scent… _“_ Is this beer _alcoholic!?_ How did you even _get_ this? And how are you skating while _inebriated!?”_

“Dude, just _shut up,_ it’ll be fine!” Kuwata snapped, quietly. “I’m gonna do a trick, and when I do _you_ shout ‘great trick Kuwata!’ so Suketo looks at me, alright?”

A trick? Like a _magic_ trick? “Err… Well, that sounds doable…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But is there not a safer place for you to perform this trick?” Kuwata was getting perilously close to what appeared to a vertical sudden drop, leading to a rounded pit… had construction of this area not been completed yet!?

“Just get ready to shout, okay!?” Kuwata sighed as he deftly slid over to the drop and well… _dropped!_

“Ah! Kuwata!” Kiyotaka almost launched himself over the edge himself in his panic… before realising that Kuwata was somehow riding down… and now _up…_ and now back _down_ again… the sides of the pit.

How was he _doing_ that!? He seemed to be rotating his body around its X axis at the apex of each ascent in order to do a controlled change of direction and increase his momentum, which he did the next two turns… However, on the third time instead of turning his body sideways, he tucked his knees up to his chest and spun himself sideways about the Z axis once… twice… three ti…

Well, it _would_ have been three times, had he not caught his arm and, subsequently, his _face_ on the corner of the pit… Yeesh! That looked painful! Was that the trick? Making him look as if he’d been injured? Like a stunt? He seemed to have stopped moving and come to a rest at the bottom of the pit, so that _must_ be the case…

* * *

_Shit!_ That fucking _hurt!_

And he probably looked like a total chump to! _URG!_

“GREAT TRICK KUWATA!” Oh _fuck you, Ishimaru!_ “…KUWATA…!? Was that not intentional?”

Of course it wasn’t intentional, dumbass! _Fuck!_ His left arm felt weird and his _everything_ hurt and everything looked blurry and it sounded like Ishimaru was barking something but he couldn’t hear what over the quiet roaring in his ears…

 _Crap!_ He was about to faint… ok, calm down… it’s gonna be cool… just chill out here on the concrete and breathe until he stopped panicking…

“AAAHHHH!” Was the hell was the hall monitor screaming about…? “Kuwata! Kuwata can you hear me!? How are you!?” Oh… he must have jumped down the half-pipe… “I requisitioned a first aid kit and sent Suketo to get the nominated first aider…”

Well, _that_ was gonna be embarrassing…

“It’s fine… I just need to chill for a minute…” Or ten.

“You look pale… and you’re sweating… are you in shock!?” Geez, how oblivious could this guy _get!?_ “Aah… ok, so we need to get you on your back with your legs 8 to 12 inches off the ground…err… but if your spine is damaged then we _shouldn’t_ move you…”

He was gonna have to do this himself, if it got done at all, wasn’t he? Well, it was probably better than lying with his face smooshed against the floor… he just about managed to push himself up and over with his right arm… the left was’t moving, aside from the fingers . Crap, it was probably broken. _That_ would be fun to explain to everyone!

“Thank you!” Ishimaru started holding his legs upwards… was that supposed to help?

Well, it was more comfortable, and easier to breathe… and his hearing was starting to go back to normal. Which meant he could now hear Ishimaru panicking.

“… I forgot to check for danger, although there _aren't_ any… and then ‘R’ is for Response... Kuwata! Can you respond!?”

“Dude, chill the fuck out.” Seriously, he was more upset about this than _him!_

“…Is that a yes?”

“ _Urrrrggghhh…”_

“Well, forgive me for taking your problems seriously!” Huh… he _could_ be snarky! “ _Someone_ has to, and as _you_ don’t…!”

“Hey! I take problems seriously… just not the stupid shit _you_ think are problems!”

“Oh, yes… the ‘stupid stuff’ like you almost getting _thrown out of the school_!” Ishimaru’s snark continued.

“Ok, _yeah,_ I’ll give you that one…” credit where it’s due and all… “…but it’s _not_ a problem if I drink the occasional beer, stay out past curfew by a few minutes or jog down an empty hallway! If you didn’t bitch about _every tiny thing_ like it was the most important thing in the world, I might have listened to you about the stuff that’s _actually_ important!”

Shit, he’d yelled so hard he’d made himself dizzy again… and now he was probably going to get a lecture in response…

“…I know. I… I realised that two weeks ago… sorry.” Well… that wasn’t the response he’d expected! “But you’re hardly blameless! You can’t go through your life insisting that everything will be ‘fine’ whilst doing absolutely nothing to ensure that is the case!”

“All right, fine… how’s about you tell me which bits of homework are worth doing and I’ll do them!?” Maybe he’d actually listened to Leon…

“It’s _all_ worth doing!” _Hah!_ So much for that…

* * *

So much for almost getting thrown out of school scaring Kuwata straight! If _that_ was the attitude he was going to take, he’d probably just get thrown out _next_ year instead!

He didn’t even bother to respond… just rolled his eyes in that irritable way of his and sulked until Suketo arrived with the first-aider, who told them Kuwata’s arm was broken and they’d have to attend the hospital.

The car ride there was just as quiet as the wait for the first-wider had been, and before long they’d arrived at the hospital, where Kuwata’s insurance was processed and they were taken off to a _private room_ to await the doctor… Kuwata’s life was all just convenience, wasn’t it!?

“So… just the two of us alone in a room…” Kuwata sighed as he laid down on the bed, apparently ignoring the nice television, and music players the room was equipped with. “Is this the bit where you brainwash me?”

“Excuse me!? What do you mean _brainwash!?_ ” Kiyotaka would never do anything like that!

“Oh, c’mon! You had to get Mondo to like you _somehow!_ ” Kuwata scoffed, “What happened in that sauna room?”

He wanted to know about their bonding experience? “Well… we talked… and actually listened to each other for once…”

“That was _it?_ You went from at each other’s throats to BFFs just from _talking!_?” Kuwata sighed in disappointment. “What did you talk _about?”_

“Ah… Well, Mondo told me about the responsibility of running a gang, his dog and his hopes to become a carpenter!

Are you serious? _That’s_ all it took to make you _like_ him so much? Hell, I knew most of _that_ shit by the end of the first week…” Kuwata laughed. “What did you tell _him?_ Some juicy secret or something?”

“No… I don’t _have_ any secrets! I just told him about my grandfather and, err… well, not having any friends before then…” Why had he said that? Kuwata was probably going to mock his poor social skills now…

“…Well?” Kuwata just looked at him expectantly, “Are you gonna tell me as well or what!?”

“Tell you what?” Was he going to make him go into detail about never having a conversation?

“About your grandfather!” Kuwata exclaimed, as if it was obvious.

“Ah… I didn’t really go into detail, Mondo just wasn’t aware of the story at _all_ …” Kiyotaka explained.

“ _What_ story!?” Kuwata pleaded… had he really not made the connection _either?_

“You… you really don’t know? No one’s mentioned it?”

“Dude, it’s not like I give a crap about you! I’ve made it a point not to avoid talking about you as much as possible.”

“Well, I suppose that’s fair…” Kiyotaka had probably done the same, hadn’t he…? He didn’t even know who Kuwata’s closest family members were… “My grandfather was Toranosuke Ishimaru…”

“Wait, you’re related to _that_ Ishimaru!?” Kuwata gasped, “Didn’t he go, like, _super_ bankrupt?”

“Yes… his debts are still affecting my family.” Kiyotaka confirmed with less embarrassing phrasing.

“So that’s why you’re such a cheaps… uhh… why you never have money for anything?” Kuwata back-pedalled away from calling him ‘cheap’.

“Yes… I try to send most of my relief fund home to help repay our debts!” Kiyotaka explained, “It’s slow… but being able to pay off extra is helping to avoid building up interest on them… if I keep working hard I should be able to avoid passing any on to _my_ children!”

“Huh… I had no idea.” Kuwata commented, thoughtfully.

“Ah… I also don’t have any idea what _your_ family is like, either.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Well… It’s not _that_ interesting… I got a Dad, and my cousin’s my manager…” Kuwata shrugged, “She’s got this huge crush on me though, which makes it awkward! She always used to stalk me on dates… which must have been _hell_ for her.” He frowned. “It got to the point where I set her a challenge just to give her something _else_ to focus on for a while…”

“What sort of challenge?”

“Well… I told her if she could throw a 160 kph pitch, I’d consider dating her, but if not she couldn’t talk to me!” He announced…

But… _wait…_ Wasn’t the record for _female_ pitchers…

“And yes, _now_ I know the record for chicks is _140_ kilometres!” He sighed.

“So in other words you did a lazy job of setting a challenge and probably upset her _more!_ ” Kiyotaka summarised.

“Yeah…” He looked genuinely remorseful “To be honest, I just thought if she took her mind off of _me_ for a while, she might move on… but no luck. Even knowing about the record, she still practised every day…”

“She sounds very determined…” Kiyotaka could respect that, even if her choice in men was atrocious! “Does she know about Sayaka?”

“…What _about_ Sayaka?” Kuwata asked, stiffly… _Ah!_ He’d just blabbed their secret out loud!

“I, err…” What could he say!? Were there cameras in here…? He couldn’t _see_ any, but that didn’t mean anything with technology getting so small these days!”

“ _Urg…_ I can’t believe Mondo _told_ you even after he _promised_ not to _…”_ Kuwata complained.

“It wasn’t Mondo! He’d _never_ break a promise!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Sayaka told me on Saturday when I went to watch you practise.”

“Oh… wow… she really musta been pissed with me…” Kuwata realised. Honestly, what did he _expect,_ skipping two months of practise!? Honestly, with _that_ attitude Sayaka really _would_ be better off with the imposter!

He didn’t get a chance to say as much though, as a doctor and nurse came through to check on Kuwata, asking the usual standard questions…

“Do you have any allergies?” The doctor asked.

“Uhh…” Kuwata didn’t look sure, “I don’t _think_ so…”

“I thought you were allergic to Tetracycline?” He was _sure_ he’d seen that on the list of medications to mention in the case he’d ever have to take a classmate to hospital as a first aider…

“…He is, it’s on the file.” The nurse confirmed.

“Oh… yeah, that antibiotic…” Kuwata remembered, honestly, how could he be so blasé about his own health?

“Alright… and if you could confirm your school’s address…”

“I go to Hope’s Peak!” Kuwata grinned.

“… I need an actual address…” The doctor said apologetically, gesturing to the form in her hands apologetically.

“Uhh…” Did Kuwata not even know _that?_ How did he get mail sent to him?

Honestly, he ended up needing Kiyotaka to answer most of the question about _himself…_ maybe he was concussed? He couldn’t be _that_ useless, surely? Not unless he constantly surrounded himself with people who knew more about him than _he_ did!

“And your next of kin?” The doctor checked one more thing…

Kuwata was just staring blankly at Kiyotaka… “How do you expect me to know _that?”_

“Huh? Sorry, I zoned out…” Kuwata blinked. “What was the…?”

“Not at _that_ stage of the relationship yet?” The nurse chuckled.

 _“What!?”_ Both Kiyotaka and Kuwata turned to look at him, horrified. Was he under the impression that _he_ was dating _KUWATA!?_

“Uhh… the intake notes say Kuwata’s here with his _boyfriend_ …” The nurse muttered.

“Why the _fuck_ did you put _that_ down!?” Kuwata yelled at Kiyotaka.

“That wasn’t _me!_ The first aider at the park did _that!_ ” Kiyotaka explained, which, of course led to the question of why _he’d_ thought they were dating…

“Did we… _do_ anything that made us appear to be a couple, do you think?” Kiyotaka asked once the doctor and nurse had left to arrange an X-ray.

“Hell no!” Kuwata laughed.

“So… why did he _think_ we were?” Kiyotaka asked.

Kuwata considered it for a moment… “ _Suketo…”_ He slapped his forehead again… “She got wasted and made a pass at me yesterday, so I said _no_ cause she had a boyfriend… she have mis-remembered and thought I said _I_ have a boyfriend…” He realised, “And then she sees us out on the town together, and you’re in your fancy ‘date suit’…”

“Urg… so she’s probably going to tell _Hinai_ and it’ll end up in the school paper…” Kiyotaka realised with a groan…

“Erm… I don’t think she _will…_ ” Kuwata considered it, “And besides, what would it matter if we _were_ gay?”

“It might not bother _you…_ but I’m intending to go into politics!” Kiyotaka explained, although Kuwata still didn’t seem to understand, “No one’s going to vote for a gay Prime Minister!”

“Why not? I would… y’know, if he was competent and shit!” Kuwata shrugged, “Who cares _who_ you’re fucking, so long as you _stop_ long enough to get shit done?”

“I’m pretty sure a sizeable proportion of the population _would_ care!” Although, admittedly, he didn’t know the exact statistics on it… “But, regardless! I’m _not_ homosexual and would prefer not to have false… information going around about me!”

“Well… like I said, I’m pretty sure Suketo’s not gonna blab… and I’ll talk to her once we _finally_ get out of here and make sure, okay?”

“Thank you…” Kiyotaka replied… that made him feel a little better about it all…

Shortly after, the nurse came back through with a wheelchair to transport Kuwata to his X-ray. _Finally_ , he was alone for a while… He could let his guard down and relax a little… He hadn’t realised how tense he’d got this evening, between the shouting in the club, the awkward skating and having to give all of Kuwata’s information to the doctor, he was _quite_ ready for this evening to be over and done with…

* * *

Once the godawful X-ray was over, they wheeled him back into the room for _more_ waiting around… Only for him to spot Ishimaru slumped in the chair, holy crap the guy actually _was_ capable of slouching!

At least until he noticed they’d come back into the room and sat back up straight… dude could use a chill pill...

Still, at least he was actually paying attention to the huge amount of info they were giving him about how to look after his arm, at least Leon hoped Ishimaru was, because _he_ wasn’t!

Finally, after what felt like an _hour_ of lecturing, the doctor left and Ishimaru slumped in his chair again…

“Pfft. Dude I didn’t drag you around _that_ far, why the hell are _you_ worn out.” Leon smirked.

“The walking is fine… but actually _talking_ to people I don’t know… I think I’ve worn out my social muscles…”

 _Social muscles!?_ Was this dude for real? “The hell? Talking’s easy! Ya just… talk to people!” Seriously, it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

“Hah! Maybe for a _genius_ like _you_! _Everything’s_ easy for you, isn’t it? Well for me it’s like everything else! Just effort upon effort upon effort and there _still_ being someone better than me regardless of _how_ hard I try!”

What the fuck was he going on about? “Hey, I don’t find _everything_ easy!”

“Oh, please! You become a baseball prodigy without even practising, then you get bored of that and instantaneously learn how to play the guitar! I can barely play the _castanets_!” That would be funny if Ishimaru didn’t look so _pissed off_ … “And _now_ you’re apparently bored with that and are going to become the world’s champion rollerskater!”

“Dude, _my arm is BROKEN!”_

“Only because you were drunk… And I couldn’t even _walk_ in those things!”

“That’s ‘cause you're supposed to _skate_ not _walk,_ dumbass!” Ishimaru was seriously pissing him off now, with this whiny bitching... “Maybe it’s not that I’m good at shit, you just really _suck_ at everything!”

“Then explain how you effortlessly courted the most sought after girl in the country!?” Ishimaru snapped back. “I suppose I should be glad you haven't taken an interest in school work, because you’d probably beat me in _that_ as well!”

“Tch, dude, me getting Sayaka was just luck... And I’ve fucked it up anyway...”

“What? What do you mean?” Seriously, Ishimaru was shocked at that? He hadn’t figured out why he’d wanted a fucking _wingman!?_

“I mean I fucked it up! She’s _done_ with me!” Ishimaru was just staring at him stupidly, “She’s pissed off ‘cos I didn’t practise like she told me to...”

" _Hah!_ " Wow, so much for some fucking sympathy... "And _that's_ the problem with you _geniuses_! You just happily coast along at the top until something unexpected happens and you just _crash_ because you have no idea how to better yourselves! Hmph! _That's_ the attitude I need to surpass! I'll keep making effort upon effort and gradually work my way up in every subject until I'm the best student in Hope's Peak!" Holy shit he was crazy... his eyes were filled with manic determination at the idea, which was weird because...

"Aren't you already?"

“Already _what?”_

“Hope’s Peak’s best student?” Which was kinda amazing given how damn _slow_ he was!

He scowled, "Ngh! No... I failed to get top score in even a single class... Not even politics..."

"But you got top score overall... Didn't you check the score board?" Or have to listen to Toges _bitching_ about it, for that matter?

"I... no I... I had a detailed breakdown but it didn't list that... I... I was really the _top student!?_ How does that work when I’m second in most of my classes…?"

“Uhh… cos most of the people getting first in your classes are shit at everything else BUT that class?”

“So… So I’m really the _top student in Hope’s Peak!?”_ The annoyed scowled was replaced by a stupid looking grin, "…My father's going to be _so proud_ of me!"

"Well good for-fucking-you!" Fucking smug asshole! Rubbing his fucking effort and organisation in everyone's faces cause people were actually gonna be _pleased_ with the work _he'd_ done instead of just pissed off cause they messed up a few chord changes…

And why the hell were Leon’s eyes watering? He didn’t _care_ that Sayaka was done with him… He’d just find someone else! And Ok, _fine_ , none of the other girls he’d seen were anything compared to her but at least _they_ probably wouldn’t bitch at him to practise the goddamn guitar _all the fucking time_ … Or at least do _some_ practise…for an hour… which probably wouldn’t have been that bad compared to getting wasted with those dumbasses from class 76… _fuck_ …

"...You're really upset about Sayaka, aren't you?" No fucking shit, Sherlock!

"Well _duh!_ I was dating a _goddamn idol_ and she's amazing and she put up with so much of my shit and I didn't realise how awesome she is until now and I've fucked it all up and..." Why the _fuck_ was he spilling his guts to fucking _Ishimaru!_?

"Well it's never too late to correct mistakes!” Well, that’s easier said than _done_ , dumbass! “It should be obvious what you need to do! Show her you _will_ put the effort in! Do whatever practise she asked you to a hundred times over!"

Geez, Ishimaru was a loon... "Dude... My. Arm. Is. _Broken._ "

"Then figure out a way around it! You can still move your fingers, can’t you?”

Urrrgghh! What was he supposed to do? Tie his arm to his guitar? That sounded like _such_ a pain in the ass...

"Unless, of course, you don't think she's worth the _effort_." Ishimaru shrugged. "If that’s the case, I assure you that there's another man who _does_."

Wait, what? The fuck did _that_ mean? Was he talking about _himself_? ... _Him..._ and _Sayaka!?_

THE HELL WITH _THAT!_

* * *

(Friday, 30th March 2012)

“Good evening, Father! I hope you’ve had a good week!”

“Yes, thank you! How about you, have you been studying?”

“Yes, I have! But… I also found out something about my exam results I hadn’t realised before…”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Well…” He paused for dramatic effect, “In terms of total points scored… I came top of the entire school!”

“What? But you said you didn’t get top in any classes…?”

“Well, yes! But that’s because the people who beat me in my classes are each only good at that one subject… well, aside from Togami…” He explained, “But because I’ve worked hard at _everything_ my _total_ score was much higher than most of those _geniuses_ …”

“And what about Togami?”

“Well, he works hard at schoolwork to… but I take better care of my health so my physical scores are better than his, which allowed me to just beat him overall.” He grinned, recalling Leon’s words about how irritated the heir had been about it.

“Well… that’s nice. Just try not to be _too smug_ about it… We do still have some Togami credit cards to pay off…”

“I… I don’t think Togami would be petty enough to…”

“And you _do_ still need to work hard! You might have done well on average, but you still want to _surpass_ the geniuses at their _own_ game to prove yourself, don’t you?”

“Ah… yes of course!” He stammered.

“Good lad! Well… Not much has happened here this week so I’ve not got anything to talk about, How about I tell my colleagues your good news and I’ll let you get back to you studying?”

“Oh? Ok…” He’d been expecting to take a longer break than this though… “Goodbye, Father. I hope you have a good week!”

“Goodbye, Kiyotaka! I hope your week is productive!” His father replied, before the line went dead.

Huh… He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting… Obviously his father was proud, or he wouldn’t be about to tell people at work about it but… why did it now feel like it wasn’t as big a deal as he’d thought it was?

And what was he going to do with the rest of the time he’d allocated for his break…?

He was dialling Mondo’s number before he really thought about it…

“Who the fuck is _this?_ ” Mondo’s voice growled over the sound of rowdy cheer in the background… was Mondo at a bar?

“Kyoudai! That is _not_ an appropriate way to answer your phone!”

“Taka!? Shit! I’m sorry! I thought you’d be ringing your old man tonight… and I’m sorry about Wednesday as well!” Mondo yelled into the phone quickly.

 “Father didn’t have much to discuss this week, so we ended the call early!” He explained, “But… What happened on Wednesday that you need to apologise for?”

“Uhh… aren’t ya pissed at me for… well… kinda sayin’ ya couldn’t be strong ‘cause you’re smart?”

“Oh! I didn’t think you meant _that!_ I was just using myself as an example as to why you shouldn’t sell your brother short!” He explained, “I mean, he seems to have done lots of intelligent things! Recruiting people, for instance! That must be difficult, right? I’d never be able to do it! It would have been nice to be able to ask for his advice on the matter!” He carried on.

“Uhh… yeah, guess that woulda been better for ya…” Mondo sounded sad.

“Although, with _him_ still around, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to be _my_ Kyoudai, and I wouldn’t have dared talk to him anyway, so I’m far better off _this_ way!” He suddenly realised.

“… _What!_?” Mondo voice shot through the phone, lathered in disbelief…

 _Oh gods!_ He’d just said it was a _good_ thing Mondo’s brother was _dead_ hadn’t he!?

“AH! NO! I-I didn’t mean that!” Kiyotaka desperately tried to backpedal. “I… I just meant…”

He’d _meant_ he was glad Mondo had wanted _him_ as a brother… but how to say that without sounding gleeful that his _previous_ brother had died before they’d met?

“Ya meant you’d rather be friends with _me_ , than _Daiya?_ ” Mondo asked.

“Well… yes I would…” Kiyotaka admitted, although that hadn’t exactly been what he’d meant to say.

“Ya really _mean_ that?” Mondo repeated his question.

“Absolutely!” Kiyotaka answered, “I can’t think of a single person I’d rather be friends with than yourself!” He added.

“Heh… thanks, Kyoudai.” Mondo mumbled, “…but then why the _hell_ did’ya cut me off on Wednesday and then not ring me yesterday!” He added, angrily.

“Ah… that was Kuwata’s fault.” Kiyotaka told him, “He started distracting me while were talking on Wednesday because he wanted to tell us that he’d passed the year already…”

“Wait… _already!?_ You said he’d need the _whole holiday!_ ” Mondo cried.

“Apparently he’s able to complete his work faster than I… when he can be bothered.” Kiyotaka sighed, “And as for yesterday, He broke his arm and had to be accompanied to hospital…”

“Pahaha!… stupid dumbass! So you ended up wasting your study time on _that_ then?”

“Well… it gave me a chance to practise socialising with people… and I also found out I happened to get top score overall in the exams, which was nice…It was on the noticeboard apparently.”

“Wait, you got _top student_!?” Mondo exclaimed. “Fuck, yeah! That’s _awesome_!”

“Ah… Well it’s nice, but I still need to…”

“Kyoudai! _C’mon!_ Give yourself some credit! You’re the top fucking student at _Hope’s-fucking-Peak!_ ” Mondo said, jubilantly. “Buy yourself a drink to celebrate! I’ll give you the money for it when I get back!”

“You _already_ got me a drink to celebrate, remember!?” Kiyotaka raised his voice as it sounded like there was someone near Mondo talking loudly…

“Well it’s worth celebrating aga… Hang on a sec…” There was a sudden yelp… “(Yeah, my kyoudai’s a _fuckin’ nerd_! You gotta _problem_ with that!?)”

“OOWADA! YOU HAD BETTER NOT BE ABOUT TO _PUNCH_ SOMEONE!”

“What if I just throw him across the bar?” Mondo asked, back into the phone.

“NO! PUT HIM DOWN!”

“ _Fiiine_ … (You’re lucky the nerd’s such a nice guy… now _piss off!_ )” There was the sound of a thud followed by running footsteps. “Seriously though… get yourself a drink on me! You’ve earned it!”

“I’m busy studying! If you insist on buying me a drink you can get it yourself!”

“Alright… but ya sharing it with me then!” Mondo ordered.

“Very well... It’ll be more enjoyable that way, anyway.” He admitted… _Everything_ seemed more enjoyable with Mondo around…

“Yeah… Woulda been cool having you around here as well…” Mondo sighed.

Kiyotaka felt his face burning… It could have been fun, holding onto Mondo as they all rode down the streets, helping people who were being mugged and…

“Even if you _had_ tried to tell us we all had ta wear helmets…”

Wait, what? “…You mean to tell me you go riding _without a helmet!?_ ” He cried, “Do you have any idea the proportion of motorcycle fatalities and brain damage that could be prevented by _wearing a helmet!?_ How could you do something so dangerous!?”

“Sorry, dude! It’s our _thing_!” Mondo her the temerity to _laugh_. “Like how you’re gonna go back to studying now, even though you’ve still got more ta talk about!”

“What do you mean, I’ve still got…” He checked his watch, 8:16 already? “Ngh… Fine… But we’ll be discussing this during my next break!”

“Looking forward to it… Don’t work yourself to death!”

“You’re _far_ more likely to get killed than myself, Kyoudai!” He snapped, “And you had better not! I… I don’t know what I’d do _without_ you!”

…Where had _that_ come from? He’d meant to _scold_ Mondo… not admit how weak he felt without his friend around…

“…Alright, _fine_ …” Mondo muttered.

“What was that?”

“I said, _fine!_ If it bothers you _that_ much I’ll ride with a fuckin’ helmet!” Mondo groused. “( _Yes_ you heard that right! Shut the _fuck_ up!)”

“Thank you Kyoudai! Now I won’t be wasting time worrying about whether you’re safe! Hahaha!” Kiyotaka laughed. “Have a good day tomorrow!”

“Yeah you too… (Yeah, well _I’ve_ got someone who actually _gives a shit_ if I…)” Mondo hung up the phone in the middle of… explaining his choice to his gang, from the sound of it.

Kiyotaka was glad Mondo had listened to him though… He really would have spent half his time worrying about Mondo dying… and he really didn’t have the time to spare. _He_ wasn’t a genius…

* * *

(Saturday, 7th April 2012)

Ok… Sayaka should be back around now. He double checked his guitar, his strumming hand was definitely stuck in the right place… and he’d practised over and over… _please_ let this be good enough…

He opened the door… Only to hear Sayaka was already talking to fuckin’ _Ishimaru!_ Was he already making his move? Was he telling her he’d gone out to pick up chicks? Goddammit, why hadn’t he made sure he was out in the corridor _first_!

“What do you mean, Leon broke his arm! _How_?” That was Sayaka shouting…

“Well… He was upset by your breakup… so he ended up getting _incredibly_ drunk and doing something stupid…”

“ _Break up!_?” Why did Sayaka sound confused? “I didn’t break up with him… I just told him I couldn’t _work_ with him…” The heck? Sayaka just meant… done _professionally?_ She woulda still dated him?

“Oh? That’s not the impression he got… Although I _did_ think it was unlike you!” The fuck? Ishimaru why didn’t you _say_ that in the _hospital,_ you _douchebag_! “Still, I think the threat of losing you might have spurred him to spend his free time doing something _productive_ for once! Hahaha!”

“ _Leon_ , being productive?” Sayaka giggled, “With a broken arm? What’s he been doing?”

Wait… this was the chance to make a badass entrance!

“THIS!” He pushed the door open and began playing… He was expecting to screw it up again, what with the pressure of knowing Sayaka would be judging him again… but instead it was easy- his fingers just moved the way they were supposed to… because for once he’d _actually practised_ …

He looked up at their reactions… Ishimaru was glaring with a mix of surprise and that same jealous resentment he’d shown back in the hospital… but who cared, because Sayaka was smiling and looking like she was about to cry with joy as he strummed out the last few chords…

“You… you learnt to play guitar… with a _broken arm_ … because you thought I was breaking up with you…?”

“Heh… We… _Mmpth_!” He could suddenly taste vanilla and strawberry lip gloss, ‘cause Sayaka had run up to him and drawn him in for a kiss, and a _damn good_ kiss at that… Her hands were in his hair and she’d let him put his around her waist and…

“Err… Excuse me! PDA is against… I have to…” Oh _fuck off_ Ishimaru!

Sayaka jumped out of his arm at the interruption. “Ahh! Taka, _please_ don’t write me up for PDA! _Please!_ ” She was _begging_. “If it gets out I have a boyfriend my pop career’s _over_!”

“Err…” Wow, he was actually hesitating… Maybe _this_ time the voucher would work?

“Hey, Ishimaru… How’s about…?”

“I… I _told_ you I am not letting you out of detention with that!”

“Well then… just give us detention for _something else_ then!” He suggested, hopefully even Ishimaru wasn’t enough of a hardass to say no to that… especially as Enoshima had just come out of her room and would be _sure_ to let the tabloids know Sayaka had been given a slip for PDA…

“No... My apologies, but regardless of the circumstances I’m required to write down _exactly_ what students have done wrong…” Oh goddammit Ishimaru! “I don’t _care_ if your arm is broken, it’s no excuse for making that _racket_ in the halls! And Sayaka, you shouldn’t be encouraging him! Two counts of noise pollution!”

He handed over the two slips, then turned on the spot and marched off like he was in the fuckin army or something…

“ _Wow!_ He wrote _you_ guys up for _noise pollution_ … Bet the media’s gonna find that hilarious! Upupupu!” Enoshima laughed.

“If they don’t all act like he’s some pantomime villain instead…” Sayaka pouted worriedly.

“Serves him right for being such a _hardass_ … am I right, Leon?”

“Hah… yeah right…” Kinda felt shitty agreeing, given the guy had just broken one of his own precious rules for them though…

“Aaannnyway… I’ve gotta go make some calls all of a sudden… Upupupu!” Enoshima laughed as she headed into her room to snitch on them to the press.

“ _Fuck…_ that was close!”

“Hmm… Not really… Taka wouldn’t have ruined me… he respects how hard I work too much to do that!” Sayaka smiled her perfect smile.

“Tch… But he only changed his mind cos of the voucher…”

“But he didn’t _take_ the voucher…” Sayaka pointed out. 

“…Well I’ll go give it to him _now…_ ” Leon muttered. After all, the guy had probably earnt it back with all the shit he’d done the last two weeks…

“Hey, Ishmaru…” He… _speed-walked_ over to where the hardass had gone, with the voucher in hand…

His shoulders seemed to slump a little, “How can I help you…?” He sighed, eying the paper as if expecting it to cause another argument.

“Dude, you already _did!_ ” Leon tried to shove it at him.

“When!?”

“Seriously…? You’ve been helping me out this whole holiday!”

“…How so?”

“That letter to the steering committee for starters!”

“I did _that_ as part of my duties as class rep.” He lied.

“ _Bullshit!_ None of the _other_ class reps would have done that…”

“Alright… I admit I mostly did it so as not to disappoint our classmates!” …So basically ‘cause _Mondo_ asked him to… wow, he really needed to thank the biker…

“Well… you also told me which homework to do, doesn’t that count?”

“No… I did _that_ at a special request from the headmaster…” He admitted, “But don’t let that make you think he’ll show you any… _favouritism_ in future! He merely disliked the idea of having to explain to the steering committee that he’s lost a… _talented_ student!” He added, sounding kinda bitter.

…Was Ishimaru _jealous_ ‘cause the headmaster had asked him not to let him flunk out!? Dammit, Leon was gonna have Van Halen stuck in his head all day now…

“Well, what about the whole ‘wingman’ thing?” Leon reminded him, trying to shove the voucher at him again “That’s what we _said_ the voucher would be for…”

“But I failed to _be_ a wingman… you didn’t end up getting any girl’s numbers…”

“Ok, _yeah_ … but you still let me drag you around town all night…”

“Well… that was mutually beneficial! I got to practise socialising!” Taka grinned like he was super proud of just going and _talking_ to people… “ _And_ I now have a ‘humorous’ anecdote to tell!!”

 _The hell?_ Nothing _he’d_ thought was funny happened that night… “What anecdote is that…?”

“Hahaha… Well… Once you’ve _recovered_ from the experience, I’m sure a description of you attempting your ‘trick’ to impress Suketo will be something we can look back at and laugh about how you were wearing foolish footwear!” He said, matter of factly.

Wait… he was gonna tell everyone he’d tried to hit on Suketo? _Even Sayaka…?_

“Dude, No.”

“W-why not? It fulfils the same criteria as your story about myself and the heels you used as an example…”

“No, I mean… Don’t tell people about that!”

“Why not?”

 _Fucking Christ,_ did Ishmaru _still_ not get that he’d been trying to make out with someone _other_ than Sayaka!? “I… I can’t explain it… Just don’t fucking tell anyone about that shit, ok!?”

“So… You’re asking me _not_ to discuss something you did, even though doing so would be _incredibly_ useful to my dire socialisation skills, and you won’t even explain _why_ you won’t let me use it to my benefit? _”_ Urg! Why did everything always have to be so fucking _important_ to this pain in the…

“Now _THAT_ is a _personal_ favour!” Ishmaru grabbed the voucher out of his hands and started to walk off…

“ _Huh…_ I guess you _can_ be kinda cool at times…” Leon had to give him credit where it was due.

He froze and stiffened. “…You mean because I _did_ something for you?” He asked, cynically.

“No… Half the time that’s annoying as hell!” Leon rolled his eyes, “I mean the way you acted just now… You don’t take crap from people… It can be kinda cool.” He shrugged. “When you’re not being an annoying hardass, anyway…”

“Hmm… And it seems _I_ misjudged _you_ as well… You _are_ capable of improving yourself… When you’re not being a delinquent layabout…” He took a deep breath, like he was about to utter some deep, life changing statement… “ _Leon._ ”

 _Urg…_ Everything always so freaking _important_ to this guy… Still, at least now maybe Mondo and Chi would quit bitching at them both about it…

“Sure thing, _Taka…”_ He held out his left hand to shake and Taka took it with a smile.

Just in time for them to be caught by Chi and Mondo…

And once they were done with Celestia’s and Toko’s bullshit he went back to his room to find Sayaka had snuck in there for a little _non-public_ -DA…

He had to admit, Hope’s Peak _was_ pretty cool…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry for the hideously long length! Next up will be Toko! (And slightly nsfw... think the level of stuff in her fantasies in Despair Girls)  
> Also, the next chapter might take longer than a month to show up. I'll be visiting family over Christmas, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for writing.


	10. Distractions (Toko Fukawa/Genocider Syo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly: Thanks to TickTackie for drawing fan art from this me! See what Kunohara Noiwra looks like when he’s drawn by someone who can actually draw! http://tick-n-noe.tumblr.com/post/154517056283/the-cursed-swordsman-aka-an-oc-more-like-a  
> Secondly: I’m a bit conflicted about this chapter, because what was originally the main idea for it now seems slightly tacky in retrospect- mostly because this fic has ended up being more sensible character growth and less zany-hijinks than I originally thought. (Although I may be worrying too much because I always do when writing stuff that’s not from my own experience) But it also marks a large turning point for the fic, and the remaining chapters are dependent on it happening so I either had to choose between going with the original idea or putting the story on hiatus while I figured out how change it all, so I went with the former. Again, sorry if it’s unrealistic and tacky, and I hope the other subplots and later chapters make up for it if it is.  
> Other notes:  
> -I’m not sure if I’ve done a good job of characterising Toko and Syo. I was trying to go for something somewhere between how she is in DR1 and despair Girls.  
> -Also another warning that this chapter skirts close to being NSFW. (Nothing explicit, probably about the level of the fantasies Toko has in Despair Girls)  
> -Me: 33,000 words? It's a short chapter! My common sense: That's still a 50% increase on Surprise for Ishimaru... Me: SHORT! CHAPTER!  
> -Thanks to Seychelles for telling me about Bungou Stray Dogs! (The manga being referenced near the beginning of the chapter): I'm not sure if it was actually out by April 2012 but it was too perfect not to use.  
> -The description of how dream catchers work that is given in this chapter has been adjusted from the original folklore.  
> -Apologies to Hina/Sakura fans. I love the ship, but the fact that Sakura’s boyfriend is still alive at the time of Despair Girls torpedoes it for me, (I don’t consider anything said in school mode to be relevant to shipping, because if it was then every single DR1 girl would be shipped with Makoto, hence me ignoring the implication in there that she’s considering breaking up with him once she's defeated him.) And I like to headcannon Hina as aromantic because I am and so much of what she says strikes a chord with me.  
> -Statistics quoted in this chapter are for America in 2013 and from here (and good lord they're depressing!): http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/

(Wednesday, 18th April 2012)

“Soooo… How are you getting along with your classmates?”

 _Urg…_ Why did Toko keep coming to these sessions…? Other than because Master Byakuya kept telling her to, anyway?

Every week, Gekkogahara used this stupid cutesy bunny to ask the exact same questions… ‘Are you getting along with people’, ‘Have you made friends?’, ‘Are you _happy?’_ and every week the answers were always ‘no’, ‘no’ and ‘NO!’

Wasn’t she supposed to be an Ultimate Therapist? Shouldn’t she have started helping after half a year of this? When she’d started this therapy she’d been hoping for a big change, but instead everything was pretty much…

“The same as usual.” Toko said guardedly. “I don’t really talk to anyone but Byakuya.”

“And why is that?” The bunny rabbit asked again.

“I’m not that bothered about talking to them, and when I do go ‘hang out’ like they ask they end up wanting nothing to do with me…” She answered, same as last week.

“Hmm… Did you think about what I said, about whether you’re making people uncomfortable with some of your comments?”

Tch! _That_ was new… she’d said to do that last week, hadn’t she? And yes, Toko _had_ been saying things she knew would upset people when she got irritated with them talking to her and acting like they were actually her friends… which was all the time with some of them…

It didn’t mean she wanted to admit it to this stupid fraud of a therapist though! What sort of Ultimate Therapist would have selective mutism!?

"Well… Have _you_ managed to say anything else out loud since last month!?" Toko smirked, that’d stop _this_ line of questioning!

"No... but that's besides the point! You're trying to avoid the topic by making me uncomfortable again!" So much for that, now she was getting scolded by a bunny... "Why do you keep pushing everyone away?"

"Because they don't really _like_ me... they're probably just being polite out of some stupid 'class camaraderie' or something!" Toko complained, "If they weren't in the same class as me, they'd all just ignore me!"

"Well... that might be true, people tend to associate with those around them..." The Gekkogahara had the rabbit admit, "But, if you have to spend time with them anyway, why not get to know them?"

"Because then _they'll_ get to know _me_ and...ah..."

She'd almost said 'find out about Syo'… but she couldn't use that as an excuse anymore, could she? She'd told them all last month.

To be fair, she'd been pretty sure that telling them all would get them to back off, permanently, and then she could be left in peace without them constantly getting her hopes up that anyone would actually want to be friends with her. But they hadn't... most of them had just had just sat quietly processing the information, or asked questions about it. The only sensible reaction had been from Oowada, and even _he’d_ been talked down by Ishimaru!

So then she'd figured that they must all think it was a joke, so she'd let Syo out at them to prove it. That should have sent them packing, right?

Except… it hadn’t. Apparently they’d all stayed long enough for Master Byakuya to introduce them to Syo, even though the first thing she’d done was to say she wanted to kill Ishimaru because of his watch or something… and half of them _still_ kept trying to talk to her and treat her like… well, like someone they wanted to be friends with… But, wasn’t that only because they still didn’t know _Toko?_ What would happen if they _did_ get to know her?

 “…And _what?_ ” The bunny was asking the same thing.

“…and they’ll probably hate me.” She admitted, “Everyone does.”

“That’s not true! No one _hates_ you!”

“Only because they don’t _know_ me!”

"But you can't be sure of that unless you actually _let_ them get to know you!” Gekkogahara’s bunny wagged its finger at her. “

"W-well, what if I don't _want_ to get to know any of those idiots!? They're probably all a bunch of l-losers..."

"Well... then I can't help you." The bunny got uncharacteristically serious.

" _W-what!?_ You're _giving up on me!?"_ Urg, typical... just like every other therapist she'd had...

"I'm just a therapist, not a miracle worker!" The bunny said apologetically, "If you're not willing to make changes, then I can't change you... You need to move forward by _yourself_ at times..."

Urg, what cliché crap... "Sure, ok then. I guess I'll see you next week then." And then they'd have this exact same conversation again...

"Only if you've had a conversation... a _proper_ conversation, where you don't end up scaring them off, with every member of your class!"

"W-what!? Are you serious? You'd refuse to _see_ me!?" If Gekkogahara did that Byakuya would be upset with her!

“Yes. We can’t keep having this same hopeless conversation over and over. It’s pointless and I have more important things to do with my time.”

“Urg… alright, but that’s a pretty sloppy ultimatum! What constitutes a ‘proper conversation’ anyway? And what are you going to do, stalk me to make sure I do it?”

“Hmm… you’re right. We need a way to measure if you’ve actually spoken to them or not… I know, when you come next week, I want you to have a list with at least one fact about your class that you learnt this week... Hmm... except for Togami I guess, as you know pretty much everything about him already...”

“What sort of facts? Are we talking body measurements or something?”

“Uhh… I was thinking more along the lines of whether they have siblings, what their parents do for a living, what they do in their free time or want to do when they grow up…” The bunny listed.

“And finding out this cheesy crap is supposed to help, _how!?”_ Toko asked.

"It’s not cheesy! They might seem like small things, but when you add all those little bits of knowledge together, they’ll give you _hope_ that you can get to know people better and form a strong relationship with them!” Gekkogahara had her bunny say in a stupidly cheerful voice. “In fact, I even call them... ' _Hope Fragments'!"_

 _"…_ That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." How could someone who spent all her time listening to people’s worst problems come up with some so patronisingly _cheerful!?_

"But... Chihiro liked it..." The bunny went all mopey. “And besides, I’m not treating you again until you do it!”

“Urg, fine!” Toko snapped, “I’ll do your stupid homework…”

“Great!” The bunny cheered, “So… next topic… How are you and Syo getting along?”

“Urg! She’s trying to drive me crazy!” Toko complained, “She’s started getting gay manga from somewhere and leaving it all over my room to annoy me, even _after_ I gave her her own storage space!”

"Alright... well, if you want I can try to talk to her about that..." Gekkogahara suggested.

"Alright..." Toko sighed, getting out a bottle of pepper. "I'm amazed you're willing to do this without restraints or Byakuya around."

"Well, I need to have _some_ trust in my patients!" The bunny smiled, "Otherwise they won't trust _me_ enough to tell me anything important!"

"She trusts you?" Toko asked sceptically.

"...That's confidential." Gekkogahara evaded the question. "Now, if I could talk to Syo, please."

Toko sighed and sniffed the pepper... "AACHOO!"

"You called for me and so I appear!" Syo shouted instinctively as she 'woke up'… Be nice to know why she did that. Now... where was she? She looked around... oh, it was just boring broad with the computer bunny. "Heya, Bun-bun! I guess it's Wednesday then? You gonna actually speak to me today?"

"We spoke last week, Syo." She had that gizmo say. "Remember?"

"Kyahahaha! That doesn't count! That's just you typing!" Syo argued, "Why _don't_ you talk? Is it because you're secretly a cute guy under that scarf and don't want me to find out..." She reached out to check...

"Togami told you not to touch Gekkogahara!" The broad had the bunny say for her, like they were separate people instead of just one person pretending to be two...

Buuut, she was right. The _Master_ had told her not to touch this broad, and if she was willing not to _kill_ for the guy...

"Alright, whaddaya want?" Syo decided to play along with her. "I'm gonna assume stuffy-head's been bitching about me again."

"Well... yes! Apparently you keep leaving... sexual imagery out in your room? It's making her uncomfortable."

"Yeah, I know... it's funny!" Syo laughed at the thought of her other half having a freakout... although she didn't understand why, the stuff she'd scared that Huffy guy into drawing her was some really hot shit!

"Uummm..." The broad pretended the computer was sighing, "Wouldn't your life be easier if you didn't antagonise her so much... She might let you out more, wouldn't that be fun!?"

"Hey! Don't act like this is all _my_ fault! She does stuff that annoys me as well!"

"Oh? Like what?"

“Well, she keeps leaving out that disgusting manga of _hers!”_ Honestly… how could she _read_ that sickening crap and then complain when Syo was just exploring her sexuality through hot, steamy, forbidden, Yaoi action!?

“Uhh… what manga is that?” Bun-bun asked.

“Urg… I dunno… it’s about writers or some shit… It’s not like I wanted to learn more _about_ it!” She shrugged.

“Errmm… So, what’s so disgusting about it?” The gizmo asked naively.

“Well… there’s this one guy in it who keeps trying to kill himself… and it’s treated like it’s some funny joke!”

“Oh? You don’t like the idea of death being treated as a joke…? Is that because it’s your… _calling?_ ” Man, this broad really didn’t get her at all… “You don’t like seeing it made light of?”

“No… it’s not _that!”_ Syo sighed, “It’s just… a cute guy like _him!?_ He shouldn’t be killing _himself! I_ should be the one doing it! Kyahahaha!”

“Ahh… I see...” Syo had to give the chick credit for at least _acting_ like she understood her… “Well… if you switch back to Toko, then I’ll tell her that you want her to…”

“Nope! I’m going out for some fun while I get the chance!” Syo stood up from the chair, daring the the boring broad to stop her.

“Alrighty! I’ll just send you both an email with a summary of tonight's talk!” The bunny said in it’s stupid cutesy voice instead. “Just remember, Togami told you not to talk to people you haven’t been introduced to!”

“Yeah, yeah… I know…” Syo sighed, as if she’d ever be able to forget anything that _Master Togami_ had told her…

She skipped out of the room, slightly surprised bun-bun hadn’t even _tried_ to get her to stay, and considered her options… Which were: 1: Stab someone, and annoy the master or 2: Find the master, and annoy him (but less than option 1)…

Now where would he be…? Probably either his room, or the library or he’d have guessed she’d be on the prowl for him and have hidden himself away from her like last week when he’d tried squirrelling himself away in the boys changing room…

He was so cute, playing hard to get, even _after_ she’d told him she wouldn’t kill him once she _did_! Kyahahahaha!

* * *

 

“Togami? Why are you reading _there?_ ”

Kiyotaka had just taken a break from helping Mondo with his homework to make some tea for them both, when he’d come across the heir sat on a small (but still luxurious looking) chair, hidden behind the kitchen counter and surrounded by piles of books and files…

“I’m trying to avoid… _her…_ ” He grimaced.

“Her…?”

“Fukawa! Or at least, the crazier half of her…”

“Ah… you mean Syo? She… likes you as well?” He asked as he started getting water ready for the tea…

Fukawa had made her crush on Togami quite obvious… to a rather _worrying_ extent, what with following him around and doing everything he asked of her, even when it was a blatantly unfair request… But once she confessed about her mental condition, he and several other members of the class had thought that it was only because she’d not had anyone else to talk to regarding it.

But then, even _after_ that, she still didn’t really talk to anyone but Togami…

“Even more than the other one!” Togami griped, “Although I suppose I should be glad, seeing as that means she hasn’t killed anyone… But I’d still rather not have her slobbering over me…”

“Then… why not just read in your room with the door locked?”

“Have you ever tried studying in your room with the bell going off incessantly?” Togami asked bitterly.

“Ah… yes, actually…! Kuwata pranked me over the holidays…” He added, in response to the odd look from Togami, “But I didn’t let him get to me! I just put some earplugs in and couldn’t hear it at all! I have some in my room if you’d like?”

“Hmm… I thought of that, but it doesn’t help if I have to take a call…” Togami answered dismissively, “…I can hardly have my business partners thinking my school is too poorly maintained to fix a doorbell or provide me adequate security!”

“I see…” Kiyotaka agreed, as he finished pouring out the tea into cups. “But what if someone comes in _here_ while…”

“SHH!” Togami suddenly cringed in fear and hushed him…

What was he doing? Why had he suddenly gone…

“Heeeeyyy… Makutie! Do you know where _Master’s_ hiding?” _Oh gods the serial killer was running around by HERSELF now!?_

“Uhh… is that me?” Kiyotaka could hear Makoto answer her, “I’ve not seen Togami anywhere, especially not the kitchen, which is where I’ve just been!”

Togami’s head made contact with his book at an alarming speed.

“OoOOOOOHHH!? Well, maybe I better go in there and check he’d not hidden himself somewhere _extra sneaky…” Ahhhh! Now she was coming in HERE!_

Kiyotaka looked down to Togami, hoping he’d have planned some way of distracting her… instead he just took out his wallet, waved a 5000 yen note at Kiyotaka and made a shooing motion in Syo’s direction.

_He wanted HIM to deal with the SERIAL KILLER…!?_

…Well… his father _had_ been particularly keen on getting the credit cards paid off soon, and every little helped… He gave a brief nod and picked up his tray and made to leave, getting to the door just in time to ‘coincidentally’ block Syo…

“Ah! Fukawa! Good Evening!” He tried to greet her as if nothing was wrong and there _wasn’t_ a voice in his head screaming at him to get away from _the serial killer…_

“Hey, Tick-Tock! You haven’t seen Master squirrelled away in there, haaave you?”

“Ah, you mean Togami? I’ve not seen him since classes ended…” He lied, “I’d expect he’d be in his room working around this time of evening…”

“Nope! I’ve already spent five minutes hitting the buzzy-bell on his door!” Syo grinned at him as if she was seeing through his lies…

“Ah… well, that must just mean the earplugs I gave him are working then!” Kiyotaka suddenly smiled as a burst of inspiration hit him. If she thought Togami couldn’t hear her, maybe she’d just give up!

“You… _gave_ him earplugs…” She glared, “As a _present…?_ ”

“Err…” Oh no… now he’d gone and made _the serial killer_ angry with him…

“Kyahahaha! Is Biker Boy not doing it for you anymore?” She laughed, “Are you trying to get involved in a forbidden affair with the master!?”

“What!? NO!” Kiyotaka cried out of sheer humiliation, “I’m not getting into elicit affairs with _anyone!_ Especially not Togami! Or Mondo! Or any _other_ men!”

“You really _aren’t!?_ ” She actually seemed to believe him. “Aww… you’re missing out, you know! Can’t you just imagine it…? You at home, cooking a fancy dinner, when he come’s in, bulging muscles covered with shiny sweat and bike grease and then the pair of you…”

“No, I _can’t_ imagine that at all!” For starters he couldn’t cook well at all and Mondo always made sure to have rags around to wipe any mess up when he was working on his bike…

“You can’t? I could get the Huffy guy to draw it out for you if you want!” She offered putting her arm around his shoulders and winking conspiratorially… which put her tongue so close to his face that she was almost _licking_ him…

“Th-that’s not necessary!” He said, stiffening in disgust and terror…

“Well, either waaaay… Master is _mine!_ ” Her light mocking tone became serious as she was suddenly poking one of her scissors lightly into the skin above his jugular…

“Ah…” _Deep breaths… like Sakura had shown him…_ “Now, now… Togami told you not to kill anyone, didn’t he? Empty threats are pointless...” He said, staying surprisingly calm. “…And I only do things for Togami because he _pays_ me to, not what _you_ were thinking!” He added.

She seemed to be considering what he was saying… and her scissors weren’t poking _quite_ as hard as before… Good, he was managing to talk her do…

“KYOUDAI!” He suddenly heard Mondo shouting as he _ran_ across the dining room. “YOU GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU PSYCHO BITCH!”

Oh good grief… Mondo was  _still_ overacting about this whole serial killer business, even after a month… it was a miracle no one was in the dining room to overhear him!

Still, it got Syo to remove both her scissors _and_ her arm from him as she clasped her hands together in overly dramatic joy. “Awww… how inspiring! The heroic Seme has come to protect his darling Uke from the evil murderer… and now they’ll…”

Kiyotaka had no idea what those words meant, but still felt insulted somehow… “I do _not_ need protecting!” He told _both_ of them...

“Then why the fuck didn’t ya push her off ya!?”

“I would have spilt the tea…” He lifted the tray up slightly to draw Mondo’s attention to it.

“SO!? Who gives a fuck about _tea!_ She was gonna _kill_ ya!” Mondo snapped.

“She was just threatening me… Togami’s told her not to kill anyone, so…”

“Don’t say she was ‘just threatening ya’ like it’s fucking play-fighting!” Mondo snapped, “And besides, I still say Togami’s full of shit!”

“ _Whatwhatwhat!?_ You doubt the purity of my love for Master!?” Syo seemed insulted.

“Well… it is a little surprising, after all your other murders…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But even if it _wasn’t_ true, I _still_ don’t need you to rush to my defence! I have enough training to look after myself!” He added to Mondo.

“Urg… you don’t seriously think a few months of lessons is enough for you to take down a _serial killer,_ do you?”

“Well… it’s more than _you_ have! Remind me again which of us threw the other to the floor a month ago…”

“Are you gonna _keep_ bringing that up? You only managed that cause I wasn’t expecting it!” Mondo complained, “It doesn’t mean you’re _stronger_ than me!”

“Well… perhaps we should settle it once and for all then!” Kiyotaka suggested, “I challenge you!”

“Hah! Alright then! Whaddaya challenge me _to?_ ” Mondo rolled his eyes, as if he was just humoring him...

“Err…” He hadn’t exactly thought that far… he’d just been irritated that Mondo kept thinking he was 'weak' _…_ But he also didn’t want to do any fighting styles that might cause them to actually _hurt_ each other…

“You guys should wrestle…” Syo suggested.

“YES! That! I challenge you to a wrestling match!” The worst they’d get from that were some light bruises!

“…with no shirts on!” Syo continued, eagerly.

“Err… I was thinking we’d do it in our PE kits?” Kiyotaka disagreed, “It won’t matter if _those_ get creased…”

“I don’t think she’s thinking about creases…” Mondo muttered.

“Righto, Biker Boy! I was thinking about the mud!”

“The… _Mud_ …!?” Kiyotaka asked, dreading the answer…

“Well, it’s not sexy wrestling without _mud!_ Kyahahaha!” Syo cackled, “Or were you thinking of using oil? I suppose that would be pretty hot on these guns here!” She grabbed hold of Mondo’s arm and started stroking his bicep…

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU PSYCHO PERV!” Mondo panicked and threw her off him… into the closest dining room table, which she hit her head against before slumping to the floor, still… “Shit…” He muttered, after a moment, “I… I didn’t mean to…”

“I’ll see how she is…” Kiyotaka decided, taking the tray over and putting in down on the table before checking over Fukawa… She didn’t seem to be bleeding at all…

“Nngh…” Fukawa groaned…

“Fukawa? Can you hear me?” Kiyotaka asked her.

“Yes… there’s no need to be so _loud!_ ” She complained. “Where am I?”

“Ah… the dining room… Syo was looking for Togami and had a bit of an… altercation with Mondo…”

“You mean he knocked her out so I’d be back?” Fukawa guessed, “Thanks… I still can’t believe that crazy therapist lets her go wandering off on her own!” She complained.

“…Don’t mention it…” Mondo muttered, with an undercurrent of guilt.

“Urg… I’m going back to my room before anything _else_ stupid happens to me this evening…” Fukawa complained as she pulled herself upright. “See you in class tomorrow…”

“Err… Have a good night, then!” Kiyotaka told her, watching her leave just in case she didn’t seem quite alright… But she managed to walk out of the kitchen without any trouble… she must be a lot hardier than she looked!

“Well, at least _that’s_ done with!” Kiyotaka sighed, checking the tea. “I think we’ll need to warm this up again though…” He took the tray back towards the kitchen, where Mondo still hadn’t moved…

“What? You’re not gonna say anything!?” He snapped defensively.

“About what?”

“I just HIT a GIRL!” Mondo cried, as if it was the worst thing in the world…

“Err… but that was an accident! And she was…”

“It doesn’t matter! She’s still a chick! Even if she _is_ a fucked up one! And men don’t hit chicks!” Mondo thumped the wall near him in annoyance at himself… “Shit… What the fuck would my bro think…”

“Would… would he really think it was that bad? I mean… I _know_ it’s a matter of honour for you, but to take it that far is a little extreme…”

“SO!? I’m the leader of the Crazy Diamonds! I AM extreme!”

“It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect! Especially when you’re trying to follow such a poorly thought-out rule in the first place!”

“Excuse-me? What the hell’s wrong with ‘don’t hit girls’?” Mondo snarled.

“Well, there’s the inherent assumption that every woman is weaker than every man, for starters!” Kiyotaka complained, “You wouldn’t have any qualms about getting into a fight with Sakura, would you!?”

“What? Oogami? Of course I wouldn’t fight Oogami! She’s a _chick!_ ”

“But… she’s the strongest person in the _world_! How is there _any_ dishonour about attempting to challenge _her?_ ”

“’Cause. She’s. A. _Chick!_ ” Mondo spat out, as if he was an idiot… Did he really think that? But then…

“Well… what about my _training_ with Sakura? We spar together… and I hit her then.” Kiyotaka told him, “Does that make _me_ dishonourable, to you?”

“Well… no…” Mondo admitted.

“So, you’d be willing to _train_ against Sakura, but not _fight_ her!” He realised, which was a fair point, as it was the way he felt towards violence in general… “Now, what if she’d _attacked_ you…”

“Wait, no! I wouldn’t wanna _train_ against her either!” Mondo interrupted his next hypothetical scenario.

“But… you just said it was alright that _I…”_

 _“Yeah..._ But that’s different!” Mondo insisted.

“Why…!?” Kiyotaka cried out of confusion… why would be alright for _him_ but not _Mondo…_ unless… “You still think I’m _weak,_ don’t you?” He asked, his irritation leaking out into his voice…

“No, I…” Mondo’s hesitation was all the confirmation he needed.

“Wrestling it _is_ then!” Kiyotaka decided, “We’ll go book the dojo now and then re-heat the tea and continue our studying!”

“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” Mondo sighed.

“YES!”

* * *

 

(Thursday, 19th April 2012)

This was such a waste of time… she could be _writing!_ But _nooo_ … Gekkogahara had insisted she talk to people, so now she was having to hang around in the hall waiting for the rest of her class to come out for breakfast so she could ask them these stupid questions…

Still, she _had_ to do it, or master Byakuya would never speak to her again… he’d told her as much when she’d said she might give up the therapy sessions a few weeks ago.

And, maybe these conversations would be worth it… maybe he’d be impressed with her ability to get information from her class! Then maybe one day he’d invite her into his room…

_“Fukawa! I have to admit… your interrogation skills are impressive…” He’d begrudgingly admit, “However, if you really want to be of use to me, you need to be able to use your feminine wills to extract even more confidential information from my enemies!”_

_“F-feminine wills?” She’d stammer in reply, “I-I don’t h-have…”_

_“You certainly don’t! Not yet at least!” He’d mock her and approach her to run a delicate hand down her cheek… “But once I’m done with you, you’ll…”_

“Ah! Good morning, Fukawa!” She was loudly jolted out of her fantasy by Ishimaru, who was carrying a basket full of cleaning supplies and was coming down the corridor towards her. “How are you feeling this morning? You look slightly dazed… Mondo didn’t hit you _too_ hard last night, did he? He didn’t exactly _intend_ to…” He started blathering nervously.

“I’m fine! You don’t have to worry about me pressing charges or anything…” Toko sighed.

“Ah… I was actually more concerned that you might need to go to the medical…”

“I _said_ I was fine!” She snapped. As if he’d actually care whether she was hurt by his idiotic ‘kyoudai’ or not…

“Ah… that’s good to know then! Mondo was worried about you as well!” He carried on acting all friendly… “But I’m afraid I can’t stay to chat… I’m already slightly late as it is!” He finished apologetically and then marched over and rang the doorbell on… _Byakuya’s room!?_

“W-what are you d-doing!? You can’t just ring his doorbell when he’s asleep!”

“Ah… but I do this _every_ week!” He laughed, just as the door opened…

“Good Morning, Togami!” He gave that stupid salute of his, “I’m here to clean you room!”

“W-what!?” Did that mean he got to go into Byakuya’s room _every week!?_ “W-why does _he_ get to d-do that!?”

“Hmph… Is that Fukawa out there?” Byakuya sneered. “Tell her it’s because you’re reliable and can do a good job.”

“Err…thank you! But, she’s just outside… I think she can hear…”

“I-I could be reliable, as well!” Toko told him.

“Are you trying to be funny?” Byakuya sneered, “You can’t even keep _yourself_ or your _own_ room clean! How do you expect to clean someone _else's?”_

“I… I _could_ keep my room clean!” Toko insisted, “I just… _haven’t_ so far…” She muttered.

“Ah… well, if you need help getting it cleaned up to start with, I _did_ give you that voucher for your birthday, remember?” Ishimaru piped up.

Voucher? Oh, right… he gave her the same cheap birthday present he’d given to everyone else, hadn’t he? The one with the ‘personal favour’ everyone seemed to think was so nice… Of course, if she used _that_ then Byakuya would have even more reason to trust _him,_ instead of _her…_

“I can do it m-myself!” She insisted, “And then you’ll see that I _can_ help!” She told Byakuya…

“Hah! Fools can dream, I suppose!” He laughed, “Very well… if you can actually get that _pigsty_ you call a bedroom clean, then I’ll consider accepting your help!”

“F-fine! I’ll show you!” Toko snapped, heading into her room to start… she’d get her room clean and then Byakuya would have _her_ clean his room… and he’d probably want her to wear a humiliatingly short maid’s outfit and he’d tell her how ugly she looked in it… maybe he’d even make her act like the filthy pig she looked like and…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka glared around the classroom irritably… it was bad enough that no less than _two_ of his classmates were unduly absent, but one of the two was _Mondo!_ Why hadn’t he come to class!? He’d been fine yesterday… admittedly a little upset with himself regarding Fukawa, who was the other missing student, but nothing bad enough to warrant skipping class!

Maybe he was sick? In fact, maybe they _both_ were unwell… it was possible that Fukawa’s head was more injured than she’d realised, after all… Maybe he’d best make them both lunch and take it to their rooms for them… He could give them copies of his notes from the morning lessons while he was at it…

He started with Fukawa, as she was more likely to be in severe trouble… And she’d be less likely to ask him to stick around in the room with her as well.

He pressed the doorbell, and only had to wait a short while before the door was answered…

“Ishimaru? W-what do _you_ want!” She snapped at him… and she appeared to be completely fine to boot!

“Fukawa! You failed to attend your morning classes!” He told her, sternly. “I made notes for you, but you really shouldn’t be wantonly skipping…”

“L-like _hell_ I’m going to b-bother with those stupid _classes_ when Byakuya’s given me _orders_ to follow!” Fukawa scowled.

“You mean you skipped school work just to clean your bedroom!?” Kiyotaka gaped at her… “How bad have you let it get, that you couldn’t just do it in your free time?”

“Th-that’s none of your business!” She stammered, positioning herself to ensured that the room was completely blocked from his view.

“Well… regardless, if you need to skip your classes to fulfil Togami’s demands, doesn’t that just prove you _aren’t_ responsible enough for him?” Kiyotaka tried another argument… she always listened to what Togami said after all…

“W-well… _Aaaarggh!_ You’re right, aren’t you! He’s going to think I’m a complete _idiot!_ ” She cried… “W-well, don’t think you’ve won _yet!_ I’ll show him I’m a better match for him than _you!_ ” She exclaimed, before slamming the door shut on him…

What did she mean ‘a better match’? Had Syo told her about the ‘presents’ business? Perhaps he should explain why he’d told her that… but then that would mean telling Fukawa that Togami had paid him to get rid of Syo, and that might upset her even more… Oh, he had no idea what to do, did he?

Honestly… dealing with Fukawa was complicated enough, even _without_ dealing with the second personality… how could she think it was worth skipping classes to convince Togami to hire her in place of him!? And why was she so desperate to take away his most reliable source of income? Was she that desperate for money herself? She’d never mentioned it, and he’d assumed being a best-selling author would give her a reliable income.

Still, Togami had assured him that he didn’t believe Fukawa could get her room and even if she _did_ , he wouldn’t want her cleaning _his,_ so at least he didn’t have to worry about that.

For now, he just had to worry about why _Mondo_ hadn’t attended classes… This time he had to ring the doorbell several times before his Kyoudai made an appearance, also looking perfectly healthy!

“Shoulda known it’d be you…” He sighed, opening the door far enough for Kiyotaka to enter.

“Well, what did you expect me to do after you failed to attend class?” Kiyotaka stepped into the room and put the food down before rounding on Mondo. “I was worried you’d fallen ill!”

“Seriously? You expected me to show my face in class after _yesterday_?” Mondo growled, reaching for the rice Kiyotaka had prepared.

So it _was_ because of the business with Fukawa… how ridiculous… “Yes! I expected you to show up to class! It was a justified reaction from yourself, and nobody but her and I are even aware that it happened!” Kiyotaka scowled. “And besides, even if it _was_ a dishonourable action, what’s the point of compounding it with _another_ dishonourable action?”

“What…? Are you sayin’ skipping class is _dishonourable?”_ Mondo looked sceptical… “That’s bullshit… No one gives a shit if I skip class…”

“ _I_ do!” Kiyotaka yelled on instinct. “Our schoolwork is important! Far more so than this ridiculous notion of yours that men and women shouldn’t fight each other!”

“’Scuse _me!?”_ Mondo slammed his chopsticks onto the table… “What, you think it’d be just _fine_ for me to beat up on some helpless chick?”

“Of course not! No more so than if you attacked a helpless _man!”_ Kiyotaka snapped, “But it _is_ alright to train with a willing _women!_ My problem is the fact that you act as if men and women are entirely different species and need to be treated as such!”

“That’s ‘cause they _are_ different…” Mondo muttered.

“How so? Other than some minor physical differences that can be overcome with training, they…”

“Well, ya can _date_ chicks!” Mondo snapped, “Pretty big fuckin’ difference, there!”

“Err…” To be quite frank, that thought hadn’t really occurred to him, “I suppose that’s true… “But that doesn’t mean you can’t also train with them, does it? As in, it doesn’t make them any less capable of fighting back… Does it?”

“It still ain’t _right_ though…” Mondo growled, “How can you be alright hurting someone ya _fancy?_ ”

“Well… I don’t usually aim to _hurt_ anyone… training and sparring is usually done with proper safety equipment!” He admitted. “But… still, _accidentally_ hurting Syo as a reaction to her grabbing at you like that… It’s hardly a reason to skip class!”

Mondo glowered at his bowl of rice for a long while… “…You’re sure Fukawa ain’t said anything about it to anyone?”

“Positive!” She probably wouldn’t want to admit that Syo had gotten out of her control… “Although you should probably apologise to her regardless…” It was probably going to eat at him if he didn’t.

“…Alright… I’ll go back to class…” Mondo agreed..

“Hahaha! Wonderful!” Kiyotaka laughed and reached forward to hug him…

“Geez, it’s just school… it ain’t like it _matters_.” Mondo laughed as he ruffled his hair.

“It matters to me!” Kiyotaka tried to be authoritative, but he couldn’t help grinning at the Mondo’s affectionate action.

“Well… guess it matters to me as well, then.” Mondo sighed and patted his back...

Kiyotaka smiled even harder. It was nice that Mondo cared about what he thought! And his arms were warm and the hand on his back was relaxing and…

“Uhh… you're gonna have ta let me eat lunch soon or we’re gonna be late to class…” Mondo pointed out.

“Ah! Of course!” Kiyotaka straightened back up quickly and started to concentrate on his own food in an effort to hide his embarrassment… what was he _thinking,_ hanging around hugging his kyoudai instead of getting on with the task at hand… and why did Mondo have to keep the temperature in his room so _high…?_

* * *

 

(Friday, 20th April)

She couldn’t believe she was doing this… but for _once_ Toko was actually looking for the loudmouth hall monitor, instead of Byakuya… and luckily for _her,_ there he was!

Just a shame he was with the biker as well… She wasn’t in the mood for dealing with him when he’d had that argument with Syo a couple of days ago… but if she _didn’t_ go ahead with this _now_ she’d end up having to talk to him _anyway_ , so…

“H-hey… Ishimaru…?”

“Ah! Good Afternoon, Fukawa!” He said, looking weirdly pleased to see her.

“Yeah, hi… So… about that favour... the voucher…?” She started, pleased to notice that Oowada was down focusing on his lunch instead of _her_ … Despite Ishimaru ‘subtly’ poking him.

“Of course! Do you want your room cleaning after all?”

“N-no! I’ll still show Byakuya I’m more useful than _you!_ ” She snapped, which made Oowada snort. “I meant the _personal_ favour!”

“Ah… very well, what can I help you with?”

“Well… I was wondering if you could give me a list of some… trivia about everyone in our class? By next Wednesday.” Really, she should have thought of this _yesterday_ , when he’d reminded her about the voucher! Although Byakuya might have asked why she was asking if she’d asked him _then…_

“Err… well, yes! I could certainly organise that for you!” He laughed, _loudly_. “But just to be certain, what _exactly_ do you mean by _trivia?”_

“Uhh… stuff you might find out in a conversation… like… what people’s parents do for a living and stu…”

“ _TOKO! You’re trying to CHEAT!”_ Toko flinched at the sound of an annoying cutesy voice scolding her… “I _knew_ I’d need to keep an eye on you!”

“Ohh… hi… Gekkogahara…” Toko said awkwardly… _why_ hadn’t she checked to make she wasn’t around!?

“Good Afternoon, Gekkogahara!” Ishimaru smiled broadly at her, while Oowada just gave her a small nod and wave. “But… what’s this about _cheating!?_ ” He glared at Toko.

“It’s important that Toko has a long enough conversation with everyone in your class to find out something new about them!” Gekkogahara’s rabbit said, looking at her accusingly, “So I told her to do that by next week!”

“Ah… so… if I’d done the favour… it would have been detrimental to her?” Ishimaru asked, looking horrified.

“I’m afraid so…” The rabbit nodded condescendingly.

“Well… in _that_ case, then I couldn’t possibly…!”

“Alright, _fine!_ Guess I’ll have to do it myself then!” Toko snapped and left before they could _both_ start lecturing her!

That was just _great!_ She’d been so close to being able to avoid wasting all her time! Now she was going to have to find time to talk to all the losers in her class as well as try to clean her room this week…? When was she going to do all that…?

Well… she’d be able to talk to Fujisaki after the book club this evening… That was a start, she guessed…

* * *

 

“Ah…” Kiyotaka watched Fukawa stalk away with a sigh. That had seemed like such a _fun_ favour to do for her as well… “I hope I’ve not done anything that’s going to be detrimental to her therapy…” He told Gekkogahara, anxiously.

“Oh, don’t worry about it! If it hadn’t been for that voucher, she’d have probably asked someone else!” The therapist replied, via her computerised rabbit thing. “At least now I can be sure she’ll actually do it for herself!”

“Ah… I’m glad to hear…!” Kiyotaka started.

“…Why the fuck _are_ ya getting her ta do it though?” Mondo asked, irritably.

“Mondo…! Why...?”

“Oh come on! She’s…” He suddenly remembered the lunch hall was full of people who didn’t know Fukawa’s secret, “Well… you know what’s _done!”_ He hissed, quietly, “Wouldn’t it be better if she stayed _away_ from people?”

“Well… I can understand why you’d think that…” Gekkogahara’s computer sighed, “But… what happened isn’t Toko’s fault! So why should she be punished for it? As long as she isn’t going to cause any problems _now,_ which I’m sure she isn’t, then keeping her away from people would just make her life lonely and sad!” The computer appeared to cry… “I mean… if someone accidentally caused a car crash that killed someone, you wouldn’t expect them to stay away from everyone forever, would you?”

“Well… depends…” Mondo started.

“Of course not!” Kiyotaka announced, inadvertently interrupting Mondo. “They couldn’t be blamed for a tragedy that was outside of their control!”

“You’re assuming they didn’t do summat stupid that _caused_ it though!” Mondo snapped.

“But… even if changing their action _would_ have resulted in a different outcome… there’s still no benefit in punishing them! It isn’t as if they would actively choose to do the same thing again, would they?”

“Of course they fuckin’ wouldn’t!”

“So… it’s the same with Fukawa, isn’t it?” Kiyotaka suggested, quietly. “She certainly didn’t _choose_ to have a homicidal maniac as a second personality…

“How’d you _know_ that?” Mondo asked, “She could just be faking that crap…”

“I suppose… but… I don’t think she is.” Kiyotaka sighed, realising it was a pretty pathetic argument.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think she is either!” Gekkogahara chimed in.

“Why the hell _not!”_

“Well… because we’ve _spoken_ to her!” Gekkogahara said cheerily, “Right, Kiyotaka?”

“Ah… yes!” He agreed, “But you haven’t… have you, Mondo?” He added.

“…Who the fuck would _want_ to…? _Both_ versions of her are fucked up!” Mondo growled.

“Well… you do still need to apolo…” Kiyotaka start saying at the same time as Gekkogahara was moving her hands across her keyboard...

“Well… I agree she can be very… prickly at times…” Gekkogahara’s computer interrupted him, “But I’ve told her to _stop_ that this week… so please give her another chance, just this once!?”

“Alright, fine!” Mondo rolled his eyes ruefully.

“Wonderful! You’ll soon see she’d not as bad as she might appear to be at first glance!” Kiyotaka assured him.

“How the hell do you think that about _everyone?_ ” Mondo sighed.

“Well, because of _you!_ ” Kiyotaka laughed at him, after all, shouldn’t it be obvious?

Apparently not, as Mondo just blushed slightly and called him a dork before turning back to his lunch…

* * *

 

“S-so… does anyone _other_ than Fujisaki have any thoughts on No Longer Human…?” Toko asked, looking around the room, “Anyone at all?”

The other students all just looked at each other, probably hoping someone _else_ would step up so they could stay silent until she gave _her_ opinion again...

Why did she keep coming to this book club, every week? None of these idiots ever said anything interesting… Even _after_ she’d convinced them to read some classics instead of all the simple pop-lit they’d been doing beforehand…

Heck, none of them had even had anything to say about Fujisaki turning up to the meeting in a _skirt_ for the first time…

“Uhh… I have a _question,_ if that’s okay…?” One girl sheepishly put up her hand.

Well, it was better than awkward silence! “Well, g-go on then!”

“The guy who wrote this… erm… see, I’m reading this new manga… and there’s a guy whose also called Dazai Osamu in it?” She started, then looked around nervously at the other students, “Never mind, it probably just a…”

“W-wait… Are you talking about Bungou Stray Dogs?” The girl nodded, “Th-that’s _not_ a coincidence! All the characters in that are based on real writers!” Yamada had been so _smug_ when he’d shown it to her… and she had to admit the concept was pretty good, even if the execution wasn’t _perfect…_

“Oh, really? Cool!” She grinned… was that all she had to say about it?

“So… what’s the character version of him like?” Fujisaki tried to get an actual discussion going.

“He’s… he’s pretty cool…” Her grin became a bit more forced as she turned nervous.

“W-well, he _is_ once you get past the crass way they’ve portrayed his mental issues…” Toko added.

“Huh? What do you mean?” The girl asked.

“Uhh… the whole _suicide_ thing…?” Toko reminded her, “The _real_ Osamu didn’t randomly jump into rivers and ask every women he met to commit suicide with him!”

“He _didn’t?_ ” She actually looked disappointed, “I thought it was kinda romantic…”

“ _Huh!?_ That’s not romantic at all!” Fujisaki cried.

“B-besides… the real one actually _tried_ that a few times, and what ended up happening was that _they_ died and _he_ survived…” Toko told her, just to get the point across...

“…Wouldn’t that be better though?” Another student asked, “Like… _you_ die and then you’re the inspiration for his next work?”

“Uhh…” Fujisaki sounded as shocked as she was by _that_ suggestion. “Surely there’s better things to do with your life than be inspiration for someone else?”

“Well… maybe for you Ultimates, but we’re just normal people…” A _third_ student was spouting this crazy nonsense…! And the others were starting to nod along… what the hell was wrong with these guys?

“SO!? D-don’t just use that as an excuse!” Toko snapped, “You might not be anything special _now,_ but you don’t know what you could achieve in the future if you work for it!”

…Where had _that_ come from? She sounded like _Ishimaru_ …

“But most of us _won’t_ though…” Someone else sighed. “And, with overpopulation and stuff…”

“ _NO!”_ Fujisaki snapped, “Don’t you guys have families and friends!? Just think how’d _they’d_ feel if you did something like that!”

“Well… it’s not like we’re actually gonna _do_ it!” Another student added, and the others nodded along with her. “It’s just nice to think we could end _these_ lives and get reincarnated into something better, right?”

“Umm… it probably doesn’t work like that…” Fujisaki muttered, worriedly.

“Well… what did _you_ think of the book, Fukawa-san?” Someone changed the subject, and she ended up explaining her thoughts on it, while Fujisaki just sat silently fidgeting with his skirt…

He was still silent even as they started walking back to the main side of the school, which was just her luck! He usually tried to talk to her on the way home, and now the one time she actually wanted him to he was just walking along in silence!

“W-what’s eating _you?_ ” Toko snapped.

“Umm… it’s just, the reserve students…That was the first time any of them have argued with _either_ of us…” Fujisaki frowned.

“ _Urg…_ You’re right… they finally grow a backbone and it’s to say _that!?_ ” Toko grimaced. “Th-the reserve students are messed up!”

“Well… I don’t think they _all_ are…” Fujisaki sighed, “But… I wonder what happened to them to make them think like that…”

“What… you think another Ultimate said it? Usually the only time they even _contradict_ either of us is because the other has said the _opposite_ …” Toko suggested… but then, who’d be messed up enough to be telling people they should kill themselves?

“Well… I hope not!” He grimaced, “But even if that was the case, they wouldn’t _listen_ to them, right? I mean… unless something had happened to them to cause it? Some traumatic memory?”

“Maybe? Maybe we should the school therapist… whoever that _is_ on this side of the school…” Toko added, she really had _no_ idea how the reserve side worked.

“I’ll ask Gekkogahara!” Fujisaki offered, “Or maybe Taka would know if she doesn’t…” He added.

Well… that was _that_ problem passed on to someone else… and speaking of Gekkogahara… “So… what do your parents do for a living?”

“Uhh… why do you want to know all of a sudden?” Fujisaki asked, anxiously.

“I-it’s not like I really _care…_ ” Toko told him, “It’s just… Gekkogahara thinks finding out will help me talk to people…”

“Oh! So it’s part of your therapy? Uhh… well, alright! It’s just my Dad now, he makes computer security systems for Towa industries at the moment!”

Well… that was easy enough… What was the point of _that_ exactly?

“Was that all you wanted to know?” Fujisaki asked. “Umm… do you mind if I ask _you_ a question?”

Oh, great… now he was going to asked about _her_ parents…

“Is it the same as _mine?_ ”

“Umm, no. I've been wondering... Have people been talking about my clothes?” He asked, "Since the holidays?"

“W-what? Why are you asking _me!?_ Haven’t they said anything to _you!?_ ”

“No… Everyone in school has been really… _polite_ about it…” He frowned.

“Well, _duh!_ Anyone who _isn’t_ would get thrown through a wall and then given detention! Probably delivered via a baseball to the head!” Toko laughed.

“…I _knew_ it!” He scowled, which was weird on _his_ face. “They’re threatening people into being nice to me…”

“Probably? Or people aren’t stupid and can _guess_ that’s what would happen if they were dumb enough to say anything rude about it?” Toko shrugged, “Why are you upset, anyway? You know if weren’t for them you’d be getting picked on, right?”

“I know… But I didn’t want to be relying on them to look after me…” He sighed.

“Well, what did you expect? Were you thinking they’d just leave you to it and let you get beat up, or whatever?”

“Well… no… But I would have at least liked the chance to stand up for _myself_ …” He admitted, “In the end even Yamada and Togami were polite about it…”

 _What!?_ He was lumping the _master_ in with that manga creepo!? “ _Excuse me!?_ W-why _wouldn’t_ Master Byakuya be polite about it!?”

“Well… he’s rude about everything _else…”_

“He is _not!_ ” Toko countered, “He’s polite to _me!_ ”

“Toko… he keeps telling you you stink and to take more baths _all the time…”_

“That’s just him being concerned about my well-being!” Toko told him.

“He ordered you not to _speak_ for _two days!_ ”

“Well… p-people are often cruel to the ones they love the most…” Toko explained, “But true love overcomes such hardships and…”

“That’s not love! He’s just… he’s just being a… an asshat!” Fujisaki snapped.

How could he _say_ that!? How could he _possibly_ insult Byakuya, let alone with such a _stupid_ insult! “W-what would _you_ know? Have _you_ ever been in love?”

“Uhh… well, no… but…” He frowned.

“See? So y-you wouldn’t understand!” Toko smirked at him. “N-not like _I_ do!”

“Umm…I’m pretty sure _most_ people would agree with me, though.” Fujisaki still wasn’t dropping it! “Do you think people would buy your books if the men in them acted like Togami does?”  

“Y-yes! Of _course_ they would! And I’ll prove it! I’ll make Byakuya the inspiration for my next piece!” _That_ should shut Fujisaki up… and she’d been planning on doing it anyway, so…

“Well… good luck then, Toko…” He sighed.

* * *

 

“ _Hah!_ Got you _again!_ ” Mondo jeered as he pinned Kiyotaka to the ground for the third successive time. “Not so smug _now,_ eh?”

“Tch! Don’t think you… have got the… better of me…yet!” Kiyotaka attempted to shift Mondo’s weight to the side… Unfortunately Mondo was expecting it and Kiyotaka was starting to tire… There was no way he was going to get out from _this…_

“What about _now?_ Can I think it _now?_ ” Mondo mocked him gleefully, as his struggling lessened…

How quickly Mondo’s mood had changed… he’d been reluctant and moody about this the first few rounds… but once Kiyotaka had scored a few early points, his competitiveness had taken over and he’d become surprisingly competent!

“…Yes.” Kiyotaka sighed as he tapped out and Mondo got off him. At least Mondo seemed to be in a better mood… it was nice to see his friend so happy for the first time since Wednesday evening! Even if it _was_ at his expense! And Kiyotaka had to admit there was a certain… thrill in wrestling… all the techniques and formalities forgotten as the pair of them rolled around on the floor, using sheer strength and manly passion to overcome the other and prove who was the strongest of them!

“So… we’re on six points each now…” Mondo observed, which was good because Kiyotaka had completely lost count… “How’s about we make the next round the deciding point?”

“…Very well!” Kiyotaka agreed, if only because Mondo’s stamina seemed to be holding out far better than his own… He’d have to try something new this time… use his wits and training against Mondo instead of trying to simply overpower him with grapples…

They faced off against each other from the same set distance as the last twelve rounds, and once Kiyotaka gave the word, they charged at each other, just the same as the last twelve rounds…

Except this time, moments before they collided, Kiyotaka dodged to the side, causing Mondo to stumble too far forwards…

“Hey!” He growled, awkwardly twisting sideways to try face Kiyotaka… which allowed him to take advantage of Mondo’s poor balance by charging at him and grabbing him around the midriff, causing both of them to fall to the floor before Kiyotaka shifted his weight to keep Mondo pinned.

“ _Ahah_!” Kiyotaka cried in exuberance. Now _this_ was thrilling! He could feel his heart rate increasing as Mondo struggled underneath him… He’d _won!_ He’d proven to Mondo that he _was_ strong enough to look after himself and… and…

…And Mondo looked _furious!_ Was it really alright for him to be pinning him down like this? It… all of a sudden, it didn’t feel _right_ …

His brief moment of hesitation was all Mondo needed to roll the pair of them over and pin his arms and legs down with his own…

“Fuck yeah! _”_ Mondo smiled gleefully… that was such a nice smile… and this felt a lot better than making him angry… and Kiyotaka was feeling dizzy enough that being pinned was almost like a hug, in a way… it was… oddly pleasant, looking up at Mondo from this angle…

“What the _fuck_ are you doing?” Mondo suddenly scowled.

“ _Huh?”_ Kiyotaka blinked, he wasn’t doing anything!

“Why’re you letting me _win!?”_ Mondo growled.

“Err… am I?” He hadn’t _meant_ to… but he wasn’t exactly fighting _back_ either…

“Shit… did I hit your head or summat?” Mondo quickly got off him and helped him sit up… “How are you feeling?”

“Ah… dizzy?” Kiyotaka breathlessly tried to explain… although it wasn’t just dizzyness… he felt oddly hot, and far more out of breath than he really should be… and Mondo was looking at him so closely, Kiyotaka could almost feel his breath against his skin, which was just making him feel even more hot and flustered… “…and hot…” He finally added.

“Uhh… I’ll get you a drink then!” Mondo offered, rushing over to the benches where they’d left their drinks and soon coming back a bottle and a small towel, which he spilt some water onto and pressed against Kiyotaka’s head. “That better?” He asked, anxiously.

“Ah… I think so…” He was finding it easier to breathe, at least… and a few swigs of water helped him cool down and slow his heart rate…

“What the heck was that then?” Mondo asked.

“Err… I’m not sure! Too much adrenaline, maybe?” Kiyotaka guessed. “I suppose it cost me the competition!” He sighed.

“What? Nah, that doesn’t count!” Mondo scowled. “You’d have won if it hadn't happened!”

“But it _did_ happen, and therefore…”

“It’s a draw!” Mondo announced, “Until I kick your ass next time, at least!” He smirked.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, if I were you!” Kiyotaka warned him, “I’ve far more tricks up my sleeve than I’ve shown you today!”

“Suuure ya do…” Mondo grinned and ruffled his hair, before helping him back to his feet and back to the changing rooms, where he took his clothes out of the locker and checked the time, which was…

_7:54pm_

_“Ah!”_ He gasped… he’d barely left enough time to get to the phones! “I’ve got to go! I’ll see you tomorrow, Kyoudai!” He quickly announced, before putting his clothes back into the locker again and dashing out of the changing rooms…

Makoto glanced anxiously at him as he speed-walked to his usual phone and rang his father’s number at… curses, 8:01 pm!

“F-father!” He gasped, once his father picked up. “G-good evening! S-sorry I’m late!”

“Are you?” His father asked, sounding surprised. “It’s only a minute! Calm down and catch your breath!” He laughed.

“Ah… Ok…” Kiyotaka agreed, gulping in air.

“Did something happen?” His father asked, just as he was managing to compose himself.

“Ah… no! It was just that Kyoudai and I were having a wrestling match and I lost track of the time…” He admitted.

“A _wrestling_ match? When did you start learning _that?_ ” His father queried.

“Ah… I’m not… it was just we were having an argument about how strong we were and one thing led to another…” He trailed off.

“Why were you arguing about _that?”_ His father asked, bemused.

“Err…” Well… he could hardly explain about Syo…

“Is this something to do with a girl?” His father asked, knowingly.

“Well… _yes_ …” He admitted.

“And did you win?”

“Ah… no.” Kiyotaka muttered, “I…”

“Well, that’s a shame, but it probably won’t matter in the long term!” His father said, more consolingly than was really necessary. “Were you that bothered by this girl?”

“Err… not really?” Kiyotaka stammered, slightly thrown off by his father’s odd question. “I think Kyoudai’s more concerned with her than I…”

“Oh, _I see!_  " His father chuckled, "You’re a good friend!” Well… Kiyotaka certainly _hoped_ that was true, but why was his father suddenly talking about _that?_ “Are there any girls _you're_ hoping to date?”

“Ngh!” Where had _that_ question come from!? “No… not really…”

“ _Really?_ With all those ‘Ultimate’ girls there!?” His father sounded sceptical. “You’re not still hung up over that nurse, are you?”

“Ah… no… I just… haven’t been especially attracted to any of them…” He admitted.

“Well… I understand that… but maybe you should consider asking someone out anyway?” His father suggested, “Getting a girlfriend _now_ will be good practice for when you _really_ want to impress someone later!” He explained.

“Ah… yes, I suppose that’s a good point…” He wouldn’t want another disaster like Valentine’s Day with the love of his life, would he?

“Alright then! Try and see if you can ask someone out by next week then!”

 _That quickly!?_ “Ah… very well then!” Kiyotaka agreed. “So… how was your week…?”

Admittedly, Kiyotaka wasn’t paying much attention to the answer… he was trying to think of all the girls he knew and trying to decide which he’d want to try and date… and coming up with no answers that didn’t just seem… wrong, somehow…

“Ah! I’ve got to go now!” His father suddenly announced, “Good luck with the girls!”

“Ah! Yes, have a good week as well, Father!” Kiyotaka quickly replied, before putting down the phone and staring at it while still trying to figure out who he’d ask out this week…

“Hey, Kiyotaka? Are you alright?” Makoto asked from his side.

“Ah! Mokoto!” Kiyotaka smiled, “I’m alright… But I don’t suppose you have any ideas of who’d make a good girlfriend for me?” Makoto was always good at that sort of thing… or at least better than Kiyotaka...

“Uhh… Why are you suddenly asking that?” Makoto asked awkwardly.

“Ah, well my father thinks it would be good for me to try and get one!”

“Why?” Makoto asked, “I mean, are you feeling lonely?”

“Of course not! Why would you think _that?_ ” Kiyotaka laughed, “I’ve got more friends than I've ever had before!”

“Well… is there a girl you _like_?” Makoto asked, looking more confused, “I mean, _really_ like?”

“Ah… well, no…” He admitted.

“So… do you actually _want_ a girlfriend?” Makoto asked.

“Of course! Who doesn’t?” He made himself laugh.

“Lots of people don’t.” Makoto shrugged, “Be honest. Would you be trying to get one if your dad hadn’t mentioned it?”

“…Probably not…” He admitted. “I just… it doesn’t occur to me…”

“Well… then don’t worry about it!” Makoto shrugged, “You’re probably just not ready for it yet!”

“I guess so… But shouldn’t I start practising, regardless?” He asked, “For the future?”

“You… you can’t really practise being in love though… It’s not like it’s an exam, with scores and marks, it’s different for everyone, every time!” Makoto laughed, “At least, that’s what my Dad always says… You can’t prepare for it, you just have to hope you don’t make yourself look like _too_ much of an idiot when it _does_ happen!”

“Really? I guess that _does_ give me more time for studying…”

Makoto snorted into his hand… “You’d marry _schoolwork_ if you could…” He laughed.

“Well… it’s respectable enough… but I don’t think I’d get many children from it!” He joked back. “A shame for _me_ that _someone’s_ already interested in the headmaster’s daughter…”

“Uhh… Wait, is that a _joke_ or are you actually interested in Kyoko…?” Makoto looked worried.

“It was just a joke.” Kiyotaka assured him, confused. “Because of her connection to the school…” He added, in case Makoto hadn’t got it.

“Ah, alright then! Haha...” Makoto laughed, although it sounded a bit forced…

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah… I just… remembered something I meant to do last week, that’s all!” He admitted, “I’m sure it’ll be fine though!”

“You should have put it in your diary…” Kiyotaka noted.

“I did…! But then Chihiro gave me some new software to try out on my phone instead and I forgot to transfer it to there…” Makoto cringed.

“Well… I’ll let you go sort that out then! I need to go get my uniform and shower.” Kiyotaka sighed, as they reached their rooms. “Good night, Makoto! And I’ll see you tomorrow for roleplaying!”

“Yeah! See you tomorrow!” Makoto nodded and headed over to… Kyoko’s room?

Was he worrying about having missed the two months anniversary of their first date? She probably wouldn’t care… She certainly hadn’t mentioned it!

Still, perhaps that was a good thing… they said opposites attract, so maybe Makoto’s slap-dash sentimentality would match up well with Kyoko’s cold organisation…

Hmm… so who would be the opposite of _him?_ Out of the _girls,_ of course! It wasn’t like he could date _Mondo…_

Hmm… he still couldn’t think of anyone who made him feel… interested. Maybe Makoto was right and he was just a late bloomer… But that seemed like a poor excuse to give to his father when he’d agreed to date _someone…_

* * *

 

Urg, stupid messy room, and stupid messy _her_ for letting it get get in such a state in the first place! Byakuya was right, she shouldn’t have put it off… but she’d wanted to _write…_ and it’s not like Syo ever did any of it! And then it all seemed to much to do because she’d left it so long…

Maybe she _should_ take Ishimaru up on his offer, but who’s to say he wouldn’t just throw all her stuff away or put it all in stupid places and make her lose it like her mother’s always did when _they_ insisted on tidying up her room ‘for her’! And Byakuya wouldn’t be convinced that she could help _him_ if she couldn’t even help _herself,_ right?

Alright, let’s do this… just start in one place and tidy _that_ up, then move on to the next one! If she did that and kept moving forwards, eventually the whole room would be tidy, right?

She started with the desk, organising the bits of work she’d been working on into order and filing them away… there was actually some reasonable stuff in there, if she worked on it a little more…

Wait, no… she was supposed to be tiding up! Toko quickly put them all away and headed further down the pile of stuff on her desk… oh, hey! Here was the pile of birthday presents from everyone but Byakuya… and here was Ishimaru’s vouchers… At least, it _might_ be the vouchers… she brushed the dust off of them and…

 _Oh no…_ Some of it got in her _nose…_ “Ah…Ahh…ACHOO!”

“You called for me and so I appear!” Syo announced to… Huh, just her bedroom again… Looks like stuffy face was actually bothering to tidy up all her crap for once! Wonder what had caused that? And also what was this thing she was holding…?

Huh… Looked like a hand-made booklet… and whoever had put it together had done a pretty careful job… although they must have had a _terrible_ pair of scissors, judging from the edges of the paper… Shame that her slobbier half had looked after it so badly… Syo could barely read the writing! What did it say… ‘This… voucher…? Entitles the bearer to… tutoring from… Ki-yo-ta… oh! It was Tick-Tock!

Tick-Tock gave vouchers to Stuffy Face? And she’d just dumped them in a pile without even thinking to use them… Not even this cleaning one?

Well, if  _she_ didn’t want them, then _Syo_ could use them! Assuming any of them were interesting… She didn’t need tutoring, cleaning or laundry done but… ‘One Personal Favour?’ What did that mean? Anything she wanted…? Now _that_ she could use! Preferably to irritate Her Stuffiness! What would irritate her the most…

Well… more hot man-on-man action would annoy her… but could Tick-Tock actually make any? Not unless he starred in it with Biker Boy, but he’d been pretty good at hiding it from her if they _did_ do that sort of thing together… Believe her, she’d tried!

Buuut… Maybe she could use this voucher to get him to quit hiding his obvious passion for forbidden love from her! Or at least let her get some pictures of his sexy wrestling match!

Syo let herself out… even if that dumb bunny hadn’t been good for much, at least she’d made stuffy stop locking her in their room and hiding the key in weird places! And all the doors had little pictures, so Tick-Tock’s door was easy to find!

“Good Evening… _SYO!?_ ” Kyahaha! Lookit that! He was still scared of her!

“Hiya Tick-Tock! You owe me a favour, right?” She held the booklet up to his face.

“Err… Well, I gave that to _Fukawa…_ ” He muttered, “But… depending what you want, I suppose I _might_ be able to help you?”

“Well, works for me!” Not like Syo actually cared so long as she got her sexy pics! “So… about your upcoming sexy wrestling match...”

“It was _not_ ‘sexy wrestling’! I-it was just a perfectly normal competition between men!” Tick-Tock snapped, but he was _still_ turning red...

“You mean you already _did_ it?" What a shame! She'd have to try and get some juicy details... " _Oooh!_ Did you enjoy it…?”

“Well… I _usually_ enjoy physical exercise…”

“I bet it was _real hot!_ You getting pinned to the floor by those huge muscles… your skin rubbing against his as you squirmed uselessly against him… Getting all dizzy and flustered by him being so close to you…”

“That… was _not_ what it was like!” He was totally lying. “What do you actually _want!?_ ”

“Well… I was thinking you’d let me take pictures of the wrestling, but I can’t do _that_ now!” Syo complained. “So… maybe instead, you and Biker Boy can take your shirts off and kiss each other, and I’ll take pictures of _that!”_

Some hot bara action would still irritate her boring half, right?

“What!? Why… why would you want _either_ of those things?” Tick-Tock almost turned blue.

“’Cause it’s sexy! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good porn in this place?” Syo complained.

“I should _hope_ it’s entirely impossible!” He snapped, “Such materials should _not_ be freely available in a school, and I am _not_ going to be involved in their production either!”

“Even though you own me a favour?” Syo waved the book at him again.

“I owe _Fukawa_ a favour, not _you!_ ” He snatched the booklet away from her. “And besides, even if I _did_ give you a voucher, _Mondo_ hasn’t, so I wouldn’t be able to agree to anything that involved _him!_ ”

“Alright… maybe you can just take your clothes off and…” Syo tried one last thing…

“It’s almost curfew, we both need to be in our rooms now! Good Night!” Tick-Tock quickly waved goodbye before closing the door.

Wow… he seriously needed to take the stick out of his ass… and maybe replace it with a certain biker’s ‘ _stick’_ Kyahahaha!

* * *

 

Kiyotaka barely managed not to slam the door in Syo’s face… _Urg!_ To think she thought that him and Mondo competing together, _as friends_ , was something for her to… _sexualise_ for her own gratification! The thought of her salivating over them both almost made him want to have another shower before bed!

He didn’t though… he just did a few stretches to calm himself down before snuggling into bed… He’d have to give Fukawa back the voucher and ask her to hide it from Syo, before she came up with anymore ridiculous ideas… Although he had no idea... how she could possibly… beat him… and Mondo… _wrestling shirtless…_ and _kiss…ing…_

(Saturday 21st, April 2012)

“Heh, heh, heh… Gotcha!” Mondo laughed, as Kiyotaka twisted and writhed uselessly underneath him…

“Hahaha! N-nicely done!” Kiyotaka had to admit he was well and truly stuck… “But _next_ time I’ll…”

“Kyahahaha! You called for me and so I appear!” Oh, no… Not _her_ again… “And _boy_ am I glad I appeared _here!_ Are you gonna do that _favour_ for me now?”

“Favour? Why’s he doing _you_ a favour!?” Mondo growled at her.

“Because I have the _voucher!_ ” Syo laughed, waving it at them both… “So Tick-Tock’s gotta kiss you while I take pictures!”

“Syo, I _told_ you, you can’t use the voucher for that!” Kiyotaka snapped at her, “It’s only redeemable for things I can do _by myself!_ ”

"Whoa… Hey now! Remember what Makoto said..." Mondo leant down to breathe in his ear, "You've not necessarily gotta do these favours by _yourself_."

"O-Oh?" He felt himself stiffen at the brush of hot air against his cool skin, "But _this_..."

"Aww, C'mon..." Mondo let go of his arms and shifted position so that there faces were right in front of each other. "You didn't argue about any of the other favours..."

And their shirts were gone... or had they not been wearing any? In the rush of the moment he couldn't tell, all he knew was that Mondo's firm, warm skin was pushed against his own, and his rough hand was gently cupping his face and guiding his mouth upwards, so that his heavy breathing could mingle with the warm air emanating from his friends mouth... And then Mondo's tongue was in his mouth, and he was groaning into the sensation as Mondo began to explore his chest with his hands and it was getting hot even _without_ his shirt…

After a while, Mondo lifted his head up and away from his own, leaving him gasping and panting for air… “So, Syo? That the favour done now, or d’ya want anything else while we’re here?” Mondo asked.

“What!? We’ve done what she _asked_ for…”

“OooooOOOOOooohhhh!? What’s this, Biker Boy? You want to do _more!?”_ Syo cackled… _“_ Has your youthful young passion been enflamed by this taste of forbidden love!? Or have you been secretly lusting over Tick-Tock’s sexy body all this time!? Kyahaha!”

“Th-that… that’s…” That couldn’t be true, could it!? Either of those things…? Even if Kiyotaka had to admit it was _still_ quite hot, especially with Mondo pressing into his crotch the way he was, but surely he wouldn’t…

“Does it matter? Either way, you ain’t asked much for your voucher…” Mondo smirked at her.

“HHHRRRMMM… That’s truue...” Syo mulled it over, “Okay… kiss him again, but _this_ time, kiss his neck and chest!”

“ _WHAT!?_ ”

“Alright then!” Mondo… _agreed_ … _!?_

“Err… Kyou… _dai!?_ ” Kiyotaka’s voice raised in pitch dramatically as Mondo’s lips caught the underside of his jawline… “You… you don’t have to… I mean… we shouldn’t…?”

“Feels good though, doesn’t it?” Mondo paused to whisper seductively…

“Y-yes…” He had to admit this was _hot…_ a _good_ kind of hot… Being kissed by his… “K- _kyoudai_ …”   

“Good…” Kiyotaka could feel Mondo smirking against his neck… and then moving down towards his chest… and his own body getting hotter and more excited as he could do nothing other than murmur his kyoudai’s name as pressure built within him until Mondo looked up at him with more confidence in his eyes than Kiyotaka had ever seen before and gave him one last, _final_ kiss on his chest…

“ _Mondo!”_ Kiyotaka cried out loud as the pressure in him burst into white euphoria and he… he…

…woke up in his dark room.

What…? Ah… that had been a dream…? Of course it had! He hadn’t given Syo the voucher back yet! Or Fukawa even… and he and Mondo hadn’t planned when they’d next wrestle either…

But what an odd dream… it had left him sweating all over… _urg…_ he felt slightly disgusting all over, especially his underwear… it’s was almost like he’d wet himself, but it wasn’t as if he’d dreamt of going to the toilet, so why…?

 _A wet dream…_ his brain finally connected the dots.

Well… that was unfortunate, he’d probably need to wash his clothes and a shower wouldn’t go amiss either, but it was just an ordinary part of growing up! At least he knew everything down there was functional! It wasn’t as if he was the _only_ boy ever who woke up feeling… messy after having a dream about kissing… his best friend… who was _male…_

Oh no… What would Mondo think if he found out…? Scratch _that,_ what would his _father_ think... or his future _voters_ think!?

Still… it was just one time! And it was only because Syo had put the idea in his head! And didn’t people have wet dreams about all _sorts_ of odd things!? He was probably lucky he’d been dreaming about a _human!_ And besides! It’s not like it mattered what the dream was _about,_ in the long term! No one but him even needed to know about it! He’d just… get cleaned up… and then do some laundry and then there’d be no evidence and he didn’t have to tell anyone about it! And even if someone _did_ catch him doing laundry in the middle of the night, he was hardly obligated to tell them _why_ he was doing it so early or even what he’d been dreaming about! He’d be fine… he’d just hide all evidence of this and then it’d be like it never happened and he’d make sure to keep Fukawa’s voucher with him at all times so he could make sure she got it back and kept it away from Syo so the _next_ time he had one of these she wouldn’t have put weird ideas into his head and he’d have a _normal_ wet dream! About a _girl!_

…Maybe it would give him an idea of which one he wanted to date…

* * *

 

Toko stifled a yawn and waited for the tumble dryer to finish… Stupid Syo… Toko hadn’t _wanted_ to still be up at this time of night, but one tiny sneeze and she’d lost two hours of cleaning time!

Still, at least doing it now meant that no one else was hogging the machines… and it was late enough that she wasn’t likely to get caught breaking curfew by anyone…

“ _F-fukawa!?_ W-what are you doing here!?”

Oh, he had to be _kidding_ her… “Ishimaru!? _You’re_ breaking curfew!?”

“Err… yes… Don’t worry though! I _have_ given myself detention for breaking the school rules!”

So no chance of blackmailing him into _not_ giving her detention… and Kuwata had already tried using the voucher to get out of detentions with no luck, hadn’t he? Great… so now she was going to have even _more_ time wasted in his stupid detentions, wasn’t she?

“But… ah… you’re _also_ breaking curfew…” He started.

 _Urg…_ She didn’t care _what_ Gekkogahara told her, it was too early to be putting up with this idiot and she didn’t want to waste even more time… She’d just say something to scare him off… he was so uptight, it’d be easy!

“Why are _you_ doing laundry at 2am anyway?” She asked, looking at the basket in his hands, “Did you just have your first _wet dream_ or something?” Hehehe… he’d be so scandalised at the thought he’d probably run off scream…

“Well... _Yes_ , actually.”

“Whhat!? _UUrrggghh!_ You don’t _tell_ people that sort of thing, you _creep!_ ”

“Nngh! It… it’s just a normal, healthy part of growing up!” He stated, trying to be firm, “Th-there’s nothing _wrong_ with it…”

“You still don’t _t-tell_ people about it though!” Didn’t this guy have _any_ clue whatsoever!?

“But I only _said_ it because it was _you_ who asked!” He snapped.

“W-well, I only _asked_ because any _normal_ person would have been freaked out and left me alone!”

“Well, I’m only here in the _first_ place because…” He started to spit out something, but then stopped himself. “Err… no. Never mind that… but… have I upset you? I’m sorry about not accepting the voucher after I _said_ I would… but trying to cheat your way through your therapy…”

Was he still upset about that? He took everything way too seriously! “I don’t c-care about that… it would have been pointless once she found out anyway!” She pointed out, “I just didn’t want a detention when Syo’s already made me waste a bunch of time!”

“So… you’re breaking curfew because of… of your identity dissociation?” He thought about it.

“Yeah, I guess…” Where was he going with this?

“In that case… I can probably waive the detention on the basis of it being a health issue!” He smiled like he’d just figured out a clever puzzle.

Huh... well, at least she didn’t have to have detention now? “W-well, whatever. You’ve not got to take pity on me…” She finished unpacking her clothes and stood to leave.

“I… I apologise?” He looked confused, “Ah! But speaking of _taking_ things… Syo tried to use _this_ …” He handed some paper.

What!? The favour voucher? Syo had wanted to use it? “W-what did she ask for?”

“That… that’s not of any concern!” He suddenly went defensive. “Just… put them somewhere she can’t find them, please. Or maybe consider using it sometime else sometime soon!”

“Why? You could have just done what she wanted… What does it matter which one of us uses it?” If Syo wanted something, maybe getting it would stop her being such a crazy _brat…_

“Err… Of course it matters! You’re different people, after all! And it was _you_ I gave the voucher to!” He said, with the air of a politician. “And… well, to be frank, I’d rather not give Syo any more reasons to associate with me.”

Well… that was fair enough. “A-alright… I’ll hide it until I think of something to use it for.” She agreed as she walked out with her clothes…

“Ah! Thank you!” He smiled, tiredly. “I’d much rather _not_ keep doing laundry at 2am…” He added, with an over-dramatic yawn.

“O-okaay?” Toko muttered. What a weird thing to say… why would _Syo_ affect when he did his laundry? He was only doing it _now_ because he’d finally hit puberty…

Wait... had _Syo_ given him a _wet dream?_ Was _that_ what he meant!? Ewww! That was gross! How the heck would she have done something that disgusting!?

And why had she'd done it to _him_? Couldn't she have used that ability on Master Byakuya? Haaaaahhh... She could just imagine it, Byakuya tossing in his sheets and groaning her name night after night... Until one day…

_Byakuya came into classroom and roughly grabbed Toko out of her seat, pulling her breasts up against his toned chest: "You. How dare you?" He asked with his usual cold piercing glare pointed right into her eyes. "You invade my dreams every night, Toko Fukawa... doing disgusting, filthy things..." He shuddered as he pulled her face up to meet his... "And now I need to make those dreams a reality..."_

Hah hah hah... That was pretty good, actually! Maybe she could use it in her new book...

* * *

 

“The Demon King growls as your holy sword strikes true and leaves a gash in his blighted flesh! ‘You warriors are indeed strong… But do we really need to resort to violence to settle this matter?’ He asks.” The Dungeon Master told them, putting on a deep voice for the Demon King…

“We’ll _never_ parlay with the likes of Demons!” Kiyotaka figured _that_ was a paladin-like thing to say, and next to him both Makoto and Silverleaf were nodding in agreement.

“’Tch! Well… perhaps if you won’t listen to _me…’_ The Demon King steps back and gestures to the side, where a woman steps out from behind a curtain… ‘Then you may listen to _her…’”_ The DM continued, “Everyone roll a Will save, DC 15.”

Right, so that meant roll the twenty sided dice, add his ‘Will Save’ score and hope it was over 15…

“Uhh… fail.” Makoto sighed, as Kiyotaka was throwing his dice.

“Likewise” Silverleaf added, just as he was doing the maths to figure out that…

“I also failed.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Oh… really? Ahh…” The DM hadn’t been expecting that development, “Well… in that case you all think she’s beautiful and are completely willing to hear her out…”

“ _What!?_ But she’s obviously working for the Demon King! Won’t she just be lying?” Kiyotaka asked.

“That… doesn’t occur to you at the moment.”

“What do you mean it ‘doesn’t occur to me’!? I know my Intelligence score is low but…”

“No, Ishimaru… We’ve been _charmed…_ It’s a spell effect...” Silverleaf explained. “I’m assuming she’s a succubus?”

“Yes…” The DM confirmed.

“So… now what?” Kiyotaka asked irritably, seeing as he apparently didn't have control over his character anymore! “Do we _really_ have to be nice to her? I mean, she’s obviously _evil!_ ”

“Uhh… the charm spell makes you forget that, at least if you fail the Will save… it convinces you that you’re talking to someone who’s as close to you as… say… you and Mondo are!” Makoto added. “Even if you _have_ only met them five minutes ago and they’re blatantly evil…”

“Well… alright then, I guess?” Kiyotaka reluctantly agreed, “What does she do next?”

“Well… She explains that they’ve only been ravaging the lands because they’ve been looking for the map leading to the sacred stones, and asks if you have any idea where it is?”

Well… they’d been told not to show it to anyone… but if it was _Mondo_ who’d been asking him about it… “I tell her it’s in my backpack…” Kiyotaka sighed, “But I can’t _show_ it to her!”

“She pouts in an _unbelievably_ cute way, looks _deep_ into your eyes and says ‘ _Plleeeeaaaase? Pretty please?’_ … Roll a Will Check.”

“Oh, come on! What sort of idiot would fall for _that!?”_ Kiyotaka scoffed as he threw his dice…

“...The kind who rolls a one on his opposed Will Check?” Makoto cringed at the result.

“You can’t resist her pleading look, and reluctantly start taking the map out of your pack to show it to her…”

“ _Really!?”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed in annoyance…

“It’s the rules of the spell… you’d do things you wouldn’t usually if they beat you in a Will check…” Makoto sighed, “So long as it doesn’t hurt _you…_ ”

“ _Urg…”_ Kiyotaka was too irritated for proper words, “Hang on, _Silverleaf_ has used 'charm', and it never worked _this_ well!” He remembered.

“That’s because none of you can roll over a ten on the dice…” The DM shrugged.

“Haha… Hey, maybe _we_ should play as bad guys! Then the good people will win!” Makoto laughed, “We’d be stumbling around dropping the cursed artefact into lakes and accidentally revealing our plan to the heroes…”

That started a run of jokes about the three of them playing as incompetent villains… but Kiyotaka was still annoyed that he let the demons make a copy of the map and teleport away with it… all apparently with a goofy smile of his face!

“Are you _still_ annoyed about the succubus?” Makoto asked him as they were walking back to the main side of the school.

“Of course I am! That was completely ridiculous!” Kiyotaka complained, “Handing over a vital clue to the demons just because some apparently beautiful woman _pouted_ at me! I mean, it’s nonsense!”

“Uhh… well… maybe? But, it’s the sort of thing people are supposed to do when they’re in love, isn’t it?” Makoto shrugged. “Romance stories are always full of people doing stupid stuff like that!”

“They are? I… must admit, I’ve not actually read any of them…” Kiyotaka sighed, he _still_ hadn’t even read Fukawa’s work, despite having relented and read Hifumi’s months ago… “I just can’t believe this… 'succubus' or whatever… would really have been attractive enough to make me _do_ that! I mean, he didn’t even tell us what she looked like!”

“Well… there’s a picture in the Monster Manual…” Makoto told him, “I’ll get it out for you!” He added, pausing and shrugging off the rucksack he’d bought to the game to get out a book and flip to the appropriate page…

Well… she wasn’t anything particularly special! Not to mention… “Why is she wearing such ridiculous clothing?”

“Umm… Because that’s what the game designers think guys like women to wear?” Kiyotaka sighed at the ridiculous pandering… “Not your type then?” Makoto grinned, sheepishly.

“Well… No.” Kiyotaka sighed, “…I’m not sure what _is…_ I’ve not met _any_ girls here that I’ve been attracted to…”

“Really? Uhh… well, there’s over a thousand of them on the _reserve_ side of the school, so if there _were_ any you’d have probably seen one around, right?” Makoto pointed out, “Maybe you’re just not very romantic? Like I said yester…”

“Ah!” Kiyotaka gasped, it was amazing how good Makoto’s ideas were! “So I should be studying romance and looking out for students on the _reserve course!_ Hahaha! It’s so obvious when _you_ say it! I should have asked you for more advice last night! _”_

 _“_ Uhh… that’s… not _quite…_ ” Makoto started rambling modestly…

“I’ll start right now! I’ll see you in class on Monday!” Kiyotaka waved as he headed off for a brisk walk around the reserve course… and this time he’d actually pay attention to the girls around him!

* * *

 

_She paused, as the gentle purr of a silver Mercedes crept into her ears… such a sophisticated car was never seen in her simple, quiet neighborhood! Yet not only was there one here, but it was even slowing down next to_ **_her…_ **

Wait… did Mercedes _purr?_ Or were they one of those noisier engines? She’d have to look it up… And she was getting hungry, what time was it…?

 _4pm? Already?_ Ok, so she’d got up late and done some cleaning, but she’d hardly written _anything!_

Well, she couldn’t help needing to _eat._ She’d just go grab some food out of the kitchen and get back to work…

At least eating late meant the dining room was almost empty… it was just Ludenberg sitting around having one of her million cups of tea a day and being doodled by Yamada… when he wasn’t getting distracted by Hagakure spouting some stupid nonsense at him anyway… must be nice to have enough time to spend sitting around chit-chatting to the rest of the class…

Wait… _arrggghhh!_ She had to do Gekkogahara’s stupid ‘Hope fragments’ bullcrap this week as well!

Well, seeing as three of her class were _right there_ doing nothing in particular, she might as well head over and quickly ask some questions…

“AAAIIIIEEE!” Yamada suddenly shrieked as he spotted her approaching. “I’m sorry! I haven’t _quite_ got the ‘forbidden yaoi action’ you requested _finished_ , but…”

“W-what!? Wh-what makes you think _I_ want any of that _sick_ nonsense!?” Toko snapped at him, before realising what he meant… “Do you mean _you’re_ the one whose been drawing that _crap_ for Syo?” The way his face froze practically screamed ‘yes’. “Why the _hell_ would you do that!?”

“She threatened to ‘carve him up like a roast piggy’ if he _didn’t._ ” Ludenberg glared at her.

“Aww… she threatens to do stuff like that all the _time!_ ” Hagakure laughed, “Don’t worry man! She won’t actually _do_ any of it! I had a prediction!”

“C-couldn’t you have told him that _before_ Syo filled my room with his filth?” Toko complained.

“Sorry! The three of us don’t usually hang out all that much…” Hagakure shrugged, “I’m only here ‘cause I had a prediction that it would be convenient if I was!”

“Ah… convenient to who?” Yamada asked him.

“I dunno!” Hagakure shrugged.

“Well… actually it’s convenient for _me!”_ Toko admitted, amazed that this idiot’s nonsense was actually useful for once… “I need to ask you all some questions for my therapy…”

“Is this gonna be some deep blackmail stuff that that robot lady is gonna feed into some evil database and use to convince us to murder each other…” Hagakure started going on about his conspiracy nonsense.

“No… I just need to know something trivial, like what do your parents all do?”

“Oh, is that all? My Mom’s a nurse!” Hagakure replied instantly. “She’s real good at it as well! There was this time when…”

Blah, blah, blah… Like _he_ was one to judge anyone’s competency! But still: ‘ _Hope fragment’_ received! “What about _your_ parents?” She asked Ludenberg.

“My parents look after Grand Bois Cheri.” Ludenberg said primly.

“Ah… you _pay_ them to do that?” Yamada asked, curiously.

“No… but it’s far more important than their paid work…” Ludenberg glared at him.

“So… what _is_ the Grand Bois Cheri?” Toko asked, a job and a hobby or whatever where probably interchangeable, right?

“Grand Bois Cheri Ludenberg is an elegant, purebred, black British Shorthair who…”

“You meant it’s just a cat?” Toko checked, who the hell gave their _cat_ the same surname as them? She hadn’t even done that with her friendsect!

“He is not _just_ a cat!” Ludenberg scowled, “He is a darling member of the Ludenberg family, and…”

“It’s still a pet _cat!”_ Toko smirked, writing down her newly acquired ‘hope fragment’ “Next you’ll be telling me that Yamada’s sister is a pig…”

“Fujiko is _not_ a pig!” Yamada snapped. “Just because weight issues run in my family…”

“You mean you actually _have_ a sister?” Toko blinked in surprised. “H-how was _I_ supposed to know that!?”

“She drew one of those pictures of Kiyotaka that went around the school after Valentine’s Day…” Ludenberg said, as if it was obvious…

“I-I never saw any of those!” Toko complained, “N-nobody ever tells me anything!”

“But… everyone in the school was talking about them…” Yamada sighed guiltily…

“Yeah, oh _man_ was that a bummer!” Hagakure agreed, “I managed to predict every time he passed by that noticeboard, but not that he’d actually put it up himself!”

“Perhaps because his daily movements are so predictable?” Ludenberg suggested.

“Huh… maybe?” Hagakure thought about it, “I hope it’s nothing to do with that demon that’s possessing him!”

“Uhh… Hagakure-dono… I’m pretty sure Ishimaru-dono was just trying to sing like Mioda-dono…”

“…What are you idiots talking about?” Toko asked.

“…Have you ever thought that you should try socialising with us more?” Ludenberg smirked at her over the top of her teacup, “We’re talking about a video Kuwata took of him attempting karaoke…”

 _Urg, stuck up witch!_ “I just was asking! Th-there’s no reason to be so smug about it! The only reason I spoke to you idiots was because Gekkogahara made me get info on you all!” Toko griped, “Which I’ve _done_ now, so I’ll see you in class on Monday!” She walked off… she had writing to do, she couldn’t spend _all_ day talking about that uptight idiot…

* * *

 

(Sunday, 22nd April, 2012)

Kiyotaka woke up with a whimper of joy in his dark room again… and instantly noticed how hot and disgusting he felt…

 _Urg… this, again?_ What had he even been dreaming about? It wasn’t like he’d seen any attractive girls in the reserve course, he’d just ended up going to the library to get one of Fukawa’s books and had been intending to study it until Mondo had convinced him to go and try to play pool in the rec room instead… Which had been a _foolish_ waste of time, but he always found it so hard to say no to his kyoudai… Now _he’d_ have made a good Succub…

A sudden flashback to his dream came to him… Mondo with demon wings and half his clothing missing, grinning and telling him he’d ‘really fucked up _that_ Will Save…’ and then ordering Kiyotaka to kiss him and…

 _Oh no… not AGAIN!_ What was _wrong_ with him!? He’d even seen a _picture_ of the succubus, why couldn’t his subconscious have used _that_ instead of his _friend!?_

Was it just because Mondo was the closest relationship he’d ever had? Perhaps he just needed a frame of reference for what a _romantic_ relationship was like… which meant he _really_ should have read Fukawa’s book before going to bed! That was it then! He’d have to shower now, go back to sleep (He’d have to make do with the sheets being overly sweaty, people would get suspicious if he gave himself _another_ detention for breaking curfew…), have breakfast and then spend a few hours reading Fukawa’s book…

* * *

 

_“Wait… Don’t go yet!”_

Wait… no, that wasn’t forceful enough…

_“How DARE you even CONSIDER leaving now!” The sophisticated man grabbed her wrist, the light glinting off of his silver ROLEX watch…_

Wait… _Were_ Rolexes silver? And was the brand all in capitals like that? That was another thing she’d have to look up at the library… She got the piece of paper with the list of queries on it, and turned it over to start on the other side…

Why was this just a list of her classmates with a few names crossed out?

 _Aaahh!_ She still had to do Gekkogahara’s stupid homework!

 _And_ she’d meant to clean her room! And she _had_ been, but then she’d had an idea for her new book and got distracted…

She looked around the, still messy, room…Urg… this was _impossible…_ She might be able to clean this mess up _eventually,_ but by Thursday? When she had to do this stupid exercise of Gekkogahara’s as well!? How the heck did Ishimaru always manage to do all his studying _and_ keep himself clean _and_ do jobs for other people?

Well… she _had_ to do Gekkogahara’s job first… then she’d have to try and get the cleaning done. But where would the rest of her class actually _be?_ Hmm… first on her list was Ishimaru… if he wasn’t in his room, he’d probably be in the library, right?

…And then she could look up the answers to her questions!

…

Huh… so Rolexes could be gold _or_ silver and the logo _was_ capitalised but they referred to it with just the capital R in all their sales gumpth… Well, that was all her questions answered! She gathered up her notes and headed back out of the library, passing by Ishimaru, who seemed to be irritably copying a book onto the computer…

Wait… _Aaarrggghhhh!_ She was _supposed_ to have been _talking_ to him! What was _wrong_ with her! Why couldn’t she keep her head in reality long enough to get things she _needed_ to do done!

Well… at least he was here! She could ask him a question about himself, and if he knew where anyone else was…

She walked over to him and waited for him to notice she was there… or at least pause long enough for her to interrupt him without it being really annoying… neither of which was happening… She could understand him not noticing her, but didn’t he ever take a break? What was he even copying there…?

Wait a minute… “I-is that one of _my_ books you’re copying?”

“Ah! Fukawa! Good afternoon!” He jumped. “And I’m not just _copying_ it, I’m _correcting_ it! Honestly, I was expecting _far_ better grammar and spelling from an Ultimate Writer than _this_!...” He scowled and waved the book at her…

Urgh… Had he started with her _first_ published book? The one from that tiny publisher that hadn’t been proofread it properly?

“… I mean, I don’t understand how _anyone_ can focus on the story and characters when there’s so many distracting errors in your books… _I_ certainly couldn’t!”

Oh wow, did he think they were _all_ like that!? And yet he was still intending to type them all out and correct them? How did he manage to waste his time doing things like _that_ and still have time to keep ahead of school and do his hall monitor duties and clean his and Byakuya’s rooms!?

Wait… maybe he _didn’t…_ Or _wouldn’t_ if she gave him enough busywork to do! _Ohohohoho_ … That was _perfect!_ She could just imagine it…

_Togami would be pacing around outside him room, irritably complaining about how unreliable the so called ‘Moral Compass’ was, when Toko appeared, armed with cleaning supplies and ready to help him instead…_

_“Well… I suppose you’ll have to do!” He’d complain, “But you’d better do it properly, or I’ll have you using your tongue to clean…”_

“Fukawa! Are you even listening to me!?” Ishimaru was suddenly snapping at her…

“Y-yeah! Of c-course I was!” Toko lied, because otherwise he’d make her listen to it all again, “A-and you’re right! All my work needs proofreading! And… y-you seem to be doing a good job of it, so… maybe that can be your favour!”

“Ah… That should be simple enough!” He laughed, “I’ll do my best to check out the rest of your work once I’m done with _this_ one… Although there _is_ quite a waiting list on a lot of them…”

“W-wait! Don’t do _that!”_ If he did _that_ he’d soon realise she’d lied…

“Why not?”

“Uhh… well, i-it’ll be _easier_ for you if I give you the text files!” She could probably find some old versions to fob off on him… “I’ll give you the files in class tomorrow…”

“Ah! Of course! Thank you very much! This will help me immensely, I’m sure!”

“Heh! No problem!” What a gullible idiot! Now she’d have plenty of time to work on her new book and could _still_ be the one to clean for Byakuya! And she could probably fit in that cleaning idea into the book somewhere…

* * *

 

(Monday, 23rd April 2012):

“Hellloooo! Earth to Taka!?” Hina raised her voice and waved at him over their post-swimming breakfast… “Are you alright? You’ve been out of it all morning…”

“Ah… My apologies…” He certainly didn’t _feel_ alright… even after correcting the entirety of Fukawa’s book and reading it, he hadn’t really felt any more romantic… There was hardly any description of the woman in the story, and the man’s behaviour hadn’t been particularly nice either… Presumably that as why it was Fukawa’s least requested work in the library! It was her _first_ book, after all! Surely the later ones, written after she’d had more practise, would be _much_ better!

That’s what he’d _told_ himself, before proceeding to forget about it all sometime between sparring with Sakura and a post-sparring sauna trip that Mondo had suggested on his way out of the dojo… And he’d continued to forget about his problems right up until the moment he started dreaming that Mondo and he had done _more_ than merely sit together in the sauna…

Three nights in a row, dreaming about making out with his _male_ best friend? That wasn’t normal, was it? He _absolutely_ had to get a girlfriend soon or…

“Well… is there something I can help you with?” Hina asked.

“Err! Well…” He hesitated…

 _Reading_ about romance hadn’t helped… perhaps his father was right and he should just try asking someone out? He and Hina got on well, didn’t they? And she was single… Perhaps he just had to bite the bullet, so to speak…

“I was wondering… about us being ‘swimming buddies’...” He started, trying to ignore the feeling that he was making an appalling mistake… “Have you ever considered the possibility that we could be… _more than that?_ ”

“Huh…? You’ve been thinking about that as well?” Hina smiled…

 _Oh Gods, WHAT!?_ She actually _had_ been thinking of dating him? Since _when?_ How serious about it was she? Would she be upset if it didn’t work out? What if he did something terrible like with Tsumiki? Would that mean she’d never want to talk to him again and there’d be no more swimming practices together? Had he just ruined a perfectly good friendship just by…?

“…I was thinking we could try triathlons!” Hina finished.

“Tr _-triathlons?_ ” Kiyotaka stammered, trying not to let his relief show… she just thought he’d meant more _sports! Thank goodness for that!_

“Yeah! It combines swimming, cycling and running!” Hina counted them off on her fingers, “I wanted to try a new sport, and if we include some non-swimming things, then you might have a chance of beating me for once…”

“What do you mean I _might_ have a chance!?” Kiyotaka scowled... He was a good runner!

“Well… I don’t know how good you are at cycling!” Hina laughed at him. “What type of bike do you even _have?_ ”

“Ah… actually, I don’t own a bicycle at all…” He admitted. “I usually jog everywhere…”

“Oh… so triathlons might not be an option, unless we can borrow bikes from somewhere…” Hina mused, “Maybe we can start with Aquathlons, that’s just swimming followed by running, and then add in the cycling once we’ve worked our way up to it!” She suggested.

“Ah… yes! That sounds like a fantastic idea!” Kiyotaka smiled as he held up a hand for a ‘high-five’. “Aquathlon buddy!”

“Yeah! Aquathlon buddy!” She returned the high-five.

…It didn’t help with his ongoing problem… but it felt _far_ better than calling her ‘girlfriend’ would have! Hopefully he’d have more luck with some of Fukawa’s _later_ books...

* * *

 

_“Hah! Is THIS what you call clean!?” The young master sneered, as he looked around the room she’d spent the last hour trying to scrub… “It seems I need to carry out your punishment after all…” He pulled at the straps of the maid’s outfit and…_

“Good Morning, Fukawa!” Ishimaru interrupted her writing, just before classes started.

“Wh-what do you want? Aren’t I allowed to work before classes?” Toko snapped at him… she’d just got to a good bit!

“Ah… My apologies… I just wondered if you had those documents you wanted me to proofread…?” He asked, meekly.

“O-oh… Yeah, actually…” She fished out the USB stick from her pocket. “This is _some_ of them at least… But it ought to keep you busy for a while…” Until Thursday, at the very least! It was almost half of her published work, after all…

“Wonderful!” He almost seemed relieved that she’d given him all that stupid work to do… “I’ll have them returned to you as soon as possible!” He saluted and marched off to his usual seat…

She probably wasn’t going to manage to focus on the next part until _after_ class, was she? Damn that annoyance… Now what was she going to do?

Wait… she still needed to have those conversations for Gekkogahara, didn’t she? Maybe she could have a quick one now…?

“Good morning, class!” Their teacher just _had_ to walk in at that moment, didn’t he?

A few boring hours of painfully obvious lessons later, she turned to the nearest person to her… which happened to be Enoshima. Oh great… she had to have a conversation with the dumb blonde!

“Hey…Enoshima…”

“Oh… heeey Fufu!” Urg… what was it with her and those stupid ‘friendly’ nicknames? She was so _fake!_ “Do you want me to give you a makeover?”

“No.” Toko huffed, just because Enoshima had dumb boys chasing her fake appearance all the time, didn’t mean Toko was jealous of her! “I just need to ask everyone in class some questions about themselves this week, and it’s your turn. Th-that’s all!”

“You want to know about us?” Ikusaba suddenly joined in, eagerly… well, that was convenient! “What do you want to know?”

“Well… what do your parents do for a living?” Toko asked.

“Well… actually…” Ikusaba started…

“Our parents!? Oh gawd… don’t get me _started!_ ” Enoshima sighed over-dramatically… “Good-for-nothing layabouts ended up making us homeless once! We’re better off now they’re dead!”

Wow… that was kinda harsh, wasn’t it? Not she Toko got on well with her own parents, but… Yeesh!

Still: _Hope fragment acquired!_ Right? But could she use the same fact for both of them? Gekkogahara would probably complain if she did, and she had them both here anyway…

“Uhh… well, good for you?” Toko muttered, before moving to her next question “Do you have any… pets?” She couldn’t ask them about siblings, they were _twins…_ stupid annoying twins, making this assignment hard…

“We…”

“Not anymore, but Muku had, like, 30 dogs back in Fenrir!” Enoshima cut her sister off…

“What…? They weren’t…”

Thirty dogs? Well, _there_ was a trivial fact, right? “Alright… that’s all I need… See you after lunch, I guess.” Just so long as she didn’t have to talk to the dumb twins again… She had a book to write!

* * *

 

“Hey, Taka… you alright there?” Now Mondo was waving a hand in front of his face as they ate lunch…

“Err! Fine, absolutely fine!” He lied… He’d started worrying about whether the files Fukawa had given him would be enough to take his subconscious mind off of… well, the man in front of him!

“You sure? You seem kinda out of it… And you were acting funny all weekend…” Mondo carried on, “You sure I didn’t hit your head on Friday?”

“Ah… I’m fine! I just… don’t seem to be sleeping well at the moment, that’s all!” Kiyotaka replied, hoping that Mondo wouldn’t think to ask _why_ he wasn’t sleeping well at the moment…

“Why not, is something bothering you?” _Curses!_ Of _course_ Mondo thought to ask that! He was far too good a man _not_ to!

“Err… Well…” Kiyotaka looked around as he scrambled to think of an answer that didn’t involve admitting to the truth… and spotted Sayaka approaching their table! “Hold on a moment, I think Sayaka wants to discuss something with me!” He used it as an excuse to waylay the conversation. “Good Afternoon, Sayaka!”

“Oh… Hey, Taka!” She replied, giving Mondo a brief look of concern that he didn’t react to. “Ah… I just found out that I need to go off campus next Wednesday… can you organise getting all my class notes for me again?” She asked, with an apologetic cringe.

“Absolutely! I’ll make a note of it in my diary!” He assured her, pulling it out of his pocket and writing a note in the correct day… “Was there anything else you wanted?”

“No! That’s everything! Thank you!” Sayaka smiled and quickly walked off to Leon’s table.

…Now he had to carry on thinking of an excuse to give Mondo as to why he wasn’t sleeping very well…

“…How do you _do_ that?” Mondo suddenly asked, quietly.

“Err… do what? Get class notes?” Kiyotaka asked, glad for the change in conversation! “It’s easy! I just have to warn the teachers before classes that Sayaka will be unable to attend and…”

“No! I mean… How’d you talk to her so easy?” Mondo briefly gestured to Sayaka’s retreating form…

“Ah… how do I talk to _Sayaka,_ you mean?” Kiyotaka checked, to which Mondo gave a short nod… “I… Why would I have trouble speaking to her? She’s always polite and straightforward, she doesn’t use any unusual vocabulary…”

“But… she’s the country’s most popular idol! Doesn’t that make you nervous or anything?”

“Well… I suppose when we first started here I was worried that, if I failed to do a good enough job as class representative, she might do something like badmouth me to the press and reduce my future standing with the electorate…” Kiyotaka admitted, feeling slightly foolish for ever having thought she’d do something like that. “But that’s true of several of our class! Especially Togami! I mean all those business connections he has…”

“I don’t mean like that!” Mondo sighed, “I mean… don’t you think she’s cute or anything?”

Why was everyone suddenly asking his opinion on girls this week!? “No… not really…” He admitted, “To me… she’s just another member of our class…”

“You’re like that with all the chicks in our class...” Mondo frowned, “They’re all just… _people_ to you!”

“Yes…?” Kiyotaka agreed, “What’s your point?” Was Mondo… suggesting something? The reason Kiyotaka kept dreaming of _him_ instead of, well, _any_ girl whatsoever?

“…I guess it just pisses me off that you don’t give a crap about impressing cute chicks, but you’re _still_ better at it than me!” Mondo growled.

“Ah…” Kiyotaka sighed, Mondo was just upset about his poor luck with women! “Well… I’d hardly call being friends with _one_ attractive women…”

“Dude, you’re friends with _three_ cute chicks…” Mondo griped at him.

“Err… I am? Who do you mean? Other than Sayaka…” Kiyotaka asked awkwardly, why did he feel like he was failing some sort of test?

“I mean Hina and Kirigiri!” Mondo snapped, “Why, you got other chicks you hang out with that I don’t know?”

“Ah… well there’s Hirayama in the reserve course, and I clean for Princess Nevermind…”

“See! _That!_ How the _fuck_ do you clean for a honest-to-god _princess_ like it’s _nothing!_ ” Mondo snapped, “Hell, I haven’t even dared say ‘Hi’ to her, ‘cause I know I’d probably fuck it up and yell at her or end up hurting her and then…”

Did he say _hurting her?_ “…Are you still upset about Fukawa?”

“N-no!” Mondo stuttered defensively… “Alright… maybe a bit…” He admitted, after Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow a him. “I mean… I just panicked and fucked up, big time! Of course I’m still pissed off at myself!” He growled.

“Well… What did Fukawa say when you apologised to her?” Kiyotaka asked.

Mondo just looked at him as if he was mad…

“You _did_ apologise to her, didn't you?” Kiyotaka asked…

Mondo just looked to the side in embarrassment.

Well, no _wonder_ this was still upsetting him! “ _Why not?_ ”

“Whaddaya mean ‘why not’? What am I supposed to do! Just walk up to her and go ‘whoops, my bad!’?” Mondo suggested sarcastically.

“Well… that was all you did when you hit Makoto…” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“Yeah… but he’s a _guy!_ ” Mondo gestured wildly, as if that should explain everything…

“Are you implying that women don’t deserve the same level of courtesy as men?” Kiyotaka asked, “I was always taught that if you hurt someone, then you should apologise to them, regardless of who they are…”

“I know that! But… Daiya always said I shouldn’t hurt chicks! _At all!_ ” Mondo cried, “So… I can’t just give some half-assed apology like I gave Makoto!”

“But… are you sure you’ve not misinterpreted your brother? I mean… not hurting women _at all_ would be almost impossible unless you don’t associate with them at all!” Mondo didn’t look convinced… “Haven’t you ever accidentally hurt any of your female friends?”

“Taka… I don’t _have_ female friends!” Mondo sighed.

“Oh… right…” Kiyotaka mumbled, “But… what about in your gang? You really didn’t have any female members? No… tomboys or anything?”

“What? No! If a girl had tried to join the gang we’d have just laughed at her!” Mondo gaped at Kiyotaka as if he was an idiot… “Or asked her out on a date maybe, if she was hot…”

“…Well, maybe that’s your problem.” Kiyotaka said, as firmly as possible. “You think women are different from us.”

“Well, they are…”

“NO! They _aren’t!_ Not to the extent that you and your gang believe them to be, at least!” Kiyotaka snapped, “Just… apologise to Fukawa the same way you did to Makoto! Pretend you’re talking to _him_ if necessary! I assure you, it will be just the same as if you _were_ talking to Makoto!”

The pair of them stared each other in the eyes in silence for a few moments, before Mondo relented. “…Alright, I’ll give it a shot…” He sighed.

Well, hopefully that was _that_ problem sorted out! Now if only Kiyotaka could find a girl he wanted to treat differently…

* * *

 

Last class of the day… she’d have to try and grab another ‘Hope fragment’ or two before everyone disappeared as soon as the class ended. Who could she go for? Maybe Maizono? Given she was allowed to miss classes so often, it might be best to catch her now… She had enough stuff on her desk that Toko ought to be able to be able to go up and chat to her while she was packing it back up…

…Except that she suddenly stiffened, turned and saw Toko staring at her and then started quietly packing up all her things, finishing just before the bell went.

 _Argh!_ And now she’d run off and was out of the door before Toko got a chance to talk to her! Damn her stupid intuition! Toko would have to be less obvious about it tomorrow then… So, who _else_ could she talk to… she’d have to think quickly, because everyone else was also quickly following Maizono out of the room…

“Hey… Fukawa! You got a minute?” Oowada suddenly shouted at her.

Oh well, that’d do! “S-sure whatever.” She muttered, now what could she ask _him?_ She already knew about his dead brother and lack of parents…

“Uhh… thanks…” Oowada sat down beside her, “So… thing is…”

“What do you want to do when you’re older?” _That_ was the other question Gekkogahara had said she could ask, right?

“Uhh… I’m thinking carpentry…” Oowada replied, answering the question without really thinking about it. “A-anyway… uhh…”

Him? A carpenter? She hadn’t been expecting _that!_ Still, it probably suited him… it would mean he didn’t have to talk to people, which was good because he was still umming and ahing about whatever it was he’d meant to say to her in the first place…

Honestly, she could probably go and catch up with someone else in the class if he’d get on with it…! Maybe she _would_ even, she didn’t _have_ to stick around and listen to him now she’d got the trivia she needed…

“Why don’t you figure out what you’re want to say and _then_ come talk to me?” She suggested, getting up to leave…

“What!? No, wait… MAKOTO, HANG UP A SEC!” Oowada called after her…

“Makoto? He left about five minutes ago…” Toko scowled… Seriously, was this idiot _blind?_ She didn’t look anything _like_ that goofy shrimp!

“Uhh… No wait… I…” Oowada stood up as if he was going to say something, before trailing off angrily and throwing his chair into the desk behind it… “ _FUCK!_ This was a _stupid_ idea!” He cried, running out of the room…

“I-idiot…” Toko muttered, as she picked up the chair and put it back… What the hell was  _his_ problem? Other than spending too much time surrounded by other stupid meat-heads  _like_ him...

“Hey… Are you alright?” Maizono asked from the doorway.

“Wh-what are _you_ still doing here!?” Toko asked, “You seemed like you needed to run off pretty fast a few minutes ago…” Maizono looked looked guilty at that… maybe that was a bit harsh, after all _Toko_ wouldn’t exactly want her talking to her either!

“See, I _told_ you she’s fine!” Kuwata poked his head around the doorway to comment. “Now let’s _go!_ ” He tried to pull Maizono away…

“…Are you _sure_ you’re alright?” The singer asked anxiously, refusing to budge.

“Wh-why wouldn’t I be? He’s just loud and stupid…” Toko griped, “But, while you’re here, can I ask you some questions?”

“What sort of questions?” Maizono asked, suspiciously… “You aren’t trying to interview me, are you?

“No… my therapist is making me learn stupid trivia stuff about everyone in class…” Toko was getting really tired of explaining this.

“You mean like ‘Sayaka’s favourite flavour of ice cream is blueberry!’ or ‘Sayaka likes taking relaxing bubble baths in her free time!’?” Maizono asked. “My agent published whole _book_ of that kind of thing once…”

“Really? I’ll look that up if I ever have to do this again then!” But hopefully that wouldn’t happen… “So what do _you_ do in your free time? Other than Karaoke?” She asked Kuwata.

“What makes you think I do Karaoke?” Kuwata asked. “I’m usually playing guitar, or pool in the rec room…”

“Wasn’t there some video going around of you getting Ishimaru to do Karaoke?” Toko asked, she was _sure_ Ludenberg had said it was Kuwata…

“You took Taka out to do Karaoke!?” Maizono giggled, “When was that? Let me see the video!”

“Uhh… yeah… thing is…" Kuwata awkwardly wilted under his girlfriend's glare, "Uhh… Ikindamadehimsinga _Mioda_ song…” 

 _“You made him sing a Mioda song!?”_ Maizono scowled at him, “ _Why_ would you…?”

“I thought it’d be funny to see his reaction to the lyrics!” Kuwata cried, “I didn’t think he’d actually _try_ to be good at it! Or know it well enough to do a passable impression of her…”

“Really!?” Maizono sighed… “Hmm... But if he's willing to try and do a good performance… maybe we can try and organise a karaoke night and get him to sing a _good_ song!”

“Well, have fun with that!” Toko told them, as she made to leave with her new info…

“…Did you want to come as well?” Maizono asked.

“ _Urg!_ No! I don’t need your pity invite!” Toko snapped, really a group of idiots like Ishimaru singing badly all evening, why would she want to go to _that…?_

“What if we make it a class thing and invite everyone?” Maizono asked, “Including _Togami?”_

“W-well…” _Argh!_ Was she really that predictable? “J-just don’t expect me to sing…” Toko muttered.

* * *

 

Hmm… that was _another_ of Fukawa’s books proofread! This wasn’t turning out to be too difficult a favour at all…

However, it wasn’t proving as helpful as he hoped either… All of these stories just seemed to be the same thing… A barely-described women met a man, they became attracted to each other, she changed her entire career plans so they could be together, then they had a problem, usually caused by a lack of proper communication, that got resolved by the women changing the man’s behaviour!

But… _WHY!?_ Why did the man always have to change his behaviour, and the woman her career, if she had one!? Why did she even like him in the first place if he wasn’t nice enough for her once they got together? And what was it about _her_ that made him like her? It all seemed so poorly explained…

And yet, Fukawa was the _Ultimate_ Romance writer… So these books ought to be the pinnacle of the genre! So why didn’t it make any sense to him? What was he missing that every other person who’d read these books had enjoyed?

“You _still_ up here?” A familiar voice said from behind him…

“Ah, Mondo!” He smiled, ready for a short break, “I’ve only got a few more short stories to do and then I’ll be halfway through!”

“Alright… They as good as people say they are?” Mondo looked over his shoulder at the file he was editing…

“Ah… why don’t you see for yourself, while I go get myself a drink?” Kiyotaka suggested, standing up and pulling the chair out for him… Maybe _he’d_ be able to tell Kiyotaka what he was missing!

“Uhh… sure thing…” Mondo agreed, sitting to look at the screen…

By the time he was back, Mondo had slouched forward with his head on one hand, squinting at the screen irritably… “So… what do you think?” Kiyotaka asked him.

“This shit is boring as hell…” Mondo muttered, “Why the hell does this guy even care about this snooze-fest of a chick?”

“AH! You think so as well?” Kiyotaka almost laughed out of relief! “I thought perhaps I was… missing something…”

“Well, if ya are, I don’t get it either…” Mondo stood up and swivelled the chair back for him to sit on. “I thought an Ultimate Writer would have more interesting stuff that _this!_

“Agreed… But, speaking of Fukawa, how did you chat with her go?” Kiyotaka asked.

Mondo just stared at the floor…

“Mondo…” Kiyotaka sighed, “You _said_ you were going to…”

“Well, I tried, alright!” Mondo snapped, “But then she suddenly asked what I wanna do after school and that threw me off and I forgot what I was gonna say and then I tried ta do what ya said and called her _Makoto!”_ He said, loudly and in a rush…

“Err… Well, that’s unfortunate, but... I’m sure she understands it was just a little slip up!” Kiyotaka patted his arm to calm him down…

“Yeah, I know… Leon said he spoke to her straight afterwards and she didn’t even give a shit...” Mondo sighed. “But that was _after_ I ran off, sooo…”

“So, you’ll just have to try again!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Yeah, I know…” Mondo griped, “But anyway… You _have_ remembered we’re going to movie night tonight, right?

“ _What!?_ Ah! No I hadn’t remembered!” Kiyotaka cried… he’d had so much on his mind he’d completely forgotten about his social workout! “I’ll be ready in a moment…Just let me save this file first…” He scrambled to organise himself before Mondo dragged him off for an evening of fun…

(Tuesday, 24th April 2012)

“Hey… Taka! Wake up!” Mondo nudged him and whispered into his ear… a feat made much easier by the fact that Kiyotaka was leant on his shoulder… “Ya fell asleep!”

Kiyotaka flinched in embarrassment. How rude of him… even if this romance movie _was_ spectacularly boring, that was no reason to fall asleep during it! Especially given the fact that he needed to discuss it with the rest of the students afterwards!

“What did I miss?” He asked Mondo quietly.

“Just this…” Mondo whispered, before slowly stroking his fingers down Kiyotaka’s cheek, looking _deep_ into his eyes and leaning forward to purse their lips together…

 _Huh…_ Maybe this romantic movie wasn’t so dull after all! He certainly wouldn’t mind more of _this!_

But wait… why wouldn’t Mondo just _tell_ him what happened? And hadn’t they been watching an action movie? This couldn’t be happening.. was he _dreaming_ aga…?

“Taka? The fuck are you _doing!?_ Mondo shook him awake…

“AH! Err… sleeping?” He guessed.

“Okay… but why the fuck were ya _kissing_ my neck!?” Mondo snapped, petting the small purple dog next to him irritably.

“Err…”

“Presumably he was dreaming of kissing someone…” Kyoko guessed, adjusting the noodles on her head slightly.

“N-no! I wasn’t dreaming of kissing Mondo!” Kiyotaka lied.

“Err… Taka…” Makoto was awkwardly scratching his hair with his middle arm, “Kyoko didn’t say anything about you kissing _Mondo…_ ”

“So… that means… You _were_ dreaming of kissing me?” Mondo exclaimed.

“Ah… I’m sorry… it’s been happening for a while and I’ve been trying to stop but…” Kiyotaka tried to explain…

“Hey… don’t worry about it! I, uhh, I know how it is…” Mondo murmured, before suddenly they were kissing each other… and Kiyotaka felt his whole body tense before relaxation swept over him and he dreamily opened his eyes…

…and came face-to-face with his alarm clock… and subsequently the palm of his own hand as he realised that he had, yet again, been dreaming of kissing Mondo! _Twice_ even!

 _Why!?_ Why did this keep on happening! They hadn’t even been watching a romance movie, it had been some gory action thing, and then Chihiro had told off the students for talking about the possibility of using live people for the fatal stunts! Makoto and Kyoko hadn’t been there, he hadn’t fallen asleep _once_ and he _certainly_ hadn’t ended up with his head on Mondo’s shoulder!

It was as if his subconscious had made up a scenario just to use as an excuse to depict Mondo kissing him… but then why couldn’t it make the extra step of making up a _girl_ to kiss him!? Or at _least_ depict one of the women in Fukawa’s books!

…Except all of them were boring, weren’t they? Mondo had even agreed with him on _that!_ Perhaps he could have a word with her about it once he’d showered and got to class. She’d probably appreciate constructive criticism, and maybe then her _next_ book would be more useful for sending his subconscious activities down a more productive path…

* * *

 

Toko looked around the empty classroom triumphantly… who says she couldn’t organise herself! She’d managed to get up early and managed to be the first person in the classroom today! Which was perfect for her, because it meant that she would get a chance to talk to everyone _else_ in the class as they came _in,_ instead of having to try and chase them down once they were leaving! Hehehe… it was the perfect plan! All she had to do was wait and keep an eye on the doorway…

Ishimaru was the first in, he must not have been on hall monitor duty this morning… And he came straight for Toko as well!

“Ah, Fukawa! You’re here earlier than usual…” He commented, slightly more dully than he normally was in the mornings. “Perfect! I had some things I wanted to discuss with you about your work…”

Her work? Was this going to be a grammar lesson or something? “Is this about my spelling? Because those were older pieces so…”

“Ah… No, it’s not _that…_ I noticed that your language structure improved in the _newer_ pieces…” Wait, how many of them had he read if he was able to notice _that?_ “And, I realise that the comments I have may have been addressed in your newest works but… I couldn’t help but notice that you tend to focus on the men in your novels far more than the women, and…”

“Well of _course_ I do! That’s the _point!_ ” Toko told him, which just made his face contort in confusion… “Women want to read about a wonderful man… they don’t _care_ what the woman’s like!”

“Well… I suppose… But I thought a good author tries to make _all_ their characters well rounded and interesting?” He countered, “After all, an interesting _female_ protagonist would likely attract male readers!”

“Maybe…?” It wasn’t like she’d _looked_ at the numbers of guys who cared about romance in stories, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t very high… “But then they’d be less popular with women, and _they're_ my target audience.”

“What? Why would they be less popular? I didn’t mean focus on the women to the detriment of the man, I meant…”

“No… I know what you mean.” Toko stopped him before he explained himself _again,_ “But… the women who read my novels aren’t doing it because they want to see two _other_ people be happy… they’re doing it because they want to imagine that _they’re_ the woman being courted and fallen in love with by the man of their dreams! That’s why the woman is described vaguely… so that the reader can relate to them and subconsciously fill in their own appearance.”

 _“Oh!_ Like how almost every mainstream video game protagonist is either a brown haired guy or can be customised to fit the players appearance!” Fujisaki chimed in… wait, when did Fujisaki get in here?

“So… your readers are mostly women?” Ishimaru asked. “Are their any romance novelist who write with men in mind then?”

“I… don’t _think_ so?” Toko couldn’t remember any, at least… “Guys don’t usually read romance, so there’s not much market for it, so no one writes it…”

“Oh? Ah… I see…” He looked disappointed. “But, err… There were some other complaints I had… For instance, I couldn’t help but notice that there’s a running trend in your work for the female protagonist to give up her career plans, or undergo some _other_ significant life change, in order to stay with the male protagonist.” He scowled, “Doesn’t that give the impression that a women’s life plans are somehow less important than a man’s?”

“I guess? But again, that’s because it what my readers _want!”_ Toko explained. “They’re all women who aren’t really happy with their lives and are secretly hoping that someone _else_ will come and change everything completely, and then they’ll be in love and happy!”

“Oh… but… that’s completely unrealistic in the majority of cases!” Ishimaru snapped, “And besides, doesn’t it alienate women who are happy with their current lives?”

“Yes… but they probably wouldn’t be reading romance books in the first place…” Kirigiri commented as she unpacked her bag… wait, _she_ was here already…?

“Alright… but, I also noticed that the woman often becomes dissatisfied with the mans behaviour about halfway through the book and things aren’t truly resolved until he _drastically_ changes his behaviour, which again is completely unrealistic in the majority of cases and…”

“Ooh! Ooh! I know _this_ one!” Enoshima (wasn’t she usually one of the last to class?) practically leapt out of her chair to answer his question, “It’s because the women who read Fufu’s books are all powerless and useless! So they wanna pretend they can make a difference by, like, magically ‘fixing’ some dude who actually _matters!_ ” She enthused… “Right Fufu? That’s the sort of person you write for, isn’t it?”

Well…The person Toko wrote for was _Toko… so…_

“That’s completely ridiculous! _And_ a toxic way of thinking!” Ishimaru snapped at… both her and Enoshima, “ _No one_ is truly powerless _or_ useless! It may _seem_ that way at times but if they work hard to improve their situation…!”

“Yeah… but that’s _hard!_ Way more fun to pick up a book and pretend you don’t _have_ to!” Enoshima laughed at him, “At least, for a little while… It’s not like anyone but teenage girls are taking Fufu’s books _seriously!_ ”

“…Well, I should hope not, if _that’s_ the view you take of your readers!” He glared at Toko for a moment… “But I’d best sit down, class will be starting soon…” He muttered before stomping over to his own seat…

But… wait… class was starting soon? _Argh!_ She’d wasted her chance to get more ‘hope fragments’ by arguing with _him!_ Now she’d have to try and chase people down at lunch after all…

* * *

 

Well… no _wonder_ he’d found her books dull and ridiculous! To think she was basically just peddling the idea that women could get what they solve all their problems just by meeting the right person, without having to do any work for themselves other than somehow ‘fix’ the person who’d done everything for them!

If only he could write well himself… he could try and write a book where an ordinary woman solved all her problems realistically, with effort and hard work! And then shy’d meet a man who was _already_ nice and get married in a simple ceremony like his parents had… and _he_ would… assuming he ever stopped dreaming of Mondo and found a girl he actually wanted to date…  

“Woah, Taka… those are some bad looking vibes!” Hagakure made a beeline for him as soon he entered the classroom. “Now, I know you say there’s no ‘scientific evidence’ for demons, buut…”

 _Urg…_ This nonsense was the _last_ thing he wanted to deal with this morning!

He knew the fortune teller _meant_ well… but ever since the holidays had ended, he’d seemed convinced that Kiyotaka had some form of ‘demonic possession’ afflicting him and had been trying to get him to take all sorts of nonsensical ‘charms’ in order to ‘exorcise’ the problem! And frankly, going over the long list of studies performed that showed, time and time again, that there was no evidence for any of that sort of malarky was getting rather tiresome!

“Hagakure… I’ve _told_ you, there is no such thing as ‘demonic possession’!” Kiyotaka snapped, “I’m just tired because I’ve not been sleeping well this week!” He added, so as to field off any questions as to why he wasn’t looking as quite as spirited as usual…

“Not sleeping well? Any chance you’re getting disturbed by dreams, then?” Hagakure asked, with an air that suggested he knew full well he was right..

“Err… well… _yes_ …” Kiyotaka agreed irritably… Agreeing with Hagakure about _anything_ always felt like he’d failed the good names of common sense and reason.

“I _knew_ it!” Hagakure grinned and excitedly dug around in his bag for something… “So, I got you _this!”_ He dangled… _something_ in front of Kiyotaka’s face.

Kiyotaka sceptically took a closer look at it… It was a red plastic hoop, with red thread woven through it in a regular pattern that made it look like a very stiff net with a large hole in the middle. Hanging from the bottom half of the hoop were various tassels, beads and feathers which were concealing a rectangular red slip of paper that Kiyotaka recognised as one of the charms Hagakure had been trying to pawn off on him for the last few weeks.

“…You decorated one of your ‘charms’.” Kiyotaka observed, going as far as to actually act out the ‘air quotes’.

“It’s not just decoration! It’s a dream catcher!” Hagakure insisted.

“A dream… _catcher_...” Kiyotaka repeated… What nonsense was he going to spout _now?_

“Yeah! You see, dreams fly through the air…” Hagakure started.

“ _No_. No they _don’t_ …” Kiyotaka found a fault with his ‘explanation’ in the very first sentence, which was quite possibly a new record! “Dreams are…”

“No, no… _dude…_ hear me out!” Hagakure shushed him, "Dreams fly through the air, _okay?_  And there are big, fat, nasty dreams, which give you nightmares, and teeny cute fluffy dreams, which give you _nice_ dreams! So what you do, is, you hang up this _dream catcher_ somewhere near your head when you sleep…” Hagakure waved it around near his head as an example, “and then the _nice_ dreams can get through this hole in the middle, but the big fat _nightmares_ get caught up in it!” He finished with a flourish, “Make sense?”

“No.” Kiyotaka stated, “For starters, this thing smaller than my head, so even if it _did_ work as you claim, the nightmares would just be able to fly _around_ it…”

“That’s what all the beads and stuff are for! They’re bait!” Hagakure said with an unbelievably straight face.

“ _Bait!?”_

“Yeah. Nightmares are suckers for that stuff!” He enthused, “So they fly up to the catcher and get stuck!”

“I see… I suppose that makes logical sense.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“So you believe me?” Hagakure asked.

“ _No,_ because dreams don’t work the way you _claim_ they do! To _start_ with, dreams are a result of your subconscious mind processing the events of the day during the rapid-eye-movement, or REM, phase of sleep. _Therefore_ they originate from within your own mind, and do _not_ ‘fly through the air’ as you put it…”

“Then how come people have weird, crazy dreams?” Hagakure asked.

“Well, because the part of your brain that is in control of making sense of various stimuli is shut down while you sleep, and so the images and memories that your brain is attempting to process get turned into incoherent nonsense.”

“Then why do people get nightmares? Why would your own brain make you go through horrible stuff?”

“Well… science is divided on the issue… but it’s thought that it’s either because you’re feeling stressed or anxious, and so those feelings get processed into negative sensations, _or_ it’s because your subconscious is trying to highlight an ongoing problem…”

“Really? Do you need some help then?” Hagakure asked.

“Err… no? I… Why do you think I…?”

“Well… from what you just said, you’re having bad dreams because you’re stressed, right?” The fortune teller poked him in the chest, “So, I thought you might want help!”

“Ah… No, that’s not… that isn’t why I’m not sleeping…” Kiyotaka admitted… after all, his dreams weren’t exactly _bad…_ just… not desirable…

“So… your mind’s trying to send you a message then?” Hagakure suggested.

“Err… I suppose that’s a possibility, but I don’t _think_ there’s anything my mind is trying to tell me with them…” Unless his mind was trying to tell him he actually _wanted_ to kiss Mondo, but that was _completely_ ridiculous... wasn't it...!?

“Hmm… _I_ know what it’s tying to say…” Hagakure said, thoughtfully.

“You _do!?_ What is it!?” Kiyotaka begged.

“It’s trying to warn you that you’re possessed by a demon!” He thrust the ‘dream catcher’ back at Kiyotaka… “So you _do_ need this!”

 _Why_ did he continue to try and discuss things with this fool!? “ _Hagakure_ … I…”

“I know… you’re broke! Don’t worry, consider this a really late Christmas present!” Hagakure forced Kiyotaka’s hands around the ridiculous object and then patted his hands patronisingly. “And you can call me Hiro! We’re _friends_ , right?”

“Err…” He wasn’t going to win this argument, was he? And it wouldn’t hurt to hang up a silly decoration, would it? Perhaps it would even mollify him enough to get him to stop spouting this nonsense at Kiyotaka… “Thank you, Hiro.” He took the thing and folded it into his bag just before their teacher arrived.

* * *

 

Toko stalked into the dining room irritably… so much for catching any of her unchecked classmates on the way out of class! She’d _tried,_ but the four people she had left were all annoying organised and had packed up and left before she even got her stuff back in her bag!

Still… they had to _eat,_ right? So they’d have come to the dining room!

Lets see… Makoto was surrounded by people, Kirigiri was nowhere to be seen, and Oogami was carrying two bowls of food over to a table, where Asahina was idly flicking through a newspaper…

Wait… Asahina read _newspapers?_ Maybe she wasn’t as dumb as Toko thought… and often _said_ she was…

…Actually… she kinda said a _lot_ of crap about Asahina, didn’t she? Hell, she’d gone on so much about it once that Oogami had threatened to punch her. And now she had to try and make friendly conversation with them? This… probably wasn’t going to end well, was it?

Still.. Gekkogahara had forced her to at least _try…_ Maybe she could start by asking Asahina about her paper and then apologising for caller her a muscle-head so often…

Toko gulped and walked over to get a closer look at _which_ paper it was. Wait, was that the _Hope’s_ _Peak_ _Pinnacle?_ “Urg… you really read that _trash?_ ” Toko scowled at it.

“Do you have to insult _everything_ about me?” Asahina looked up from it just long enough to scowl up at her…

“N-no!” Toko flinched… her and her stupid big mouth! This _already_ wasn’t going well… “But that paper really _is_ terrible! Hinai’s a _hack,_ for starters, and…”

“That is unnecessary…” Oogami scowled at her, “She writes for a different medium to you, so judging her by your standards is…”

“…No, she’s right. Hinai’s a hack!” Asahina suddenly said, closing the paper angrily.

“Hina…? What…?”

“Th-there’s no need to be sarcastic about it!” Toko stammered.

“I… I’m _not…”_ Asahina scowled… “You’re _right…_ she’s a _liar!_ ”

What? Was she serious? What had made her think _that_ all of a sudden?

“Hina… What has she written?” Oogami asked, cautiously.

“She… she said we’re _dating!_ ” Asahina cried at her.

“You mean… You and _I?_ ” Oogami looked startled.

“You mean you’re _not?_ ” Toko asked… _Really?_ They were together _all the time!_

“ _Sakura’s got a boyfriend!_ ” Asahina stood up to snap at her, “A boyfriend who’s been _sick_ for a _year_ in _hospital_ and doesn’t need people going around saying his girlfriend is _cheating_ on…!”

“Hina… Kenshiro’s condition is not _that_ critical…” Oogami put her hand on Asahina’s arm… which was probably all that stopped her from slapping Toko.

 _Really?_ The _Ogre_ had a boyfriend wasting away in the hospital? “I… I didn’t know…” Seriously… why did no one _tell_ her this sort of thing!

“Well… now you _do!_ ” Hina sat back down angrily… “ _Urg…_ Now I’ve gotta go around telling everyone it’s not true!”

“Can we not have Hinai correct it?” Oogami asked.

“You… don’t read many gossip rags, do you?” Toko smirked.

“You’re saying shell refuse?” Oogami frowned.

“No… but let me show you… _here’s_ where she printed the story about you two…” Toko flipped to the gossip section… yeesh, it took up half the page… which would prove her point at least, one she finally found the part she was looking for next… “And… _here’s_ where the paper corrects things!” She finished, pointing to the small box of tiny text that made up the retractions section…

They both leant over to squint at it…

“That’s barely noticeable…” Oogami commented.

“Wha…? I’ve never even _seen_ that there before!” Asahina gasped, “Do all papers do that? I usually just read swimming and running magazines…”

“It’s not normally that blatant, but a lot of them do…” Toko complained, “Make up a big front-page scandal to boost sales and then quietly admit it’s not true afterwards…”

“So we really _will_ have to tell everyone personally…” Oogami sighed. Well… _that_ probably wouldn’t take long, not once it got around that the Ogre was upset with the rumour going around.

“Y-yeah… unless you’re willing to let Hinai run on story on your sick boyfriend…” Toko muttered.

“Why do you think she would want to?” Oogami asked.

“Are you kidding? A sob story like _that?_ You having to choose between caring for your sick boyfriend or pursuing your dream? The idiots who read the paper would just _eat up_ that sort of thing!”

“I see… I shall go discuss it with her then.” Oogami nodded and started to stand up.

“ _Huh?_ Sakura… You’ve not got to do that!” Asahina started, “It sounds like it’d stress Kenshiro out even more, and I don’t mind if a few people think we’re dating… Most of them barely know me!”

“Err… Yeah… I wasn’t actually _suggesting_ you do that!” Toko agreed. “I was just joking about how tabloids work…”

“But if means falsehoods aren’t being spread about my friend and I, I am willing to do so…and I am sure Kenshiro will agree.” Oogami smiled, “And perhaps it will serve as a warning to people that the school paper is not always factual…”

“Well… when you put it like _that…_ Yeah! Let’s do it!” Asahina slammed a fist into the palm of her hand excitedly and stood up as well. “Thanks, Toko!”

“Uhh… you’re welcome?” Toko stammered, as they walked out of the room… _Those_ two versus the school paper? That was going to be interesting…

But, at least she learnt that Oogami had a boyfriend and Hina read sports magazines… _Hope fragments acquired!_

* * *

 

“You’re _still_ reading all that boring shit?” Mondo sighed and leant on Kiyotaka to look at what he was working on at the library computer…

“Well… I had to take a break to do my homework… But, yes, I am! I should be able to finish it all before bedtime though!” He smiled at the thought… reading all of Fukawa’s books at once was getting frustratingly tedious… Although at least now Fukawa had explained the reasons behind the bland females, it wasn’t as confusing to read anymore.

“ _Or…_ Why don’tcha leave it ‘till tomorrow and come hang out with me in my room, instead?” Mondo started tempting him…

“Ah…” Why did he suddenly feel so _warm?_ And slightly dizzy? Was he getting sick? If he _was_ getting sick, he couldn’t afford to be putting off work to waste time… “No. Sorry, Mondo, but I really _should_ try and get this finished tonight!” He insisted.

“Yeah, fair enough... I’ll see what Chi’s up to then!” Mondo patted his shoulder before standing back up and leaving. “See ya tomorrow then, Taka!”

Right… back to reading… _Urg…_ This was just so boring! It was worse than studying… At least when he studied he knew he was doing something productive! This was just wasting his time, and not even _enjoying_ doing so! Why did Fukawa have spend so much time describing every tiny thing that happened in tedious detail? He couldn’t wait to be finished with this favour! He was starting to wish he’d taken Mondo up on his offer, especially as whatever dizzy spell he’d had had ceased almost as soon as Mondo had left him alone…

Several dull hours later, Kiyotaka _finally_ stretched out of his chair and returned to his own room, only to feel somewhat ominous as he looked at the bed…

What if his dreams really _were_ sending him a message? What would it _be?_ It couldn’t _really_ be that he wanted to kiss _Mondo,_ could it?

No! He definitely didn’t want _that!_ He needed to get a _girl_ friend, and besides, he knew full well that Mondo was attracted to girls, so it wouldn’t work anyway!

…Maybe he was being too literal about this. Perhaps these dreams were just because he was… maturing and wanted to kiss _someone_ (i.e. A _girl_ ) and in lieu of him knowing _who_ , it had merely substituted in the person he spent most of his time with!

Yes! That made perfect sense! It was just an unfortunate result of his lack of a girlfriend! He should probably stop worrying about it and just go to sleep… it’s not like he could stop having dreams, after all!

…Although he should probably put up that silly thing of Hiro’s before he slept… otherwise he’d get an ‘I told you so’ from the fortune teller tomorrow once he inevitably had another dream staring his friend…

(Wednesday, 25th April 2012):

Kiyotaka was awoken with a start as his alarm rang… he turned it off quickly and stretched as he sat up in bed and stretched...

Wait a minute… he’d been woken up by his _alarm…_ meaning he’d not had any dreams… and he was still _clean…_

Which meant he _hadn’t_ dreamt of Mondo last night! _Wonderful!_

…But… _why_ hadn’t he dreamt of him? He’d had those dreams every other night… what had made them _stop?_

He turned to look at the dream catcher… it still looked the same as before… But then dreams didn’t have a physical form so maybe that was normal? He should have asked Hiro if it would change appearance if a nightmare got stuck in it… or if it needed changing occasionally like the lint trap in the tumble dryers or…

 _What was he THINKING!?_ This was _nonsense!_ Kiyotaka slapped himself awake… Obviously the dreams had stopped because of some _other_ reason and it had just been a coincidence that he’d put up the thing!

Thinking about it, he’d realised _why_ he’d been having the dreams just before he’d gone to bed last night, hadn’t he? _That_ was it! His subconscious had been trying to send him the message that he wanted a girlfriend, and he’d _received_ that message, so now they’d stopped!

But… he’d _known_ he needed to get a girlfriend! So what was the point of _that!?_ Stupid subconscious, making him doubt himself… Still, at least it meant he’d ended up doing Fukawa’s favour and no longer had to worry about Syo turning up and requesting anything weird again… He’d be able to ask for the voucher back as soon as he handed her back her USB stick today…

* * *

 

Right… today was the last day she had to get the last two ‘hope fragments’ for Gekkogahara… She couldn’t let herself get distracted again, she _needed_ to talk to Naegi and Kirigiri today!

“Ah, Good Morning, Fukawa!” Ishimaru was his usual loud, _far_ too happy in the morning self as he entered the room, “You’re here early again! That’s good! It means I can give you _this!_ ” He stuck out his hand…

“What is it?” It looked like a USB stick…

“It’s your work! I finished correcting it all!” He announced.

“ _Already!?”_ Was he serious? That was _half_ her stuff! How had he checked all that in less than _three days!?_

 _“_ Well, I made it my top priority!” He laughed, “So, now I’m finished, I’d appreciate it if you could give me the vou…”

“W-wait! Who said you were finished? That’s not _all_ my work!” Toko said quickly... After all, if she didn’t keep him busy, he’d still be able to clean for Togami tomorrow!

“Oh… is it not?” He asked stiffly… obviously this was all taking it’s toll on him! Perfect!

“No… I’ve got more in my room… I’ll give it to you after lunch!” She _should_ be able to rustle together a few more things during lunchtime… and if she quickly finished the next part of her _new_ book _now_ she could throw in _that_ as well just to make _sure_ he was distracted tomorrow!

She’d just have to catch Naegi and Kirigiri after the _second_ set of classes…

…

Amazingly her plan worked as she expected, she might be slightly dizzy and frazzled from skipping lunch to frantically pull a set of files together for the annoyance, but now the final bell signalling classes were over for the day ws ringing, so she just had to quickly corner Naegi and Kirigiri before they left class and disappeared in separate directions!

“Hey, Uhh… _Fukawa!_ Hang on a sec, I gotta talk to ya!” Argh! Why was the stupid lug trying to talk to her _again!?_ She had _his_ ‘Hope fragment!’ already! And if she didn’t get rid of him quickly, she’d miss her last chance to get Naegi and Kirigiri’s!

“I-I’ve got better things to do that talk to _you_ right now!” Toko snapped, trying to dodge past him…

“What? You’ve gotta rush off to write more of your boring chick flicks?” He growled, “Ya can’t wait two minutes for me ta say…”

“ _Excuse me!?”_ How _dare_ this dumb idiot insult her work! _“_ M-my work is _not_ just ‘boring chick flicks!’”

“Are you kidding? I read some of those short pieces and nothing interesting happens at all! You don’t even say what the chick in them looks like!” Oowada complained.

Oh great… was she going to have to explain this to _him_ as well as his stupid buddy?

“Well, that’s because I write what _I_ want to read, not the stupid, impossible, fantasy _you_ want!” Toko snapped at him.

“Hey! How the fuck would _you_ know what kinda girl I want! You’ve never even _talked_ ta me!”

“W-well, I can make a pretty good guess based on how you _act…_ ” Toko smirked.

“Oh yeah? Try me then…”

 _Hah!_ Look how smug he was… like he wasn’t some completely obvious macho idiot! “Alright then… picture this: You and your gang are hanging out in a club just drinking and chilling out, when this _really hot babe_ comes up to you and admits that she’s been looking at you all evening…” _Hah!_ He was already grinning at the thought… _“…_ and then she spends the rest of the evening sitting on your lap while all your gang looks at you jealously!”

“Heh! Alright… so maybe you _do_ get this shit…” He admitted, turning slightly red. “So what happens after that?”

 _Urg…_ She didn’t have _time_ to stand here and act as a substitute for his non-existent imagination! She still had to catch Kirigiri and Naegi! She needed to scare him off quick!

“I dunno… maybe you have sex with her right there while your gang watches?” Toko grinned, "Isn't that the..."

“WHAT!? THAT’S FUCKED UP!” He yelled and stepped back away from her… and the door! “WHY THE FUCK WOULD I DO _THAT!?_ DO I SEEM LIKE SOME KINDA PERV TA YOU!?”

“Figure it out yourself!” She shoved past him, “Like I _said,_ I’ve got better things to do!”

Now where the heck had those two gone to? It wasn’t like Makoto ever did anything interesting… he’d probably just gone back to his room… she might as well start there and ask him if he knew where Kirigiri had gone…

…Except that wouldn’t even be necessary, because Kirigiri was walking slowly alongside Makoto, who looked like he was going in for a hand-hold… how come no one had told her they were dating?

“H-hey, you two!” Toko yelled after them… “I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Oh! Hey Toko!” Naegi acted as friendly as ever… “You need some help?”

“Well… kind of… My therapist thinks I need to talk to more people, so I have a question to ask you two…”

“Sure! That sounds like fun!” Makoto laughed, “Right Kyoko?”

“Well, it’s no trouble for us…” Kirigiri shrugged.

“Alright, what do your parents do for a living?” Toko asked.

“Well, my Dad’s an accountant and my Mom stays at home and sometimes sells craft projects online…” Naegi shrugged, “What abo…”

“Great! What about yours?” Toko cut off what was obviously going to be a question about _her_ parents to get an answer from Kirigiri…

“…My father works in a school.” Kirigiri said bluntly.

“Great! Thanks!” Toko nodded and turned to leave.

“Hey, wait! Is that it?” Makoto cried, “Can’t we ask _you_ anything? What do _your_ parents do?”

“W-why do you want to know _that!?_ ” Toko snapped, did they know her mothers both hated her? Were the going to rub it in her face that they’d been fine with her being locked in a closet for three days!?

“Well… you asked about us… I was just curious about you!” Makoto smiled meekly, “You don’t have to answer _that_ question, but…”

“I don’t have to answer _any_ of your questions! I’ve already got all the information I need!” Toko grinned as walked away…

“Ah… It would have been nice to have a conversation…” She heard Makoto sigh from behind her.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back in a moment.” Kirigiri replied smugly.

What was _she_ talking about? Why would Toko need to go back? She’d got her ‘Hope Fragments’! Makoto’s Dad was an accountant, and Kirigiri’s worked in a school! That was perfectly fine! Honestly, it was like Kirigiri thought that just because she was the Headmaster’s daughter that everyone would just do whatever… she…

… _The Headmaster’s daughter_ … so _of course_ her father worked in a school! And there was no way Gekkogahara would buy the idea that Toko hadn’t known that before this conversation! Arrghhh! That sneaky _bitch!_ Now Toko _did_ have to go back!

“H-hey! W-wait! Y-you _knew_ I couldn’t use that!” Toko complained.

Kirigiri just shrugged and smirked evilly at her.

“So, what? Y-you’re not going to tell me anything until I tell you about _my_ parents?”

Kirigiri just looked over at Naegi…

“Uhh… well, if you don’t want to talk about _them,_ maybe we can talk about something else?” Naegi looked nervously between her and Kirigiri… “Like…  What do you do in your free time?”

What kind of stupid question was _that?_ She was a writer, so obviously she _wrote! Duh!_ Hell, even _Kirigiri_ was raising an eyebrow at his stupid question!

“I write! Do you have any idea how often I’m expected to come out with new books?” Toko snapped. “Now…”

“I don’t, actually!” Makoto admitted sheepishly, “How often is it?”

“Uhh… well, my current publishing contract is to write a new, fifty thousand word novel every three months, and I have a serialisation contract in a women’s magazine, which is pre-written, but my agent is talking about doing another one, so I have to start writing several preliminary ideas out so they can pick which one they want to run and then I’m also trying to put together a selection of short stories to publish and…”

“Wow… _really!?_ You do all of that!?” Naegi just gaped at her, “How do you get all your ideas? Are they from personal experience, or…”

“Excuse me!?” Was he trying to make _fun_ of her, or was he just delusional? “I write _romance_ novels! How is someone like _me_ supposed to write _those_ ‘from experience’!?”

“Uhh… well…” Naegi started mumbling stupidly… so he’d just asked her stuff without even thinking about it, like she was just some normal _likeable_ person he could make happy small talk with, and not some delusional idiot who had a million ideas a day because…

“They’re all just fantasies that I make up so I can pretend that there’s _someone_ who loves me!”

“...Is that why you didn’t want to talk about your parents?” Kirigiri almost looked awkward in the face of Toko’s ranting…

“Th-that’s none of your business!” Toko stammered, she was _not_ having this conversation! Especially not with _these_ idiots…

“…Alright, Toko… I’m sorry I upset you…” Makoto sighed, “But… for what it’s worth… even _with_ all the business with Syo… There’s lots of people in our class who think of your as our friend!”

“You’re just s-saying that because you barely _know_ me!”

“Hmm… That would be a sensible deduction, most of the time...” Kirigiri smirked, “But our class is full of idiots who are far too quick to make friends with people…”

“Oh, come on! You make it sound like a bad thing!” Naegi complained at her.

“I-it _is_ kind of idiotic…” Toko couldn’t help but disagree… how the heck could this idiot _actually like_ her!?

Kirigiri just stifled a laugh behind her gloved hand while Makoto groaned at them both… “I read mystery novels in my free time, and I like watching Friends on occasion.” She said, before starting to turn and walk away “Like now, for instance. Give my regards to Gekkogahara.”

“Huh?” Makoto looked confused as Kirigiri started to walk away from him, “Uhh, OK! See you tomorrow, Toko!” He quickly waved goodbye before scurrying off after the detective.

Well, that meant she had all of the information Gekkogahara had wanted, right? Makoto’s father was an accountant, Kirigiri was a secret Friends fan, Ishimaru… Ishimaru…

 _AARRGH!_ How could she have missed _Ishimaru!?_ She’d had a _ton_ of conversations with him this week, but hadn’t asked him anything about himself! He’d just gone on about her books… well and admitted about having that wet dream on Saturday…

Well… it _was_ trivia… even if it _was_ gross trivia he should have kept to himself…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka scowled at the story in his hands… at least Fukawa’s spelling and grammar had got better over the course of her career, but he could hardly say the same about her depiction of respectable men! The man in _this_ one was probably in violation of more worker’s rights laws than Kiyotaka could _count,_ and yet the woman in the story still stayed as his secretary and believed him to be perfect… presumably because he had money, he assumed from the sheer number of fancy brand names being mentioned as belonging to him…

And then it ended with him insisting that the only reason he treated her so cruelly was because he cared about her and wanted her to stay with him!? That was _nonsense!_ It was borderline _abusive!_ How could Fukawa even _think_ this was how relationships should work?

And why had she made this sadistic creep look so much like Togami? He _was_ rude to her, but… not to _that_ extent! And he certainly didn’t make any of these inappropriate advances on her! So why had she…?

There was a heavy thud as Mondo dropped onto the dining room chair opposite him and started eating his dinner in silence… Oh dear… That certainly didn’t _look_ good…

“So… did you manage to apologise to Fukawa?” He asked, cautiously…

“No.” Mondo sighed. “She just… gave me something to think about…”

“Oh… Did you want to talk about it?” Kiyotaka asked. “I’m always here to talk if you do!”

“Thanks, Kyoudai!” Mondo grinned and gave him a thumbs up, “And, uhh… Same here, y’know?” He added, a little anxiously…

…Had Mondo noticed how worried he’d been the last few days? Even though he’d been upset over hurting Fukawa? How kind of him!

Not that Kiyotaka was _ever_ going to admit to having had those dreams about him to _anyone!_ “Thank you! Of course I’ll let you know if I ever have any problems!” He assured Mondo. “But for now, I have to correct the rest of Fukawa’s work…” He gestured to the memory stick that  Fuwaka had shoved at him along with her latest story just before afternoon classes began. “Unless you _did_ want to talk, of course!”

“Uhh… nah, I’m fine!” Mondo answer far too quickly, “Good luck with Fukawa’s shit…” He added, looking thoughtful…

It looked like he had too much on his mind to want to distract Kiyotaka this evening… Oh well… he supposed it meant he’d be able to get all of Fukawa’s work finished and have more free time for the _next_ time Mondo wanted him close…

* * *

 

"Did you gather all the Hope Fragments?" Gekkogahara started the conversation off differently this week.

"No." Toko started, at which the rabbit sighed irritably, "But I _did_ find out some stuff about my all classmates." She threw the list over.

“Great!” Gekkogahara picked the list up and looked at it, before slowly typing a response with her other hand… “That’s… an _interesting_ fact about Kiyotaka…”

“W-well, it was either that or write an essay on his views on romance novels and gender disparity!” Toko complained.

“Still, it looks like you spoke to everyone and learnt something about _them…_ ” The bunny observed, “But… Did you let them learn anything about _you?_ ”

“Uhh… well… a bit…” She admitted, “To some of them…”

“Aaaaaaand…?”

“…And they’re _still_ stupid enough to _like_ me!” She sighed... she hated admitting this happy-go-lucky idiot had been _right!_

“Yaaaay!” Urg! Seriously? She’d programmed in a victory cheer? With the bunny throwing confetti? “So now you know you can always talk to more people than just Togami and I! Isn’t that much nicer?”

“…I suppose it’s not too bad…” She admitted.

She’d still rather just talk to Byakuya though… And hopefully she’d get a chance to when she cleaned for him tomorrow! Hehehe…

“But… it does make me wonder… why didn’t you think you’re likeable?” Gekkogahara’s computer asked, “Did many people like you _before_ Syo existed?”

 _Urg… This_ was the conversation she’d been avoiding all week! “You’re asking about my parents, aren’t you?” She sighed.

“If you _think_ I am, then, _yes_ , I am!” The bunny smiled, “…But you don’t have to talk about it if you aren’t ready… Not _yet_ anyway…”

 _Great…_ That just meant Gekkogahara was going to have a _new_ opening question every week, didn’t it…?

* * *

 

(Thursday, 26th April 2012)

Kiyotaka arrive at Princess Nevermind’s door at his new, _earlier_ , time. She’d been tending to give him more cleaning work than usual as of late, and although she did always pay him for the extra time he spent, it was somewhat embarrassing if he was always late to clean for Togami, so he’d decided to start arriving early, just in case.

Hopefully she’d understand! She hadn’t mentioned it last week, at least. So assumed he wasn’t being overly rude as he pressed the doorbell and her door was opened…

“Good Morning, Your High…” Kiyotaka started to give his usual greeting, only to stop mid sentence when he realised the door had been opened by a girl he didn’t recognise, dressed in a maid’s outfit. “Err… I’m sorry, I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru… I usually clean for princess Sonia?” He introduced himself awkwardly.

The girl barely nodded at him before walked inside the room for a minute. “She says you can enter.” She said, before gesturing for him to do as much.

“Thank you...” Kiyotaka muttered as he strode into the room. He couldn’t help feeling that something was slightly… _off_ about this somehow.

His first thought as he entered the room proper was that there were far too many reserve students, about ten of them dressed either in maid’s outfits or black suits, in here to fit comfortably inside a normal dormitory... and they’d all stopped to turn and stare at _him!_ His second thought was that the reason they _could_ fit inside comfortably was because this was no longer a normal dormitory. The left most wall had apparently been removed, giving the princess twice as much space as a normal room.

“What… what happened in here!?” Kiyotaka cried, “Did the wall break somehow!?”

“Tanaka and Souda get on so well together, they were willing to share a room, so that I could have a little more space!” Her highness intoned from across the room… “Although it _does_ mean I have to have Tanaka’s pets in my room…”

“Ah…” Kiyotaka was slightly shocked, partly because of how casually she was discussing something that must have been an _extreme_ inconvenience to her classmates. And partly because she looked completely different from the last time he’d seen her… Instead of her usual simple school uniform, she was wearing a long, white dress with a large and ruffled hoop skirt, matched by a pair of long silk white gloves and a white lace train that was being held away from the floor by two girls. She also had her hair up in a beehive style, accentuated by a silver, diamond studded tiara that she had replaced her usual yellow flower with…

In those clothes, he could see why she’d been named the Ultimate Princess… She must have a meeting with someone spectacularly important to go to the inconvenience of wearing all of _that!_ It almost made him wonder why she’d bother talking to him at all…

However, he couldn’t overlook the flagrant violation of the school rules! “But...! The school rules expressly forbid modification of the building structure, including the removal of interior walls!”

“I am aware of that… however, you aren’t the _only_ one who can have the steering committee make an exception to the rules…” She said, smiling patiently at his idiotic assumption that she would have made such a drastic change to her room without going through proper procedures first.

“I see… my apologies! Err… Shall I start cleaning then?” He asked, wanting nothing more at the moment than to start working so all the other students in here would stop staring at him...

"Very well, I will also need you to replace the Dark Devas’ sawdust…" She added, gesturing to a large cage with various colourful tubes and boxes threaded through it…

“That… might take me a while…” He admitted… he had _told_ her that he was scheduled to clean for Togami straight after her, hadn’t he?

“You _will_ be paid fairly.” She told him, looking as if she was getting tired of him…

“R-right!” He quickly nodded and started working… He’d just have to try and be as quick as possible so he wasn’t _too_ late for Togami!

He didn’t have any luck with _that_ at all! By the time he’d finished cleaning the now twice-as-large bedroom, it was the time he’d usually have been ringing Togami’s bell… and he still had the hamster cage to deal with…

He quietly approached it and looked over it. There were trash bags and a fresh bag of sawdust next to the cage, which he was presumably supposed to use. But the hamsters were all still inside it! How was he supposed to deal with _them?_ He’d never had pets in his life… did he have to get them out first or would they be well trained enough that they would sit still while he did it?

There was a boy who’d done nothing except hold a cushion and stand _next_ to the cage the entire time Kiyotaka had been in here… maybe _he’d_ know?

“Ah… excuse me…” Kiyotaka started.

The boy nodded and bent down to hold the cushion in front of the cage door and open it. This caused twelve hamsters to obediently exit the cage and sit down on the cushion.

“Oh! Err… Thank you very much!” Kiyotaka jumped, as he started figuring out how to disassemble the cage so he’d just be left with the bottom part containing the sawdust.

“Your welcome… I like being useful!” The boy smiled.

 _Useful?_ He’d spent most of the time doing nothing… Did he really think _this_ was all he could do with his life? “Well… if you work hard in school you’ll be able to become far _more_ useful in the future!” He advised the lad as he finally figured it out, unclipped the metal bars and lifted them off and onto the floor…

“What was that?” The princess asked calmly from the other side of the room, “About working hard in school?”

“Oh… well… he was saying he liked to be useful, so I said if he works hard at school…” Kiyotaka started to explain.

“Oh yes… your belief that everyone who works hard enough can overcome their problems and actually _do_ something with their life…” She said, with a touch of amusement in her voice.

“Well… of _course_ they can!” Kiyotaka countered, suddenly becoming aware that the students around him were looking at him as if he was a fool… “It… it might not seem like much individually… but enough ordinary people working hard can make _major_ changes!”

“That’s assuming they’re all working hard at the same _thing_.” Her highness pointed out.

“Ah… well, _yes!_ Organisation is important, of course!” He agreed.

“Hence the roles of exceptional leaders.” The princess curtsied slightly as the other students all murmured in agreement.

“Ah!” He’d given her the perfect chance to imply that mindlessly following _her_ would be what made them useful, not their _own_ effort! He couldn’t let _that_ go without correction! “But, _anyone_ can work hard and _become_ a leader… or someone who organises things! For example…”

“Oh! Look at the time! I need to have breakfast, and _you’re_ supposed to be cleaning for Togami!” Nevermind suddenly pointed out, innocently. “Tell him ‘my bad’ for keeping you so long, once you finish with _that!_ ” She added, before waving her hand at the cage dismissively before the other students swarmed around to follow her out of the room.

“Err… B-but… I-I’m going to…” He stammered as they ignored him and swept out of the room, even the one holding the hamsters, who carried them out of the room on their cushion as if they were prized jewels or something…

Kiyotaka angrily finished changing the sawdust, cursing himself and suppressing the urge to cough as he carelessly tipped the fresh sawdust out onto his sleeve and bag… Had she _timed_ that so he’d not be able to argue against her? Why was she insisting that they needed to follow _her?_ And why were they so keen to agree with her? Didn’t they have their own goals for their lives, like _he_ did? It would seem not… but surely they couldn’t _really_ be happy doing ridiculously trivial tasks for her, could they?

But what could he do to convince them, other than keep working hard, and hope to become the good example they obviously needed… Starting with getting to Togami’s room and apologising for being so spectacularly late!

...

“Did you _really_ think I’d _ever_ let you in my room, just because Ishimaru is late!?” He could hear Togami shouting even as he approached the stairs… “None of your cleaning supplies have even been _opened!_ Did you even _try_ to improve _yourself,_ or did you go straight into trying to drag him down to _your_ level!?”

“I-I-I… I d-did _st-start…_ ” That was Fukawa, obviously panicking.

“Then perhaps you should have tried _finishing_ it _,_ instead of doing whatever ridiculous nonsense you _think_ Ishimaru is preoccupied with!” Togami snapped.

“Wh-what do you _mean,_ I _th-think_ he’s…” Fukawa was stammering… “H-he’s _late_ because I asked him to…”

Oh dear… Fukawa thought the favour was to blame for him being late? And Togami thought she’d done it on _purpose!?_

“You’re an _idiot…”_

 _“TOGAMI!_ That’s _enough!_ ” Kiyotaka shouted as he strode down the hallway that they were arguing in. “You need to stop being so unnecessarily _harsh_ to her!”

“If I _don’t_ then she’ll never get it through her deluded mind that I am _not_ interested in her!” Togami snapped back.

…But the man in Fukawa’s story was even _ruder_ than him and she _still_ liked him… “Err… I understand what you're trying to do… But I don’t think it will have the effect you _think_ it will…” Kiyotaka told him.

“What makes you think _that?”_ He scowled…

“Ah… Well…” Kiyotaka hesitated before getting the proofread work out of his bag… he didn’t really _want_ to humiliate Fukawa while she was stood right there, but on the other hand it _needed_ to be said… “Fukawa asked me to proofread her newest work, and…”

“Y-you already _did_ it?” Fukawa asked, looking shocked.

“Yes! And to be quite honest, it’s rather concerning! For example, _here…_ ” Kiyotaka held it towards her, but then realised that there was even sawdust on _it!_ “Ah! My apologies…” He muttered, stopping to quickly brush the sawdust off of it…

“ _Ishimaru...”_ Togami said, with a warning tone… which was too late to stop Kiyotaka from brushing the sawdust off of the paper… and into Fukawa’s face…

“Ah! W-watch what you’re…!” She started to complain, before her hand shot up in front of her nose… “Ah… ah… ACHOO!”

* * *

 

“You called for me and so I appear!” Syo laughed… right in Tick-Tock’s horrified face!

Oh! And there was Master Togami! “Ooh! Master! _There_ you are! Kyahahaha!” He got that adorable little look of panic on his face and started trying to inch his way towards the door to his room… “ _Ooooh!_ Are you inviting me into your _room?_ ”

“No! I just… I need to let _Ishimaru_ in to clean it…” He stiffly opened the door, “Which he can do just as soon as he’s given you that thing he was trying to hand to you before you sneezed…”

“Whatwhatwhat? Are you trying to give me a _present?_ ” Syo looked at it… “Or a _love letter?_ You _know_ I’m never going to fall for any boy other than _Master_ ever again, don’t you?”

“Err… of course I do!" Tick-Tock looked terrified. "This was something Fukawa asked for…”

“Fukawa? _I’m_ Fukawa!” Syo laughed, “Or do you mean stuffy-face?”

“Err…” _That_ threw him! “…You’re _both_ Fukawa?”

“Well… we’ve both got the same father, right?”

“Of course… It’s just that I’m not close enough to her to be calling her by her first name, so I call her by her surname…”

 _“_ You call me _Syo_ though!” Syo laughed, “Or did you think ‘Genocider’ was a _given_ name? Kyahahaha!?”

“I… didn’t really think about it…” Tick-Tock look upset… “Do you think she’d mind me calling her by her first name? As I… apparently have been doing it with you?”

“How should _I_ know what she wants? Try it and see what happens!” Syo giggled. “But anyway… what did stuffy face _want?_ ”

“Ah! She asked me to proofread _these…”_ He held out some paper and a computer stick…

 _Proofread?_ She already had people to do  _that_ for her! Why was she making Tick-Tock do it? And why was Syo carrying a bunch of cleaning stuff? Had Stuffy-face thought she could keep him busy and then get to clean Master’s room instead of _him?_

Hmm… clever plan, stuffy face! Wonder why it went wrong…? “So, Master…” Syo turned to face…

The spot where Master Togami _had_ been standing… “HEY! Where’d he go!?”

“He ran off down the hall while we were talking…” Tick-Tock pointed while walking into the master’s room. “Have a good morning!” He added, quickly shutting the door behind him…

Kyahahaha! Master was playing so hard to get that he was recruiting people to play interference for him now! Of course, Syo couldn’t have _that_ keep happening, maybe she should help her duller half keep Tick-Tock distracted… She had a _pretty_ good idea where she’d gone wrong! A little re-write with a few changes here and there and this story would have him distracted for _weeks!_

* * *

 

Kiyotaka finished his studying for the evening and picked up the sheet of papers that had been hastily shoved into his pigeonhole at some point… It was Fukawa’s handwriting, although _far_ sloppier than usual… she must been in a rush to write it and give it to him to proofread… In fact, this favour was getting to the point where it almost felt as if she was just trying to keep him busy, rather than in actual need of help… Or perhaps she'd decided to get revenge for him wasting her whole day by causing her to turn into Syo and then hiding from her rather than attempt to turn her back...

He really hoped that wasn’t the case… he'd already given her notes for the classes she missed, and an apology! And it wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own problems! After all, he’d told his father he’d try and get a girlfriend by _tomorrow…_ But he _still_ hadn’t had any luck finding anyone he was interested in… not even while walking to and from Eco club this evening…

Still, he'd promised her a favour, and hadn't specified exactly how long it should take, so he'd best get on with it! The story started with a male student, with tidy black hair and uniform, walking home from school…

Huh… that was odd… The men in Fukawa’s books were usually nothing like that! And although the description was vague, it was almost as if he student being described was… well… _him._

Ah! Had Fukawa noticed that he’d been struggling with romance? Perhaps his question about authors of male romance had given him away, and she’d decided to write something for him! How nice of her!

He’d certainly be willing to proofread _this!_

The male… _perfect…?_ She must have meant **_prefect_** … Was walking home from school, alon ** _e_** as usual after a  hard day of study (why was ‘hard’ underlined?) when suddenly there was a roar of a mot ** _o_** rcycle engin ** _e_** (Why was Fukawa missing so many Es today?) and a tall, broad man dressed entirely in  tight, black motercycle leathers rode up onto the pavement in front of him, blocking his path home…

The man took off his helmet to reveal a main of wavy golden hair, slightly damp and mussed up from the lite sheen of sweat coating his anguler face. The biker wiped his brow and irritably shook his hair out, pulling it behind his back before staring at him with sharp lilac eyes… (Just like _Mondo_ …)

Of course, the perfect was sensible enough to be scared… although, deep down under his layers of sensible resarvations, he had to admit that the thought that someone as handsom as the biker had actually bothered to stop directly in front of _him_ was slightly… _thrilling_ at the same time…

The biker could obviously sense the perfect’s worry though, shouting out an apolegy and begging him not to run off… _Kiyotaka_ could tell the man was nervous, and so agreed to hear him out at which point… the… the biker…

_Mondo was shouting out a confession to him, admitting that he’d seen Kiyotaka walking home from school each day, and had become enamoured with him… his eyes, his face, the way he walked, the way he carried himself, the ridges of his muscles and… and the curves of his ass, even!?_

_They’d all been invading his dreams each night, leaving him groaning in his sleep and wanting to shout the name of a man he’d never even spoken to before…_

_“I… I know I’ve got no right ta ask… but any chance I could get ta know ya, maybe?” Mondo asked, his volume lowering in relief that Kiyotaka hadn’t run off instantly. “Like… maybe we could go back to mine and talk… or study or summat!?”_

_Of course, he was more than willing to go talk and study with Mondo in stead of spending the evening working alone! The pair of them rode on Mondo’s bike, with Kiyotaka sat behind Mondo, arms wrapped around firm abdominals and his chest pressed up against Mondo’s back…_

_Then they entered Mondo’s house and spent a while sitting next to each other at the desk, with Mondo doing his homework while Kiyotaka frequently leant over to help him, each time accidentally brushing Mondo’s hands or arm and inadvertently sending shivers up his own spine… Mondo was starting to sweat again, and Kiyotaka was feeling the heat himself. The tension in the air was getting nigh-on unbearable, but Kiyotaka still didn’t want to leave… But what did he want, exactly?_

_“Fuck… I can’t do this.” Mondo suddenly announced, turning towards him and grabbing his wrist, “Do you have any idea how GOOD it feels when we touch!? I… I need MORE, dammit!”_

_YES… Yes, that was it! He wanted more…_ _more attention from the biker _, more of those electrifying touches, more of the heat that was now pooling into his gut and…__

…and heat really was pooling into his guts… w-was he…?

A quick look downwards confirmed his suspicion. He’d started having an erection…

Well… random erections were normal in a healthy teenage boy, right!? It was just a normal part of growing up! And at least it hadn’t been in front of the whole class or during assembly or something! As first erection stories went it was probably quite normal, after all, who _wouldn’t_ get aroused when reading a romance story… about himself... and Mondo… in a situation where they were about to… _do things..._

 _Oh no…_ That wasn’t normal at _all_ , was it?

And not only that, in truth, it wasn’t even _really_ about him and Mondo! Just… people who were similar to them. In retrospect _h_ _e’d_ been the one to turn it in him and Mondo, _he’d_ been the one imagining his best friend would be going through the same thing as him and desperate to touch his body and…

And Kiyotaka felt his face flushing as he realised that line of though was merely making his... current situation more... prominent. What was _wrong_ with him! Why did his... sexual firsts have to keep involving _Mondo!?_ Why had he _wanted_ to think of Mondo while reading this? Was he really starting to lust after his poor, unsuspecting _male_ friend?

 _Oh no..._ _PLEASE, NO!_ Mondo would _hate_ that! He'd _hate_ the thought that Kiyotaka was even _considering_ the idea that Mondo was ' _weak'_ enough to have developed a sexual attraction to him! Besides! Kiyotaka couldn't _afford_ to be gay _..._ He was supposed to be finding a nice wife and having children so he'd look like a respectable family man with the future interests of the country at heart when he tried to make a political career for himself... Not some _vulgar pervert_ who became excited at the thought of his male, gang leader, friend... _doing things_ to him!

And yet here he was, becoming increasingly aware of how tight his trousers were, even as he scolded himself for it. What was he going to _do?_

Well, for starters, he ought to get rid of... _this!_ What was it people always said got rid of erections? Cold water and thinking of baseball? Well, he needed a shower before bed, didn't he?

He awkwardly strode into the bathroom before hurriedly striping, so ashamed of himself that he didn’t even think to take the time to fold his clothes properly before he clambered into the shower and set it going as fast and cold as possible.

“ _Aaaauuggh!” Gods,_ that was _cold!_ Admittedly that was the _point_ , but it was still such a shock he could barely breath at first, and even once he managed to force some air into his lungs, his whole body was shivering violently… which had helped reduce his _problem_ somewhat, but not _entirely_ …

So… he just had to think about baseball, right? If only he knew more about baseball than the fact that Kuwata played it… Hah, what would Kuwata think about _this…_

(“ _What would it matter if we WERE gay?” “Who cares who you’re fucking, so long as you stop long enough to get shit done?”)_

 _…_ Was there any chance Kuwata was actually right? Hadn’t the headmaster also suggested that people wouldn’t care, right after that business with Asano? Maybe they were right? Perhaps he could try and find some statistics on it tomorrow…

Not that it would help with Mondo’s reaction, if he were ever to find out… He’d probably never want to see Kiyotaka again…

That thought made the water in the shower feel even colder than before, somehow… and _finally_ his erection subsided…

Well… that was his current problem dealt with… But… he still _really_ needed to find someone more… receptive to his attractions to be attracted _to!_ But _how!?_ How did other people do it?

Well… there was the club Kuwata had taken him to, when he’d wanted a wingman to help him ‘pick up’ women…

 _Of course!_ That would be perfect! Maybe he could even take Mondo with him, so he could point out attractive women to Kiyotaka… and then _Kiyotaka_ would be there to build up his friend’s confidence enough that he didn’t worry about talking to them and end up shouting at them! It was the perfect plan!

He exited the shower and hastily dried himself, changed into his underwear and slipped into bed… This would work out! He’d ask Mondo about it tomorrow, they’d go out Saturday and he'd meet a nice girl and all of his problems would be sorted!

...But for now, it felt as though all the cold water in the world wouldn’t stop him from dreaming about _Mondo_ tonight...

* * *

 

(Friday, 27th April 2012)

Toko glowered at the pile of school and apology notes Ishimaru had left in her desk… at least Syo hadn’t made her miss anything too difficult to catch up on, but an _entire_ day wasted because of some stupid sawdust? And she hadn’t even been able to throw Ishimaru off his schedule at _all…_ Apparently he’d just got held up at his earlier cleaning appointment…

Not to mention he’d given her a list of ‘criticisms’ about her newest work… all of which consisted of pointing out how ‘Byakuya’s’ behaviour was ‘borderline abusive’ and ‘isn’t indicative of romantic attraction’…

Was Fujisaki actually _right?_ He was going to be so smug about it, wasn’t he...?

A hand suddenly waved across her field of vision… “Ah… _Toko_? Good morning?”

“Ishimaru? I don’t have any more work for you to proofread…” She sighed, after all _that_ idea had been a total bust… “My publishers have got a new editor.” She added, just to make sure he shut up about it…

“Ah… well, I guess in that case I’m done with your favour then!” He smiled, holding out a booklet of paper… “I… I must admit, I’m slightly relieved! This is probably the best piece you’ve written so far! But it was somewhat… _uncomfortable_ for me to read… Especially if it _was_ written with me in mind? I think you may have got my… _interests_ slightly mixed up! You see…”

What was he talking about? She hadn’t written anything for him… but this _was_ her handwriting… sort of… Wait… was _this_ what Syo spent all of yesterday doing!? Since when did _she_ write?

“Err… _Toko_? Are you listening?”

“Wh-what? Of course I was!” Toko jumped out of her line of thought and took the papers from him. “Well, thanks for all your work, or whatever…”

 _“_ Ah… you’re welcome?” He muttered and walked off, as she flicked through the paper… had he been expecting her to say something else? Well… whatever, she didn’t really care. She was more confused as to why Syo had been writing… and apparently she’d done it better than _her!_ Since when could that insane bitch write worth a damn…!? Or at least worth Ishimaru’s praise…

What _had_ she written? Let’s see, guy walking down the street alone after school and…

What the heck? This was the exact same story _she’d_ written, just with the bland female student replaced with an equally bland male ‘perfect’ (which he’d only corrected _once,_ in fact it was like he’d stopped correcting it at _all_ after the first few paragraphs) and Byakuya replaced with some sweaty loudmouth biker who looked exactly like…

“Ah! _M-mondo!_ Good morning!”

 _…_ Well _that_ explained it… No wonder he’d not cared about the spelling, he’d probably been too busy fantasising about his ‘kyoudai’! But since when had he been _gay?_ Was that something _else_ half the class had known without anyone telling her?

“Hey, Taka! You alright…? You don’t look like you’ve slept again…”

“Err… no! No I’m fine! Hahaha!”

“Well… if you’re sure…”

“Absolutely! Incidentally, I was thinking that maybe you and I should go out together!”

“ _WHAT!?_ ”

Well… given that shriek from Oowada and the way everyone was staring at Ishimaru now, at least this was something no one _else_ had known… Except maybe Yamada, who was looking more excited than confused… although he might just be being a perv, as usual…

“I-I-I mean… to _clubs_ … to pick up _women_ obviously! Hahaha!” Ishimaru started back-pedalling… or maybe that’s what he meant in the first place and he'd just said it stupidly, it was hard to tell with him. “W-w-we could be each other’s _wingmen!_ ”

“R-right... yeah t-that makes sense!” Oowada mumbled back at him, “Only I, uhh, I kinda got barred from every club nearby in the first term here…”

“ _What!? HOW!?_ ” Ishimaru cried.

“I… I did that stupid ‘yelling at girls’ thing…” Oowada said quietly.

“Oh, ah… That’s… that’s unfortunate…” Ishimaru sighed, "Although, on second thoughts, I probably couldn't have dealt well with the loud music anyway..."

“Yeah… that probly wouldn’t have helped…” Oowada muttered dejectedly as Ishimaru headed to his desk and sadly got out… was that another of _her_ books? Was he just reading all of them? Why? They weren’t written with gay men in mind at all! And why was he asking Oowada to go help him chat up _women_ if he had a crush on _him_?

Was he thinking that reading romance novels, or chatting up women would stop him being gay…? Ha! He was even more delusional than _her_ if he believed _that!_

_…_

The rest of the day was as boring as usual… Just going through classes with no one trying to talk to her…

“Hey… Fukawa… Can I have a word?” No one except for Oowada, who had apparently stuck around while she was putting all her stuff away in it’s bag… _Urg…_ She thought she’d managed to chase him off Wednesday!

“Wh-what do you _want?_ ” Toko snapped, “C-can’t you just leave me alone!”

“Uhh… well, alright. If ya really want…” Oowada sighed dejectedly and turned to leave...

…He was actually listening to her, this time? Well about time! But did he have to look so miserable about it? She felt like she’d kicked a puppy…

“…Alright. What do you want?” Toko sighed.

He scowled for a moment, before taking a deep breath… “Alright… well… I was thinking about what you said and… I figured out that I kinda… think that chicks are like… trophies ta show off and… I forget, or maybe I never _learnt_ … that women are just normal people as well, so… thanks for calling me out on that.”

“O-okay?” Where had all _that_ come from? She’d hinted at maybe _half_ of it… had he really figured the rest out by himself? Maybe he was less of a meat-head than she'd thought...

“Also… I wanna apologise for hitting ya… I mean, when you were Syo.” He carried on.

“What are you talking about? Do you mean last week?” Toko asked, “You didn’t hit me _that_ hard, and it meant I wasn’t wandering around as Syo, so…”

“Yeah, but… I didn’t _mean_ ta do it!” He cried, “I just… she freaked me out with her pervy shit and I accidentally threw her into a table!”

“Urg! Well, I don’t blame you! _I_ wouldn’t want to hang around with her either!” Toko shrugged, “The stuff she brings back to my room is gross enough!”

“You… you seriously don’t give a fuck that I hit you?” Oowada gaped at her.

Was he expecting her to be angry with him?

“You said it yourself! She… _I…_ we’ve _killed people!_ Did you think I was _expecting_ everyone to welcome me with open arms when I told you all?” Toko asked, “Throwing me into a table’s the _least_ I imagined!”

“Then why the _fuck_ did you tell us then!?” Oowada snapped, “Why tell us something that might make everyone fuckin’ _hate_ you!” What’s the _point!? You_ don’t like Syo, so why take that risk to make _her_ life easier!?”

“It wasn’t to make her life easier… It was so I’d know… what everyone actually thought of me.”

“Even thought you were pretty sure the answer was gonna be a punch to the face or summat?”

“Well… yes. I… People were starting to act like… like they wanted to be friends with me. But I kept telling myself that couldn’t possibly be true, and if I made friends with them it’d all come crashing down the minute the found out about Syo. In the end… I just decided to tell them myself, instead of keep being tortured by the hope that I actually _could_ make friends…”

“Huh…” Oowada looked weirdly thoughtful. “But… If you’d already _had_ friends… would you have told them?”

“I don’t know… I guess I might have been tempted to keep it quiet so they wouldn’t leave me.” Toko shrugged, “But then I’d probably have slipped up and they’d have found out anyway, so that would have been stupid…”

Why did Oowada suddenly look so freaked out?

“I’m just talking hypothetically… I didn’t _have_ friends when Syo first… started happening.”

“Hah! Right! Gotcha!” Oowada seemed to force a laugh. “Well… uhh… Good chat, Fukawa! Thanks! You’re… you’re not such a bad person ta know.” He muttered awkwardly and walked off.

‘Not a bad person to know’? _Her!?_ She took it back... he was as much of an idiot as the _rest_ of them!

* * *

 

Kiyotaka quickly checked that no one was looking over his shoulder at the computer, before typing in the question that had been worrying him all day, ever since Mondo had thrown a spanner into the works of his not-so-perfect plan:

_‘What proportion of people are homophobic?’_

He clicked the first result… ah, this was perfect! It was a study where people in different countries had been asked if they thought homosexuality should be accepted in society and in _his_ country, the number of people who said ‘No’ was…

…33%

 _33%!?_ That was _one in three people!_

Which meant Kuwata had been wrong. A _third_ of the population would indeed ‘give a shit’ if he _was_ gay! And elections could be won or lost by tiny differences of 1 or 2%... he’d have no chance whatsoever if an entire _33%_ refused to vote for him simply because of who he _was_ …

…Well… It was an unfortunate statistic… and _obviously_ would be something he’d work on improving once he got into office, redeemed his family name and served as an example for reserve students and all the other normal people out there! Which he _would_ be perfectly capable of doing once he stopped having these… _nonsensical_ fantasies about Mondo and got himself a _girlfriend_ , like his father had told him to!

…like his father had told him to do by... ten minutes from now… And instead Kiyotaka had started dreaming of his unreceptive, male, best friend… and even if he _hadn’t_ he still had absolutely no idea how to even go about _meeting_ girls, let alone asking them out or… anything!

Kiyotaka anxiously logged out from the computer and made his way to the phones, where Makoto was chatting away happily as always… Kiyotaka couldn’t help but wonder if he ever dreaded talking to _his_ father as much as Kiyotaka was right now…

“Good Evening, Father!” He announced, once his call had been picked up, “How has your week been?”

“It’s been good, thank you, Kiyotaka!” He said jovially, “What about you? What have you been up to this week?”

“Ah… well, aside from school work… I’ve mostly been reading romance books…” He admitted.

“ _Romance books?”_ His father was understandably surprised, “Don’t tell me you’ve been sucked into reading those godwaful Twilight books as well, have you?”

“Ah, no… I was reading the books Fukawa, from my class, wrote. I was helping her edit them.”

“Ah… As a side job? That’s good!” His father laughed.

“Ah… well, not exactly…” Kiyotaka cringed awkwardly at the thought that he might have got his father’s hopes up that he might be sending more money home this month, “But… What’s that other book you mentioned?” He asked, hoping to avoid talking any more about how his _own_ week had gone.

“Urg… I don’t know, it's about some girl falling in love with a vampire or something! All the women at work seem to be talking about it… from what they’ve said about the plot I’d have thought it would put them off men for life, but they’re all mad about it!”

…A book that could put people off _men_? Why hadn’t he thought of that!? Maybe if he read _that_ then he’d stop dreaming of Mondo and maybe be able to start noticing _women_ like he was _supposed_ to be, instead…

“But, anyway! What about what we were talking about last week… Any luck with the girls?”

“Ah… n-not so far… b-but I’ve got some ideas!” Kiyotaka stammered… was that going to be a good enough answer for him?

“Ah, good! Just don’t forget your studies while you’re at it!”

Wait… Was that all he had to say? He’d told Kiyotaka to ask someone out by now and he _hadn’t…_ Perhaps Kiyotaka had taken him too seriously...

“Err… Of course I won’t! That’s always my main priority!” Kiyotaka assured him, almost laughing as he relaxed... Why did he always get so worked up about everything?

“Good to hear! I’d best be off now, speak to you next week!”

“Yes! Have a good week, Father!” He ended the call as usual.

…Well, that wasn’t as bad as he’d expected, and he even had a way out of his problem!

“Nice talk with your dad, Taka?” Makoto asked as he put the phone down and they started heading back to the dorms.

“Yes! Thank you! How are your family?”

“Ehh… same as always…” Makoto shrugged happily. “Dad’s just been working, Mom’s busy, Komaru’s got a new manga book…”

“That sounds nice.” Kiyotaka commented, “I need to go to the library to pick up another book myself…” He reminded himself out loud.

“Yeah… about that.” Makoto started awkwardly, “I mean… I should have said this on Saturday, but…  Relationships really aren’t something you can _study,_ Taka…”

He’d been suspecting as much… Written words had been completely ineffective at _inspiring_ him… At least in his current state of mind… But maybe it was still possible to be _repulsed_ by them!

But… trying to explain that to Makoto, right now… He knew his friends had said that he could always talk to them and ask or help with anything… but still… This was probably just something he could fix himself! _Right!?_ There was no point making his friends concerned about him… or potentially worse than concerned… if they were part of those 33% of people…

“I… I know. It’s just Fukawa asked me to read them and now I’ve found them quite… interesting!” He lied.

“Well… alright then! Enjoy your book!” Makoto smiled and waved him off as he got to his room.

Hopefully, with some luck, he _wouldn’t…_

* * *

 

“So… how’s the new book going?” Fukisaki asked her as they were walking home from the book club.

“ _What?_ Didn't Ishimaru show it to you on Wednesday?” Toko scowled… He’d been so keen to show it to _Byakuya_ he’d probably been getting it out and laughing with everyone about how deluded she was…

“Wednesday? No… I ended up talking to Mondo _all evening_ …” He looked at Toko like that was _her_ fault of something! “But what did _Taka_ think of it?”

“ _Urg…_ He doesn’t count! He doesn’t _get_ romance!” Toko argued.

“So he agreed with me?” Fujisaki smirked, “He doesn’t think Togami is good for you either!”

“W-well, so what if he _isn’t?”_ Toko griped.

“Umm… what do you _mean,_ ‘so what if he _isn’t’?_ ” Fujisaki cried, “You should find someone _else!”_

Did he really think it was that _simple!?_ “Oh really? And what about _Syo?”_

“Uhh… Syo?” Fujisaki asked, anxiously…

“Yes, _Syo!_ ” Toko rolled her eyes, “Y-you know, the _serial killer?_ The one who’s only _stopped_ killing because _Byakuya_ told her to!?”

“Uhh…” Fujisaki froze.

“ _See!_ Even if Byakuya _isn’t_ ‘good for me’ I’m _stuck_ following him around until I can deal with Syo _myself!_ That’s assuming I even _can!_ ” Toko complained, “And now, _thanks to you,_ I can’t even _pretend_ that’s a _good_ thing!”

“Umm… sorry…” Fujisaki frowned and looked at the floor sadly, “But… _have_ you been trying to control Syo by yourself? Or have you just been letting Byakuya do it _for_ you?”

 _Argh!_ He was _right,_ wasn’t he? She hadn’t tried at all… she’d just been pitying herself and complaining about Syo ruining her life… but not doing anything to _fix_ it! And then a handsome rich man had come into her life and Syo had become obsessed enough with him to stop killing guys and it had seemed like he’d fix everything in her life! Just like something in her own _books!_

But… he _wasn’t_ just like the guys in her books… or if he _was_ that wasn’t a _good_ thing…

“...You can’t rely on him _forever!_ What if he suddenly died!” Fujisaki carried on…

“Don’t say _that!_ ” Toko snapped at him… that would be _horrible!_

 _“_ But it _could_ happen…” He sighed, “Or he might just leave! You can’t expect someone _else_ to fix everything for you!”

“I _know!_ Alright?” Toko snapped.

“Ah… you do?” Fujisaki seemed… happy that she’d _said_ that.

“Well… y-yes…” She admitted, “I mean… I-I _guess_ I’m starting to realise I have to start dealing with my own problems, instead of just pitying myself…”

“That’s _great!”_ Fujisaki cried, “But, you know, you’ve got _other_ people to talk to, if you want!”

“ _Urg…_ I _get_ it! Okay!” Toko sighed, “Y-you’re all my classmates and you’ll help me with anything!” She mimicked sarcastically…

“Well… I’m afraid so!” Chihiro shrugged at her, grinning stupidly...

Honestly… what had Toko done to deserve being in a class full of _this_ many idiots…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I ended up having more time for writing than I expected over the Christmas holidays so it's up earlier than I expected!  
> And again apologies for the kinda ridiculous (maybe?) way I've started the actual Ishimondo... it was one of those ideas that seemed fun when I thought of it, but now it's come to writing it, it feels like a terrible representation. Also apologies if I'm going a bit heavy on Taka's internalized homophobia, or if either Hina or Sakura came across as being homophobic (I meant it more as a 'they don't want people thinking they're something they're not' not 'they don't want to be thought of as lesbians specifically' but again I feel like I've written it badly?)
> 
> Next chapter will be Hina's!  
> Also, a quick question about Togami's chapter: In surprise for Ishimaru I had this idea that he doesn't really pay that much attention to what other's are saying to him, and so the only dialogue actually typed out in his POV section is his own (everyone else's can be inferred from his descriptions of it). What are people's thoughts on me writing his chapter in a similar way? I'm worried it'd get tiresome pretty quickly.
> 
> Also, eagle eyed readers may spot that the total chapter count has increased again, that's because I'm planning to do a bonus story where Sakura is given her voucher for the second year. (Because A: It would fit into my planned timeline and B: She got shafted by being the first person)
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	11. Camping buddies! (Aoi Asahina)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's only 27600 words long! That's a sensible chapter size, right!? I think they might start getting shorter again as the fic comes to a close (I was expecting this to happen after Chapter 7 to be honest. But then chapters 8 and 9 happened.)  
> -It was not my intention, when I named the Ultimate Columnist 'Hinai' back in chapter 4, to have her turn up mulitple times in Hina's chapter. But then it turned out that's what happened. Sorry if the similar names get confusing.  
> -I'm aware a sugar crash probably isn't as dramatic as I've portrayed it to be in the start of this chapter.  
> -I was originally planning to read Twilight so I could reference it more fairly in this chapter, but then I didn't want to waste the time I could spend writing so now any comments on it in this chapter are based on what I found by Googling for opinions on it. Apologise to any Twilight fans if I've misrepresented it as a result.  
> -More reference to the statistics on this page: http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/  
> -Also there is a small reference to this page from one of the Dangan Ronpa magazine articles in this chapter http://kuzuryuuz.tumblr.com/post/49678722390/translated-this-for-tumblr-user-ishimaruu-and (But that page is worth reading just by itself to be honest)

(Monday, 14th May 2012)

Hina woke up bright and early at 6.30-ish (she’d never needed an alarm clock) threw off her bedsheets, stretched her arms out and tried to remember what day it was and what exercises she was doing this morning…

Oh yeah! Monday! Which meant that it’d be her third Aquathlon against Taka! Yay! Just a shame it meant she had to have school right afterwards though…

She got dressed straight into her swimming costume, then took the bag with her uniform in and headed over to the pool, stopping quickly to grab a copy of the school paper and smile at the cute picture of Sakura and Kenshiro that were on the front page. He was looking _way_ better than he had in the _last_ photo Hina had seen of him! Even if it _did_ sorta look like Sakura might have been sneakily holding him upright as they hugged…

Still, she couldn’t stand around grinning like a dope at how happy her bestie looked all morning, or she’d be late and her Aquathlon buddy would pitch a fit…

Taka was a great guy to train with, but he could really stand to lighten up a little, sometimes… But, on the other hand, she couldn’t moan _too_ much about it… it was the fact that he took everything so seriously that made him fun to compete with! Most guys would probably have got sick of her continually winning against them within a few weeks of training and given up, but not him! If anything it just made him all the more determined to ‘beat her at her own game’ and ‘prove that effort trumps natural talent!’

Not that he was going to beat her in a straight swimming race anytime soon… after all, she put plenty of effort into her swimming herself! Which was why she’d been really pleased that he’d wanted to try some different sports with her! She’d _thought_ running would give him a better chance against her… but she was _still_ too much better at the swimming half for him to come close to catching up in the second half the last two weeks.

But, even _then_ he’d not given up, instead he’d started spending more time in pool, practising his strokes… At least that’s what Mondo had been complaining about him doing all the time last week. Although she couldn’t figure out why he’d tried to improve _that_ , and not increase his advantage in the running… probably the whole ‘beat her at her own game’ thing…

Still, once he got over that and actually practised his _running,_ he’d have a much better chance of winning against her! Hopefully he’d figure that out once she won again this week…

Assuming they actually raced? She’d put her clothes away in a locker and come into the swimming pool, but there was no sign of him _…_ That was weird… maybe he was sick? He was never late for _anything_ otherwise!

Well, maybe she could read her paper after all! She quickly skipped back to the locker to grab it, then took it into the pool… Heeee! Sakura really _did_ look super happy in this picture! She’d have to cut out a copy for Taka’s class album, or ask Hinai for a proper copy of it…

It was weird, actually. The Ultimate Columnist had been surprisingly easy to deal with, once they’d explained her error. They’d been expecting her to want to turn Kenshiro’s story into a stupid drama or something, or make fun of him for dating ‘the ogre’ (screw whoever came up with that stupid name! She wasn’t like that at _all!_ ) but instead she’d just been interested in how he’d started to recover from a disease that was supposed to have killed him last month.

 _And_ she’d even covered his and Sakura’s relationship nicely as well, repeating Kenshiro’s amazingly cheesy lines about how she was his both his ‘gentle flower’ and ‘the amazon warrior defending my title’ without a single hint of irony and saying that Sakura’s faith in his recovery had probably helped contribute to it... that ought to stop anymore rumours about her dating other people from cropping up!

Oh! And there was a bit about _Hina_ down at the bottom here! Let’s see…

_“Although disappointed that her first love is unrequited, Asahina remains optimistic that she’ll soon meet her soulmate and…”_

What the _heck!?_ Why had she written _that_ in there! Hina hadn’t spoken to her about liking Sakura _at all!_ And she certainly hadn’t said anything about wanting to meet her soulmate! _Urrgh!_ This had better not convince a bunch of people to ask her out, out of pity or something ridiculous. She was perfectly happy just having friends and not dealing with any romance drama at the moment!

In fact, she was starting to think she might _always_ be happier just having lots of friends, but no romantic relationship. She knew it was odd, and her parents always said she just had to act a little (or a lot) more feminine and she’d meet _someone_ who’d change her mind at some point! But even after half a year of high school, surrounded by people hooking up with each other… She still didn’t feel like she was ever going to get the point of it all. Like, she _knew_ it made _other_ people happy! And so she was super stoked when her _friends_ got together with people and it made them happy, or even when chacters in a movie did! But trying to imagine _herself_ in that situation? It… just didn’t work for her.

Not that she hadn’t _tried!_ She was lucky Makoto hadn’t told anyone about the time she’d insisted he be her fake boyfriend. Why had she thought acting out a bunch of sappy romance clichés with him would make her suddenly understand it all? Instead he’d just ended up pointing out that she should just be happy being herself! And after a while, she’d realised she _was_ happy being herself… and she was happy being _by_ herself, at least in the romantic sense, so long as she still had great friends like him, and Sakura, and Taka and… well, almost everyone in their class!

So now, the idea that everyone was going to think she was pining after Sakura, and might need a pick-me-up in the form of a date? It was _annoying!_ She was _so_ going to have a go at that reporter if anyone asked her out because of this! Either that or she’d have to make a list of all the other _lies_ she’d told in the paper so no one would believe this nonsense!

She put the paper down and stomped up and down the pool side angrily… urg, her form was going to be _terrible_ when she was in this mood! Taka might even _beat_ her if she didn’t calm down!

…And where _was_ he? He was over ten minutes late…

“Ah! Hina!” _There_ he was! “I… I’m so sorry I’m late! I needed a shower…” He admitted.

“Couldn’t it have waited until after the race?” Now he was going to have to shower _twice_ before school…

“Err… No. It really couldn’t have.” He tensed up, face turning red with embarrassment…

Weird… there seemed like a story there, but she wasn’t going to push it. “Well, alright! I’ll just have to beat you even faster than usual this week, to make up for it!” She grinned.

“Hah! I wouldn’t be so sure! I’ve been practising!” He announced confidently as they both got into position at the side of the pool. “Ready… Set… GO…!”

* * *

 

Kiyotaka strode out of the swimming pool victorious! Well, not actually _victorious…_ he wasn’t likely to beat Hina at _swimming_ anytime in the near future, regardless of _how_ much time he spent practising… _But_ he’d made a _significant_ improvement over his swimming time _last_ week and _this_ time he might actually be in with a chance of beating Hina in the running race! How could he _not_ stride forward with all his confidence!

“Oh… Taka! You finished your swimming already…?”

Kiyotaka’s confident strides almost turned into a pratfall in shock that not only was Mondo _here_ in the _morning,_ but he was also wearing that ridiculously small black speedo of his, which instantly reminded him of the _real_ reason he’d started swimming so frequently:

Because, over the last two weeks, he’d slowly come to the realisation that the more time he spent near Mondo during the day, the more likely he was to have a wet dream starring him overnight… _Especially_ if it involved being in low states of dress with him!

So, since Mondo didn’t like swimming because it 'ruins the pomp', insisting that he needed to spend time practising in the pool to beat Hina, in lieu of the time he and Mondo usually spent together, had seemed like a fool proof plan for reducing his unwanted dreams… until _now,_ that was.

“Oh! Kyoudai! Wh-what are _you_ doing here!?” He asked, forcing himself to keep his eyes fixed on Mondo’s face _._

“I thought maybe after your race I could join you in the pool for a bit!” Mondo explained. “But how come you’re leaving without getting changed?”

“We’re doing an Aquathlon! We’ve had the swimming bit, and now we need to go and do the running bit!” Hina explained.

“Wait, you’re _running_ to?” Mondo asked. He’d not told Mondo about that part, because… “…Ya should have told me! We coulda gone running together!”

…Because he’d known Mondo would have suggested _that!_

“Well… I’ve already got an advantage over her in the running… and I wanted to beat her at her own game!”

“But you’ve been working on your swimming for _ages!_ ” Mondo pointed out.

“Yeah! You’d get a much quicker improvement in your overall time if you started working more on runningthan swimming!” Hina agreed with him.

“Ah… I suppose so.” _Curses!_ That was his way of avoiding Mondo gone then… His friend was already talking in earnest about how he’d like to improve his stamina for when he was fighting large groups of men and he’d make sure to buy running shoes that evening so they could start together straight away.

In turn, Kiyotaka made sure to nod and agree at the correct time, although he was making sure he faced _Hina_ as he did so _,_ rather than be gawping at Mondo’s muscular form…

After what seemed to be an age, they arrived at the outdoor track they’d booked for the race, and Hina set the timer to count down the amount of time he’d beaten her by.

“Okay, so first beep is me, and second beep is you!” She clarified, referring to the false start he’d made on the first week they’d tried this.

“You need ta give her a head-start to give her a chance of winning, then?” Mondo asked, slapping his shoulder.

“Err… no. She earnt it by finishing the swimming race that much quicker than I!” He admitted, shamefully.

“Shit, seriously?” Mondo looked surprised that he’d lost at swimming to the _Ultimate swimmer…_ “Well, I’m sure you can beat her anyway, Kyoudai!”

“Ah! Thank you…” He smiled as he and Hina moved into starting position. Although he didn’t want to imagine Mondo’s disappointment if he _didn’t…_

As soon as the first alarm sounded, Hina leapt up from her starting position in one fluid movement. Leaving him crouched awkwardly with Mondo stood nearby… He knew he _shouldn’t,_ but something compelled him to sneak a sideways glance at his kyoudai, who was staring right at him and gave him a great smile and a thumbs up when he saw Kiyotaka had turned to face him.

He nodded awkwardly and quickly turned his face back to the front. Mondo was going to be watching him and cheering him on… why did that make him feel so nervous? And why did being in starting position with Mondo _right there_ feel quite so… _odd?_

It was a blessing when the timer finally went off and he was able bolt away from his kyoudai and after Hina, who had taken a reasonable advantage of her head-start. However he was the faster runner, and so began to close the distance… in fact he was starting to close the distance a lot quicker than usual. Was she running more slowly today, or…?

No. It wasn’t _her_ … In his desire to get away from Mondo, he’d started the race at a faster pace than he usually would… But could he slow down _now?_ Mondo might notice if he did and wonder why he’d started at the faster speed… or he might mess up the change and trip and look like a fool in front of his friend… not to mention, for the first time ever, he was actually managing to approach Hina for an overtake!

It was decided then! He’d probably regret it later today and tomorrow when his muscles were aching and sore from overexertion, but he _would_ beat Hina today, just as Mondo _said_ he could!

He was regretting the decision within half a minute. He’d past Hina, but was starting to wonder if this really was a pace he could keep up? But he was feeling so off-kilter he didn’t think he could slow it down in a controlled manner either. He had so much adrenaline swimming in his head that his options were to either go flat out or stop completely… and he was _not_ going to give up! Not when he’d _finally_ got ahead of her and was so close to finishing.

He carried on, heart pounding in his chest and lungs burning from the effort as he rounded the final corner into the home stretch! Now was the time to go flat out for a good finish!

…Except he already _was_ going flat out, if anything he was starting to falter as he could feel his legs turning weak from the exertion, he’d be lucky if he didn’t trip and fall at this rate! How could he have been so uncharacteristically foolish! Hina was sure to notice something was wrong with him with this behaviour! Especially as she’d kept to a sensible pace and he was vaguely aware that she’d overtaken him again just before the finish line…

At least… he _thought_ that was where the finish line was… his vision had blurred, and his head was pounding and he didn’t think he could keep himself stood up anymore…

* * *

 

“ _Hah!_ I DID IT! I _WON!_ ” Hina bounced around the finishing area, she hadn’t had such a good race in _ages!_ She hadn’t _believed_ it when Taka had overtaken her so early, but then she’d _just_ managed to pull it back in the final stretch! “You thought you were gonna win, but I _beat_ you!” She teased, turning around to face him…

Oh crap… He looked pissed. He was just stood glaring at her… or not even _at_ her, more like _through_ her, as if he didn’t even want to _look_ at her right now. She thought he’d be happy he came so close to winning! Or was he upset that he’d worked so hard and she’d just rubbed it in his face that he’d _still_ lost?

“Umm… You did really well though! I can tell the extra practise helped!” She tried to cheer him up, “And, if you’d been practising your _running_ this week instead of swimming you’d have totally won!”

He still didn’t say anything… instead his knees buckled and he dropped to the floor…

“AHH! Taka?” She rushed over to him… his breathing was fast and shallow, his eyes didn’t look focused, he was shaking… low blood sugar maybe? She checked his neck… his pulse was racing and he was covered in sweat! Definitely low blood sugar!

“Hey! What’s going on!?” Mondo had rushed over from the star line, “Is that normal?”

“No… he needs some donuts, _fast!_ ” Hina told him, “Help me get him to the dining room!”

“Sure, no problem!” He agreed, pulling on of Taka’s arms over his shoulder while she took the other one.

Between the two of them they could still jog, even though they were having to lift Taka off the floor to do so. They kept it up even as they went through the school hallways, seeing as the only person who was likely to tell them off was barely aware of what was happening at the moment… Although they _did_ almost barrel into Junko as she came out of the toilets on the ground floor.

“Help him sit down somewhere!” Hina told Mondo as she raced to the kitchen to get the chocolatiest donut she had in her selection and bring it back to Taka, who was now sat on a chair and being held up by Mondo from the seat next to him… “Here… eat this!” She waved it in front of his nose…

He slowly took it and bit into it, scowling a little at the taste but still continuing to eat it for the sugar… which he must have seriously needed, as he didn’t even seem to notice when the chocolate filling dropped out of the donut and landed on his chest.

“Like… is he alright?” Junko must had followed them out of concern for Taka, as she was now stood watching him eat the donut. “How come he’s not freaking out over dropping that all over him?”

“He’ll be fine… it’ll just take twenty minutes or so for the sugar to kick in…”

“Wait… ya mean all he needed was some fuckin’ _sugar?”_ Mondo scowled, “Why didn’t ya just give him something he _likes_ like apple slices or an orange?”

“Uhh… I guess I could have?” Hina admitted, especially as it would probably have been healthier as well… “I’m just used to thinking that sugar equals donuts…”

“So now he’s making a fucking _mess_ of himself and he’s gonna feel like he owes ya for the donut for no good reason…” Mondo grumbled, standing up out of his seat. “I’m gonna go get him some proper food!” He added, heading into the kitchen.

 _Oops_ … Good thing Mondo knew Taka so well!

“Upupupupupu… Is that what you’re _hoping_ for?” Junko asked, mischievously.

“Huh?” Why would she have hoped Mondo would get him some fruit…?

“Are you hoping he’ll feel like he _owes_ you for the donut?” She smirked.

“No! I don’t need him to _owe_ me anything! It’s not like he ever says _no_ to anything I ask for help with…” Besides he wouldn’t really feel like he _owed_ her for the donut, would he? Friends were supposed to share food, right?

“Oh, come on, sugar plum!” Junko came up with the weirdest nicknames… “I can see how it is! After all, they say food is the quickest way to a man’s heart, right!?” Junko jabbed an elbow into her ribs.

“What!? That’s not what I’m doing!” Hina cried, “He just needs the sugar!”

“Upupupu! You oughta stop hiding it, you know! You’re _really_ obvious!” Junko just laughed.

“Excuse me!?” What was Junko getting at? It’s not like she’d been hitting on Taka or something…

“You hang out with him _all the time!_ ” Junko laughed, even though she hung out with him less than she did with Sakura, “And changing sports so you’d have an excuse to let him see you running in _that?”_ She gestured to her swimming costume. “That’s _totally_ obvious, girl!”

“That’s not why we switched sports! And why would I _want_ people to see me running in this? Do you have any idea how awkward running in a swimming costume is?”

“I bet the most awkward part is keeping _behind_ him so he can look back and see _these_ bouncing around!” She laughed, moving her hands in to cup Hina’s breasts…

“ _Get off!”_ She slapped Junko away. “And _I’m_ the one in front!” She added.

“Oh ho? Hoping he’s more of an _ass man?_ ”

Hina almost chocked. “Are you serious!? You’re lucky he’d not paying attention at the moment!” She snapped, “It’s _TAKA!_ He doesn’t check me out while I’m running!”

“He’s a teenage _boy,_ of _course_ he does!” Junko scoffed, “He’s just really good at hiding that _kinky_ side of his from you… but don’t worry! You’ll make him break soon and he’ll ask you out and then…”

“Just because he’s a boy doesn’t mean he’s secretly oogling me!” Hina snapped, “And I’m _not_ trying to get him to ask me out!”

“You _not?”_ Junko frowned, “You’re _really_ not?”

“NO!”

“Well… then don’t you think it’s a bit mean to lead him on like you are?” Junko moped, “I mean… all these things you do with him, running around together half-dressed…”

“They’re called swimming costumes!”

“…feeding him yummy desserts…” Junko ignored her. “He’s _bound_ to get the wrong idea…”

“No he isn’t! We’re just swimming buddies and he knows that!” Hina told her. “Besides, all that stuff is just things friends do together anyway…”

“Yeah, but he’s a _guy!_ Men and women can’t be friends, not _really,_ not unless they’re total wimps like Makoto who never ask for what they _actually_ want…”

“Urg… well that might be true for the creeps _you_ hang out with, but I’ve got plenty of male friends!”

“Upupupu… You’re funny when you’re oblivious!” Junko laughed. “But Taka’s probably not going to think so when he finds out you’re just leading him on…”

“I’m _not_ leading him on!” Hina snapped.

“If you _say_ so…” Junko sing-songed as she walked off.

“…What was all that about?” Mondo asked from behind her.

“Urg… just Junko being stupid…” Hina grumbled as she turned to see the biker carrying a tray with a jug of water, a glass and a bowl with grapes, and slices of apple and oranges. “Don’t worry about it.”

“…There was shouting?” Taka commented slowly from his seat, the half-eaten donut in his hand dripping filling onto it and the table. “I… my head hurts… and I feel sick… but also hungry?”

“That’s ‘cause Hina fed you a _donut_ instead of _proper food!_ ” Mondo told him, pouring a glass of water and putting it to Taka’s lips so he could drink some, before starting to feed him bits of the fruit.

Tch! Junko was an idiot! If Mondo could literally _hand-feed_ him without it being weird, then _she_ could give him a donut without it ‘leading him on’ or whatever!

* * *

 

He swallowed another piece of fruit, although a bit more slowly than last time, as his mouth was getting dry again…

“How’s about more water?” Mondo asked, to which he managed to nod and murmur an agreement, before his kyoudai carefully tipped his head back and brought the glass of water up to his lips for him to drink from.

Ahh… having Mondo to look after him when he wasn’t feeling well was so wonderful… He could get used to this! Mondo gently caressing his skin and _almost_ brushing his lips as he put the bits of fruit past them… And that look of concern in his eyes that he could just imagine leaning forwards towards and…

 _!?!?!?_ Why had he imagined _that!?_ And why was he letting Mondo feed him as if he was a child or they were on a date or something equally ridiculous!? God knows how it must look to anyone _else_ in…

He looked around… they were in the dining room… “When did we come here…?”

“We carried you in.” Mondo told him.

“Err… you did…?” Now they mentioned it he vaguely remembered being picked up… but it was a all a blur…

“Yes! You pushed yourself _way_ too hard…!” Hina scolded him… and now _that_ was coming back to him as well, along with the fact that he was _meant_ to be _avoiding_ Mondo, not getting fed by him! “…Especially as you’ve _already_ been doing extra training during the week! Did you even think to try and _eat more_ after being in the pool so much?”

“Err…” He had a few times… but then Mondo had kept coming to his room with meals prepared for him and then he’d forgot once he’d eaten…

“Well, at least he knows now!” Mondo told her, looking slightly guilty. “But anyway… for now you’re gonna need a shower…”

“Why…?” Kiyotaka looked down at himself… and saw that he was half-dressed, covered in sweat and also… chocolate? “How did I…?”

“It’s from the donut.” Mondo pointed to his hand, which he’d somehow not noticed was holding a half-eaten, _disgustingly_ sweet-looking pastry.

“Oh! Right… err…” He didn’t like to waste food, but her also didn’t particularly want to eat _that…_ But he’d already eaten half of it, apparently, so he could hardly expect someone _else_ to have it and risk spreading germs…

“If you don’t want it, can _I_ have it?” Mondo asked, eagerly.

“Even though I bit into it!?” Kiyotaka grimaced.

“What, it ain’t like you’re sick!” Mondo insisted, snatching it out of his hand and taking a large bite of it himself. “Wow… thas fuggin’ goo…”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Sowwy… Bu iss rlly _goo…!”_ Mondo did it again, regardless. At least he was enjoying it though, and the goofy look on his face as he took another bite was so nice Kiyotaka couldn’t help smiling despite his appalling table manners…

But, he couldn’t stand around here gawping at his friend all morning, or he’d be late for class! “Well I’m glad _someone_ is enjoying it!” He admitted, “I’ll go and wash up and see you both in class!”

“Ok! See you Taka!” Hina waved.

“Hmmn? Ohok…” Mondo mumbled disappointedly around his donut as Kiyotaka stood and left, still feeling a little dizzy. How could he have been so stupid as to let himself suffer a bout of hypoglycaemia? What had he even been hoping to achieve by going so fast? Now he had to make his way back up to the pool to get his room key out of his locker, before he could go and shower…

And he ended up having to do it using only his left hand, as the right one was still covered in chocolate sauce and there were no convenient sinks on his route…

Still, he did manage to do it, and started running the shower in his room to warm it up to a comfortable temperature.

Kiyotaka considered the chocolate filling covering his hand… there wasn’t _much_ of it _…_ but he’d still rather not waste good food and so licked as much as possible off his fingers, pulling a face at how sickeningly sweet it was before stepping into the warm shower to wash the rest off… honestly, he didn’t understand how Mondo and Hina could enjoy such saccharine deserts, especially not at breakfast time!

But Mondo had enjoyed the pastry so much it wouldn’t have surprised Kiyotaka if he’d tried to lick it off his chest… while wearing nothing but that tiny speedo and giving him that flirty look from his dreams while he did it and…

 _Aaarggh!_ What was he _thinking!?_ This was _reality,_ not one of his nocturnal perversions! How could he have actively _imagined_ Mondo doing that! He didn’t even have Fukawa’s work as a reason this time! Were his subconscious thoughts now invading his waking ones? Was that possible? If so, what was he going to do if he was in class or with Mondo and he suddenly starting imagining his kyoudai as a half-naked demon kissing him and running those strong hands over his body and down to his hard…

…And now he actually _was ‘_ hard’, and it was because he’d been thinking about _Mondo. Again!_

He angrily switched the water from warm to cold as fast as he could, flinching at the shock of the icy water hitting his warm body. Why couldn’t he _stop this!?_ He’d tried everything he could think of to reduce the frequency of his dreams, but none of it had worked!

The books his father had mentioned had just been a large amount of tedium, interspersed with the occasional _highly_ questionable act by the male leads… which had done nothing to put him off of _Mondo,_ because he knew _Mondo_ wouldn’t have done _any_ of that! He’d thought that possibly wearing more clothes in bed would trick his brain into imagining he was fully clothed and unable to partake in any such acts, but all he succeeding in doing was making it difficult to sleep and increasing the amount of laundry he had to do. He’d been so desperate he’d even left Hagakure’s ‘dream-catcher’ up, even though it was complete nonsense!

Nothing worked, except for staying away from Mondo… and even _that_ was becoming less effective, especially as Mondo appeared to have noticed the lack of time they’d spent together over the last fortnight and was trying to make up for it by _constantly_ asking Kiyotaka if he had time for them to spend together. And he was running out of excuses to use to study by himself…

And besides… he was starting to miss he time he’d usually spend with Mondo. He missed Mondo asking him for help while they studied and getting his earnest thanks in return… he was _even_ starting to miss hearing Mondo’s over-dramatic sighs when the biker got bored and started trying to tempt him into taking a break. And he was especially missing having his friend hug him and ruffle his hair… feeling Mondo’s _warmth_ instead of this freezing shower water.

But he _couldn’t_ spend time with Mondo! Not when he was like _this!_ If this got any worse Mondo would start to notice and then he’d _never_ want to spend time with Kiyotaka! He needed to do _something_ to stop all this!

Perhaps he could search online to see if there were any tips on reducing wet dreams that he’d not thought of…

* * *

 

(Tuesday, 15th May 2012)

“Hey, is Hinai in?” Hina poked her head around the door to the small office the student paper volunteers were allowed to work in.

“Yep, same place as always!” A guy sat near the door gestured to a table in the back, where the columnist was sat, absently eating a sandwich with one had while her eyes flicked over something on her computer screen.

“Great, thanks!” Hina headed over to her, “Hey, excuse me? Hinai? Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm? Oh, hello Asahina?” She looked vaguely irritated at being interrupted, then just waited for her to start speaking…

“Weelll… About this article you did on Sakura and Kenshiro…” Hina started.

“What? Wasn’t it very good?” She cringed, “I mean, I don’t usually do serious stuff like that and I wasn’t sure if I should really quote those cheesy things Kenshiro said, but…”

“What? No that bit was really cute!” Hina told her, “It’s just… why did you still say I had a crush on Sakura?”

“ _Don’t_ you!?” She looked surprised.

“…No.” Hina scowled.

“Oh, well… sorry! My mistake!” She shrugged, like she’d just spilt a cup of water over, “Who _do_ you have your eye on?” She ginned eagerly, picking up a notepad…

“Umm… I’m not interested in _anyone.”_ Hina told her.

“Ok…” She noted it down, “What sort of person are you _hoping_ to meet?” She asked.

“I’m not really hoping to meet anyone…” Hina tried to explain, “I’m happy as I am, with all my friends!”

“Well, that’s a good attitude to have!” She muttered, writing it down, “But what would your _ideal_ partner be like?”

“I… my ideal person wouldn’t be _anyone!_ ” Hina was starting to get irritated now. “I’m just not interested in relationships!”

“You… mean… you’re not interested in having one _yet?”_ She asked, tapping the pen against her cheek, “Because of your sporting career…? Or…?”

“No, I mean, I don’t want one at all!” She sighed, “Ever!” She added, to try and get the point across.

“Oh come on! You don’t expect me to believe _that,_ do you?” Hinai laughed, “Everyone knows you’re a total sap when it comes to that stuff… There must be _someone_ you like!”

“But, I like all that sappy stuff ‘cause I like seeing _other_ people end up happy!” Hina explained, “I don’t think it’d make _me_ happy if it was me though…”

“So… love _doesn’t_ make you happy?” Hinai looked concerned for her.

“No, I like hanging around with all my friends, or doing sports together in teams, or buying a big box of donuts and…”

“Yeah… I think I get it now…” Hina interrupted her, writing something in her pad. “Was there anything else you wanted? I need to get on with reading this…” She gestured to the computer.

“Oh, yeah! Is there any chance I can get a copy of the picture of Sakura and Kenshiro…?” Hina remembered the other thing she'd planned to ask for...

* * *

 

Kiyotaka glanced around the library nervously and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he saw that there was no one here he knew, and no one else particularly close to the computer he was sat in front of either.

He couldn’t believe it had taken over a day to get enough time alone to do a quick Google search in the library! He’d hoped to get it done last night, by claiming he was still too tired after what happened during the Aqauthlon to go to their usual movie night. But instead, all he’d done was worry Mondo, who’d then insisted on making far too much dinner for him and spending the evening in his own room, with both their doors propped open in case Kiyotaka needed to shout for help…

Why did his kyoudai have to be so wonderfully caring and concerned for him? And it wasn’t just him, over half of the class had been stopping him to ask how he was and if he wanted to spend time with them… which was nice, but not as fun as being with Mondo, which had just reminded him that he _couldn’t_ be with Mondo until he got to the library to find an answer to his problem…

But now he was finally here… how was he supposed to search for an answer, exactly. The obvious thing would be to type in ‘how to stop wet dreams’ but then if someone caught him, it would be blatantly obvious what was happening to him…

He settled on typing ‘what causes wet dreams’ and clicking the first webpage in the list. That way he could always claim it was for biology class or an intellectual curiosity, but knowing the causes might mean he could figure out how stop it! Except this page was mostly just the basic biology behind it, explained in a slightly patronising tone for teenagers who presumably hadn’t been listening in science class. Just all things he already knew, until:

_‘There's nothing you can do to control or stop wet dreams.’_

He almost slammed his head on the keyboard in frustration. That couldn’t be true! There must be _something_ he could try… even if it was just to _reduce_ them, maybe! Just… _something_ so he’d be able to go back to spending time with Mondo again without feeling guilty about it!

Wait… hold on… There _was_ something about ‘fewer wet dreams’ a few lines below that!

_‘Once you start releasing sperm by masturbating or having sex with a partner, you may have fewer wet dreams.’_

Well... the latter was something he was intending to save until after he was _married,_ but the former might be... _forgivable_ , given the circumstances!

Except... the only times he'd been... _ready_ to do so up until now were after he'd been thinking about _Mondo!_ He could hardly do it _then!_ What would Mondo think!? He could only imagine what _his_ reaction would have been if he'd ever found that his kyoudai thought about _him_ while masturbating... assuming he did it at _all..._ It was hard to imagine the biker getting flustered, hiding in his room to undo his belt and running a hand down to his...

 _NO! Nonono!_ He was _not_ going to start thinking about _that_ in the _library_ where there were who-knows _how_ many people around to see him!

Well, he had his answer then. As much as he might hate to do so, he was going to start doing a _much_ better job of avoiding his kyoudai until... until...

Well... until these dreams of his _stopped!_ Assuming they actually _would_ stop... But what if they didn't and he kept having to avoid his best friend forever...?

Well, that would just be something he had to _do,_ wouldn't it!? He'd get used to it eventually, wouldn't he? It wasn't as if he'd never faced hardships before, was it!?

"...Hey! Whatcha lookin' at!?" Was all the warning he got before he felt Mondo's hands on his shoulders and his face approaching the screen he was looking at.

" _KYOUDAI!"_ He quickly stood up and turned to block the screen, "It is _not_ appropriate to sneak up on people and observe their browsing!"

He'd said that a lot louder than he'd intended to, if Mondo's apologetic step backwards was any indication. "Woah! Uhh... I'm sorry! I-I was just wondering what you were up to, 'cause we were saying we were gonna start running together, and..."

Oh _no..._ he _had_ gone along with Mondo when he'd been talking about that, hadn't he? But he _couldn't..._

"Err... I'm sorry, but I can't." He stated, awkwardly turning sideways to try and close the browser window without Mondo seeing what was on it.

"Why? Are you still feeling sick from yesterday?" Mondo looked worried.

"No... I'm... busy!" Was the best lie he could come up with whilst simultaneously logging his account off of the computer.

"Well... when d'ya think you'll be able to start then?" Mondo asked eagerly.

"I..." If only he knew _that!_ "I... I'm sorry but I can't talk to you now!" He spat out, before dashing past his friend and making a break for it... As fast as he could without running, anyway...

He had been expecting Mondo to chase after him, given how poorly he'd handled _that_... But thankfully he made it too his own room without anyone seeing him. So now he could get on with studying! By himself! Without any interruptions from Mondo…

_He was going to be alone by himself and he had no idea how long it would be for._

The thought hit him with a wave of sadness mixed with anger and frustration that made him slam his fist onto the table and start crying, head down, onto his arm. This wasn’t _fair!_ He’d only been friends with Mondo for a few months, but he’d got used so used to to having him there to talk to and make him laugh and smile all the time! But now his own body and mind had conspired against him to make it impossible to be anywhere _near_ him! _WHY?_ What had he done to deserve this?

He cried until the wave of emotion subsided and he calmed down, feeling slightly better for it. (An endorphin rush, presumably). Perhaps he was being over-dramatic! After all, he hadn’t actually _tried_ avoiding Mondo _properly_ , yet! It might work… and even if not, he’d grow up and stop having these dreams _eventually!_ He’d just have to make do with spending time with his _other_ friends in the meantime! It would be upsetting but…

But it was that, or try to talk about this to people, and risk them either wanting nothing to do with him, or _worse,_ telling everyone about it and ruining his chance to surpass his grandfather forever… So avoiding Mondo was his only choice!

* * *

 

(Wednesday, 16th May 2012)

_‘Today my column is starting with a correction! It turns out our Ultimate Swimmer actually has a crush on Ishimaru, not OogamI! Asahina has been…’_

“ _Urgghhh…”_ Hina slapped the paper down on the table, then had to pick it up quickly so it didn’t get in Sakura’s omelette.

“Is she still claiming you are attracted to me?” Sakura asked.

“No! Now she’s saying I like _Taka!”_ Hina complained.

Sakura thought about it for a moment, “… I cannot see how she came to that conclusion…”

Hina had a look at the next paragraph. “Apparently it’s because we train together and I shared a donut with him…” So the same reasons Junko gave? Could it be she actually _was_ leading him on?

“You share fewer donuts with _him,_ than the majority of our class.” Sakura pointed out.

“Hey! Yeah, that’s true, isn’t it!” Hina laughed, “But I bet if I said that to her she’d just print that I fancied Chihiro instead!”

“Surely even _she_ could see you don’t...”

“I don’t think she _cares._ It’s like she just wants to set me up with _someone,_ and it doesn’t matter _who_ it is!” Hina moaned. “And after I spent all that time arguing with her about it!”

“Hmm…” Sakura sighed, she looked _really_ worried about it, which hadn’t been Hina’s intention. She’d just wanted someone to moan at…

“Maybe my mom will have some ideas on how to reason with her!” She decided. She’d already told her mother she’d keep her posted about this, so this would kill two birds with one stone!

 _“Paper now says I don’t fancy Sakura… apparently I fancy TAKA instead!”_ She fired off a text…

“ _He’s the one who helps you with homework? Do you?”_ She rolled her eyes at her mother’s reply.

“ _Yes to the first._ _No to the second. That’s why I’m irritated!”_ That was also why she’d said _apparently!_ She loved her mom but she could be kinda slow on the uptake…

 _“Why not? He sounds like a nice boy!”_ And she was _still_ expecting her to get a boyfriend sometime soon.

 _“I just don’t think of him like that? We’re just friends.”_ Really, what else was she supposed to say to that? _“Any advice about the paper?”_

_“Just tell them you haven’t met the right person yet!”_

_“I don’t think that’s true though.”_ She typed back. “ _I’m starting to think there won’t ever be a ‘right person’ for me.”_

 _“Oh, don’t worry, sweetie! There will be!”_ Urggh… She wasn’t _worried_ about it!

 _“I think I’d prefer it if there wasn’t!”_ She tried to explain.

_“That’s just a phase. You’ll meet someone who changes your mind! Everyone does!”_

Hina scowled at the phone before turning it off. This wasn’t helping… It’s not like _everyone_ fell in love, was it? Why was it her Mom just couldn’t… _agree_ with her on this one thing! She agreed with everything _else_ Hina did! And even if it turned out later that she _was_ wrong, _right now_ it would be nice not to have everyone constantly acting like she didn’t understand what she wanted for herself!

“Are you alright, Hina?” Sakura asked, having paused eating to watch her with concern.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine!” Hina grinned at her, “Just my mom not getting why I’m annoyed...”

“Ah… that is unfortunate…” Sakura sighed, looking way more worried about it than Hina liked…

“Hey! It’s not _that_ big a deal!” She chuckled, “You don’t have to worry about me!”

“Hmm… you are resilient.” Sakura nodded, before going back to her grilled fish while Hina looked through the rest of the column to see what _else_ had been said about her…

_‘No word on what the hall monitor’s thoughts on her are… all he’s been heard saying is that his kyoudai’s chest isn’t a patch on actor Taylor Lautner’s! Who would have thought he’d be a Twilight fan!?’_

Okay, now _that_ was stupid! Taka spending a week reading those books and complaining about _Every. Single. Thing._ in them didn’t make him a fan! And did he even know who Taylor _was?_ No one in class had dared _tell_ him there were movies, in case he decided to hate-watch them all as well…

Well, at least _now_ she’d have someone else who’d be able to help her tell everyone this Ultimate Columnist was more like an Ultimate _liar…_ She just had to tell him about it first… and maybe find a photo of the actor on her phone so he could compare who looked better himself…

“Hey… do you know where Taka is this morning?” She asked once she’d saved a good one. Sakura was pretty good at keeping track of what he was up to.

“He should be monitoring the halls at the time.” Sakura answered, glancing at the clock, “You intend to discuss the paper with him?”

“Yep!” She nodded.

“Then it would likely be best to meet him in the classroom, he should be there several minutes before class starts…” Sakura told her, quickly finishing the last of her breakfast. “Although there may be others there as well…”

“That won’t matter!” Hina assured her as she got up from her chair to help clean the plates…

They got to class pretty quickly, even beating Taka for once. Not that they were the first ones there though…

“Morning, Chi!” She waved to the programmer, who was making some notes on his laptop while a video of an old video game played on his tablet. “I _love_ that hairband!”

“Huh? Oh, thanks!” He looked as if he’d forgot he was _wearing_ a headband today… “And morning, you guys!” He added, waving to them both before getting back to his notes.

“Good morning.” Sakura nodded, “A warning though, Ishimaru is likely to be arriving soon…”

That was a good point. He’d flip if he saw Chihiro watching video games in the classroom, even if it _was_ before class started!

“I’ll put it away before class starts…” He muttered absent mindedly as he stared at his screen.

“Why not just do it now? You’re not even looking at it!” Hina asked.

“Huh? What are you talking abo… _Ah!_ ” Chihiro looked over the desk and jumped when he spotted the tablet. “Chiaki! I _told_ you to keep your screen off!” He hissed at it.

“…But… This is impossible… I think.” Chihiro cringed as a voice came from the tablet.

“I told you to stay silent as well…” Chihiro muttered irritably. “But it’s not impossible, you just have to find a way out of the loop…”

“But… there’s not enough time… the ghosts keep killing me…”

“That’s because you have to keep the lights on.” Chihiro told it.

“Lights…? Ah… I see… I can do it now…! I think…”

“Good, now _shush_ and turn off your screen!” Chihiro sighed and the tablet turned itself off…

“Are you teaching an AI to play video games?” Hina asked him.

“Well… _yes_. But I’m not supposed to let anyone know about it…” He cringed, “I don’t suppose you guys could just pretend you didn’t see it? I’m not supposed to show her to anyone unless they sign an NDA, but she won’t learn unless I take her to different places…”

“Your secret is safe with us.” Sakura told him.

“Yeah, and not just because neither of us get what we just saw!” Hina laughed, “What was that all that about ghosts, anyway?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s just in the game she was playing. There’s a level set in a haunted pyramid where you have to keep the lights on, because if you let it get dark then ghosts appear and kill you.”

“That sounds so _creepy!_ Why would you make it play such a scary game!” Hina asked.

“Umm… It’s just Sonic the Hedgehog… it’s not _that_ scary…” Chihiro insisted.

“You don’t think something appearing out of the dark and attacking you is scary!?” Hina cried.

“…If you’re worried about being attacked, I can teach you some more self-defence…” Sakura offered.

“I don’t mean like that…” Hina stifled a laugh at Sakura’s out of touchness… “I mean… you can’t actually _touch_ a ghost, so it’s not like you can hit them…”

“But, if you cannot hit them, they cannot hit you…” Sakura said calmly.

“Well, you’d think, but they can pick things up!” Hina remembered Hiro explaining it to her… “And some of them can decide what they do and don’t want to get touched by!”

“They sound like quite the formidable opponent…” Sakura observed.

“Yeah, but they don’t actually _exist…_ ” Chihiri pointed out snarkily.

“Yeah… but it’d be scary if they _did!”_ Hina pouted, “And I wouldn’t want to play a game where they were chasing me!”

“Well… Don’t ever play Silent Hill then…” Chihiro warned her… Which was kinda irritating because now she wanted to know what _that_  was about…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka exited his room and ate breakfast in a poor mood. Running away from Mondo and hiding in his room last night hadn’t stopped him from dreaming about having caught his kyoudai shouting Kiyotaka’s name whilst in the middle of performing a lewd act on himself and Kiyotaka _really_ had to stop thinking about the content of his dreams while he was awake! What was the point of _avoiding_ Mondo if he was just going to _imagine_ him instead!

He’d have to try and find a way to keep his mind occupied with _other_ things… starting with the route he had planned to monitor this morning! Out of the dining room and then a right turn towards the dorm rooms…

_Where Mondo was just coming out of his room and was about to lock eyes with him…_

…Then an about-face towards the classroom and past the school store, where Leon and Hiro were up surprisingly early and reading the school paper…

“See! I told you it’d be in there!” Hiro was confidently boasting to Leon.

“Okay, _sure,_ but why the hell did we have to come and read it _now?”_ Leon complained in response.

“Well, that’s because… Oh hey! There he is now!” Hiro spotted him and pointed in his direction.

“Hah! You’re right, our _class Casanova_ himself!” Leon grinned at him as he made his way towards them.

“Good morning, Leon, and Hiro, good to see you up and being productive, so early in the morning!” He congratulated them, “But, I think you may have the wrong word there, Leon. Casanova is usually used to denote when someone is considered to be a womaniser, due to…”

“You mean you’ve not seen today’s paper?” Leon interrupted him. “Apparently _someone’s_ got a crush on you!”

“Oh… _really!?”_ He found himself having to strain to respond… Partly due to the shock that anyone would be attracted to _him,_ and partly out of a feeling of anxiety he couldn’t explain. Shouldn’t this be a _good_ thing? If he knew who the girl was, he could ask her out and he’d have a girlfriend, like he was _supposed_ to! But he was already panicking at the thought even before he knew who it _was._

Which, admittedly, was an important question. After all, if it was someone like _Syo,_ it would give him a good excuse not to do anything about it… “Err… who is it?”

“You don’t have _any_ idea?” Hiro asked, “I mean, it’s pretty obvious when you think about it…” Kiyotaka shook his head to signify that, _no,_ it wasn’t ‘obvious’ to _him!_ “Who’s the girl you spend most time with?”

As if _that_ was any indication of romantic attraction, after all, for _him_ the answer was: “Hina.” He stated, bluntly.

“ _Sooooooo!?”_ Leon grinned at him.

“…Your saying ‘ _soo’_ for a very long time doesn’t help me figure out who…” Kiyotaka started.

“Dude it _is_ her!” Leon yelled at him.

“Ahahaha!” _Hina!?_ Having a _crush_ on him? She didn’t seem like the sort to hide a crush on _anyone!_ At least not without it being obvious… “That’s _nonsense!_ We’re just good friends, that’s all!” He laughed.

“But you spend all that time with her…” Hiro countered.

“That doesn’t mean we’re anything more than friends!”

“What about her giving you a donut!?” Leon asked.

Was he serious? “She gives everyone donuts! In fact she probably gives _you_ more donuts than anyone!”

“Well… yeah… but I’m taken, so it’s different!” Leon muttered, which was a ridiculous sentiment. “C’mon man, are you not even going to ask her out!?”

He’d almost done that once before, and it had become _quite_ apparent that she thought of him as a _sporting_ buddy! But Leon didn’t need to know about that. “No. I’m already perfectly aware of what the answer would be.”

“Well… if you wanna change your mind, you’d better do it fast.” Hiro told him, “’Cause _someone’s_ going to ask her out for a coffee date Saturday evening.”

“Well, I wish them luck. Because it won’t be me.” Kiyotaka decided to ignore the fact that Hiro having predicted it probably meant it _wouldn’t_ happen. “Anyway, I have halls to monitor. I’ll see you in class shortly.” He nodded at them before continuing with his spontaneously decided route…

Which caused him to walk past his homeroom classroom several several minutes before he usually finish his duties…

“Oh! Hey Taka! I need to ask you a question!” Hina’s head shot past the doorframe as he past it.

“Err… Good morning, Hina! I can probably stop for a moment…” Kiyotaka agreed, as it seemed to be an urgent matter...

“What do you think of Taylor Lautner?” She asked, which seemed to be very shocking to Chihiro and confusing to Sakura…

Not that it didn’t confuse him, either… the name didn’t have any significance to him at all, so how would he have an opinion on the… person? “Err… is that a student here...?” He asked. There might be the odd well-behaved student he didn’t know the name of…

“ _O-kaayyy…”_ Hina grinned as if she was pleased he hadn’t know the answer to her question, “And who do you think has a nicer chest, Mondo or _this_ guy?”

She pulled out her phone, which was displaying a picture of a man with no shirt on. Admittedly, he was quite muscular, but his skin was pale and uninteresting. He honestly didn’t look that different from Kiyotaka…

“Mondo.” He instinctively, before his senses caught up with him and he realised what he’d just implied by answering her question so quickly… “Err! N-not that I find Mondo _that_ attractive! Or go about comparing men! I-I’m just answering on an aesthe…!

“Hah! I _knew_ it!” Hina jumped victoriously up and down a few times. “Hinai’s a _total_ liar!”

“What are you talking about?” This was about the newspaper article? But what did this man have to do with whether Hina had a crush on him…?

“Well, _according to the school paper,_ you think _this_ guy, Taylor Lautner, has a nicer chest than Mondo!”

 _“WHAT!?”_ That… That had been in the _paper!?_ The _paper_ had said that he went around comparing the attractiveness of different men!? One of whom was _Mondo!?_ How could she have _said_ that!? That was the sort of statement that could easily get permutated into a rumour that he was attracted to men!

…He’d spent the last few weeks putting an effort into actively avoiding his best friend in order to stop that sort of rumour getting started! And now she’d just _made up_ something that might undo all of that, and all of his hard work, _ever!_

“I know, it’s stupid, right!? And she keeps making stuff up about me as well, it was only on Monday that she said I have a crush on Sakura…”

“You… mean she said you were attracted to Sakura!? _Romantically!?_ ”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s…”

 _“How… How DARE she!?_ ” All his frustration and feelings of helplessness from the last week boiled to the surface as un-containable rage. _“_ That’s _completely_ unacceptable behaviour for the school paper to be involved in, they’re only able to operate because they’re funded by the school, they shouldn’t be spreading information of such a…”

* * *

 

GEEZ! Why the heck was he so _angry_ all of a sudden? “Did you not know the paper’s full of that sort of thing? Hinai’s always saying ‘so-and-so likes so-and-so’ without actually _checking_ with any of them!”

“I was aware of that! But it’s one thing to imply _heterosexual_ romances and quite another to implicate that we are _homosex…_ ”

 _WHAT!? How could he SAY that!?_ Wasn’t he supposed to be the _Ultimate Moral Compass?_ “You think there’s something _wrong_ with being gay!?”

“N-no! Of course not!” He looked scandalised that she’d even suggested it.

“Then what’s the difference between her saying I’ve got a crush on a girl and saying I’ve got a crush on a boy?” A lie was a lie, right?

“Because one of those things would be considered unacceptable to _33%_ of people!” He cried, “I mean… it would be likely to cause instances of bullying, for starters!” He added, when she and probably Sakura and Chihiro just looked at him in confusion.

He was worried people were going to beat him up for this? Even though they’d not tried it when he gave them detentions and everything for 6 months? And he was best friends with _Mondo!?_ How crappy did he think people _were?_ And why did he think so many of them were homophobes?

“Umm… _Where_ did you get that number from?” Chihiro asked him.

“The Pew Research centre.” Kiyotaka stated. Wait… so there were actually statistics on that? Or had he just found some crazy site that overblew the problem…

It looked like Chihiro was checking if that was the case, as his fingers rapidly danced over his keyboard… “Oh… yeah, that actually looks legitimate…” He said quietly, brows furrowed as he looked at the screen.

 _“Really!?”_  Hina rushed over to look. Well… it _looked_ pretty sciency… with… graphs… “Ok, what am I looking at?” She asked Chihiro.

“Umm…” He quickly scrolled down the page to get a general idea of what it said. “Okay, _this_ table shows percentage of people who do and don’t think it’s acceptable, sorted by country, both this year and five years ago… Which I’m guessing is where you got your 33% from?” He looked up to Taka.

“Yes.” Taka nodded.

“But… I don’t know _anyone_ who’s against it…” Hina admitted. “At least, not that they’ve _said…_ ”

“Well, that might be because of their ages… See, this _next_ figure shows the breakdown in different age groups, and younger people are usually more accepting…” Chihiro scrolled down to a different graph…

“So… it’s probably not going to be a problem for us!” Hina smiled, “I bet there’s hardly anyone in _school_ who’s like that!”

“I suppose… but it might have effects _outside_ of school… in terms of our future plans or career opportunities and…!” Taka was still panicking.

“Huh? How!?” Hina asked him. Weren't there laws against discriminating against people for that?

“Well… I guess it might not be an issue for you, as swimming potential isn’t based on public opinion, but for those of us who are intending to…”

“Taka… Are you worried this is going to affect your chances of being Prime Minis…?” Chihiro figured out what he was _actually_ worried about.

“Alright, _YES!_ Yes I am!” Taka spat out before Chihiro even got to finish his question. “I’m sorry, it’s just… how is it fair that she can publish something that could make a third of voters refuse to listen to me, so casually?” He asked, looking cut up about it. “Imagine trying to get first place in an exam if the school refused to even _look_ at every third answer you gave!”

“That’s assuming everyone’s going to believe it though.” Chihiro pointed out.

“Yeah! It’s not like anyone with any sense actually _believes_ Hinai!” Hina laughed, “I mean, on Monday she says I’ve got a crush on Sakura, and now today she’s changed it to _you!_ It’s _obviously_ she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!”

“I… I suppose I may be overreacting…” He admitted. “But I still feel that it’s an inappropriate thing to report on!”

“Well, _yeah…_ but all her stupid gossip is!” Hina agreed.

“Hmm… I have a question, Kiyotaka…” Sakura joined in.

“Ah? What is it?”

“You… you say you don’t want to be seen as homosexual, as it may damage your future path.” She started, “But what if it were _true?_ ”

Well, that’d _suck_ for him, but hopefully people would see what a great politician he was anyway and still…

“If that _were_ the case, which it’s _not…!_ ” Kiyotaka started, “Then I’d hide it.”

“You mean you’d _lie!?_ ” Hina gasped. She didn’t even think he _could_ do that!

“N-no! I mean! I wouldn’t _lie_ about it… I’d just… not tell anyone.” He replied, awkwardly. Surely he must realise how stupid that sounded, right?

“What, you think no one’s going to ask whether you’re dating anyone, ever?” Hina asked. “Good luck with _that!_ ”

“Well… I suppose people _will_ expect me to get married… all the other Prime Ministers have been…” He considered it.

“You’re not thinking you’d have a fake _wife_ , are you?” Chihiro asked.

“Ngh… I… I had been thinking that was a solution I’d consider…” He admitted.

“You’d fake being in _love_ with someone?” Hina asked.

“Well… it is just a hypothetical, so I don’t know what I’d _really_ do…” He started, “But… yes, I think it would be worth it.” He nodded.

“Taka… You want to be Prime Minister _that_ badly?” Chihiro exclaimed.

“Well…”

“Of _course_ he does!” Mondo’s voice shot through the room slightly before the biker himself came through the doorway… “He’s gonna get there and fix all the world’s problems, right, Kyoudai!” He slapped Taka on the back.

“Well… I don’t think I’d be able to fix _everything…_ ” Taka grimaced. “And… Err, how much of that conversation did you hear?”

“Oh, just you saying summat would be worth doin’ and then that last line from Chi…” Mondo told him, which made Taka slump with relief, “Why… what were you talkin’ about?”

“Nothing! Nothing interesting at all!” Taka rushed to deny the conversation had happened. “Just the nonsense that was in the school paper…”

“Why, what did it say?” Mondo asked.

“It… it’s not something you need to concern yourself with!” Taka repeated, turning bright red, “And, regardless, class is starting soon!” He added, dashing away from Mondo and into his seat.

Wait… why was he worried about _Mondo_ finding out what was in paper? Did he think Mondo would be insulted if Kiyotaka _had_ said Taylor Lautner was more attractive than him…?

* * *

 

(Friday, 18th May 2012)

Kiyotaka sighed and sat down on the sauna bench… he felt so _tired…_ He’d spent the last two days avoiding his friend at every turn, and it was _exhausting,_ having to constantly keep an eye out for his kyoudai and think up excuses not to be near him… especially when so many of his class had picked up on it and were asking what the matter was!

Still, at least now he had a moment to relax and…

“Hey, Taka.” Mondo said from _right next to him…_

“Ah! Mondo!” Kiyotaka jumped off of the bench… “I… I’ve got to go!” He stood to leave before… something _bad_ happened!

“C’mon, Taka… You’ve missed me, haven’t you?” Mondo asked, making no attempt to chase him.

Kiyotaka froze in place at the sound of his voice. “…Yes.” He admitted.

“So, come and sit with me.” Mondo smiled gently at him, patting the section of bench next to him…

Next thing Kiyotaka knew, his shoulders were under Mondo’s arm, and his head leant against his kyoudai’s shoulder as the heat of the sauna and his friend’s skin helped him relax…

“You’re going through a lot, huh?” Mondo asked.

Kiyotaka panicked, the pleasant heat suddenly felt oppressive and judgemental and the floor under him was going to fall out below him and…

“It’s okay.” Mondo said.

“Huh?”

“Whatever you’re going through… it’s okay!” Mondo turned to give him one of those wolfish smiles of his, “You’re still gonna be my friend… whatever it is.”

The heat went back to pleasant… just a warm blanket of tranquillity and peace where he could relax and he didn’t have to worry about what others thought or constantly watch himself…

_BBRRIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!_

Kiyotaka’s hand shot out to silence his alarm clock. And then he remembered that Mondo would probably be disgusted if he knew what Kiyotaka was going through and there was no peace or tranquillity in the sauna and it absolutely _did_ matter what other’s thought about him and he _did_ need to constantly watch out and make sure he was presentable and he couldn’t do that with huge tears falling from his eyes so why was he _crying_ first thing in the morning…?

 _Gods…_ why did that dream have to have been so _nice!?_ After two lonely days of avoiding his best friend, to dream of just being able to sit and relax with him, like they used to before he started _having_ all these dreams… it just felt like his heart was being wrenched out of his chest!

But, then again… _that_ dream hadn’t been so _wrong_ , had it? It was just him and Mondo sat together… it hadn’t been sexual, just… happy! Maybe he was getting better! His avoidance strategy was _working!_ Just a little more time and he’d be cured! _Right!?_

He wiped up his tears and sniffed with determination… just a little more. Maybe just today, or until the end of the weekend, maybe! That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? He just needed to get through the day, one step at a time… starting with a shower and then out to breakfast…

He headed into the dining room, and instantly noticed the air was full of whispers and quiet laughing… were they laughing at him? About the article on Wednesday…? No… the people whispering were reading _todays_ paper and laughing at it…

What did it say _this_ time? Was it another implication about _him!?_ He tried to get closer to someone who was reading it…

“Holy crap… Hinai’s gone _nuts!_ ”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“She’s saying last night she heard a weird noise in the ground floor toilets, and when she checked it out she found a secret room at the back of the stalls and it was filled with giant black and white teddy bears that were moving around and laughing weirdly…”

 _“Seriously!?_ Man, maybe Asahina was right about her just making shit up for kicks…”

What was that!? A secret room behind the toilets!? Obviously the teddy bear bit was nonsense, but could it possibly be that there _was_ something like a secret room there? Some one part of the building that hadn’t been sealed shut properly… Perhaps he should go and see if it was true… assuming it was accessible from the _male_ toilets, at least…

He headed into the stall closest to the female toilets and tapped the back wall experimentally… there was a _slight_ wobble to it… If it weren’t for Hinai’s story, he’d have probably disregarded it as his imagination, but…

He rapped the wall again, harder this time, and the faux panelling of the wall popped out and fell away from him, revealing an old, wide and slightly dusty concrete hallway…

“Don’t come in here!” A cold, female voice barked harshly just as he was leaning forward to take a closer look…

“Ah! Ikusaba?” He recognised her voice seconds before she appeared in front of him from the other side of the hallway, the side coming from the female toilets presumably. “What are you doing here?”

“Ishimaru?” She looked surprised to see him. “Junko told me to make sure no one came through here…” She told him.

“Ah! Good thinking! This place is obviously out of bounds!” Kiyotaka realised, “And we have no idea if it’s safe either…”

“Affirmative.” Ikusaba agreed. “I’ve told security about it, but they’re taking a while to show. In the meantime, put the panelling back and guard the boys side, and I’ll stay in the girls one.” She suggested.

“Understood!” He saluted, and put the panelling back…

What followed was a frustratingly tedious half of an hour, mostly spent explaining to other curious students that it probably wasn’t safe and he couldn’t possibly let them past, before a security team arrived and relieved him so he could head to the dining room for breakfast.

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad, if he’d had someone friendly to talk to, like Ikusaba did. (He could just about hear her sister coming to chat to her, about fifteen minutes after they started their shared guard duty, through the faulty panelling.) If Mondo was here, it would probably have felt like a game… and he’d have had someone backing him up when people complained about him being a killjoy! Instead it just felt like a lonely chore, irritating his fellow students into hating him, just like back at middle school…

Still… he was getting better, now! It wouldn’t be too much longer until he could spend time with Mondo again! He just had to keep reminding himself that he just had to keep his resolve a bit longer and he’d go back to normal soon! And in the meantime, he could always sit and have breakfast with his _other_ classmates instead, so he wouldn’t feel _quite_ as lonely!

At least, that was his plan, right until he entered the dining room and saw that _every single person_ in their class was sat at the same table as _Mondo!_ What could he do now!? He couldn’t sit _with_ them all… but if he tried to sit by himself they’d all notice his strange behaviour!

He quickly headed to the dining room, hoping no one noticed the anxious frown on his face at the site of them all sat together as a class like he’d always hoped they would do…

* * *

 

Hina yawned as she headed into the dining room…She _really_ shouldn’t have looked at those Silent Hill videos yesterday! She’d ended up having creepy nightmares all night!

Still… it looked like she hadn’t had the _worst_ night possible! Souda and Tanaka were both covered in small cuts, like they’d been dragged through a field of roses! How the heck had _that_ happened?

“How does one as powerless as _you_ DARE to stare upon the Dark Lord!?” Tanaka growled at her, as he’d caught her staring…

“ _Sorry!_ But I was just wondering what _happened_ to you guys! You look like you had a fight with a dozen cats!”

“Tch! More like twenty _squirrels…_ ” Souda griped.

“Hehheheh… Are you _kidding!?_ You guys got scratched up by _squirrels!?”_ Hina couldn’t help but laugh at imagining the pair getting covered with them…

“Hey! You’d be surprised how nasty those things can be, if they’re not scared of you!” Souda complained.

“Indeed, the denizens of house _Sciuridae_ are not to be taken lightly…” Tanaka warned her, “A shame, then, that a certain foolish _mortal_ failed to take proper heed of his part in our ritual…” Tanaka growled.

“Oh, yeah!? Well maybe I would have remembered it if _someone_ hadn’t let his fucking _pets_ make a _nest_ outta my _notes!_ ” Souda snapped back at him.

“Aww… well look at it _this_ way!” They both froze as Junko came up behind them and put the school paper in front of them, “At least you guys didn’t get attacked by a ‘roaming gang of possessed teddy bears’ like that nosey little reporter apparently _saw in a secret room under the ground floor toilets…!_ _Upupupupu!_ ”

“Oh man… you gotta be _kidding_ me…” Souda gulped as he read the paper.

“ _I-Impossible!_ Even if there _was_ such a thing, it would need to be contained by protective wards, that no _mere mortal…_ ” Tanaka started one of his crazy speeches…

“Well… maybe _someone_ screwed up his _wards…”_ Junko managed to get him to stop talking, “… _Or,_ that gossip’s full of crap like Hina here keeps saying she is!”

“Yeah, seriously! I mean, _possessed bears?_ She must think we’re _crazy_ to believe something like that!” Hina laughed. “I’m not even sure I believe the room in the toilets thing…”

“Oh, the secret room’s true, your boytoy’s in there calling security and yelling at everyone to get out because it’s not an official student area and may be unsafe…”

“He’s not my boy…”

“But _ghosts possessing teddy bears!?_ I mean, I _know,_ right!?” Junko laughed along with her, “Hey, maybe you should go and, like, spend the night there to prove she’s full of it!”

“Spend the _night?_ In some weird hidden room…?” That… that sounded like something a stupid person in a horror movie would do… And then creepy monsters would come out and… “Why’s it have to be a whole night?”

“Haven’t you ever watched a horror movie? It’s not like a ghost is gonna come out during the day!” Junko laughed.

“But… a ghost isn’t going to come out _anyway!”_ At least she _really, really_ hoped not… “So why does it matter _when_ I go and look?”

“Well, if you’re trying to prove her wrong, then you’ve have do it at the most likely time it’d happen!” Junko explained in her teacher pose. “Otherwise she’ll just claim that you were there at the wrong time.”

“Yeah, but… everyone will know she’s just making this up anyway, right?” Hina pointed out, “It’s not like _I_ need to go confirm it this time…”

“You seemed rather intent of setting ablaze Hinai’s web of deceits, _otherwise..._ ” Tanaka observed, probably talking about when she'd complained yesterday about all the lies she was telling... “Could it be, perhaps, that you _do_ understand the threat posed by restless spirits of the night?”

“Uhh…” What was he saying…?

“He thinks you’re only not proving _this_ one wrong because you’re afraid of ghosts…” Souda translated.

“ _I’m not afraid of ghosts!”_ Hina insisted.

“ _Great!_ So you’ll totally go spend Saturday night down there!” Junko grinned, “I’ll go let everyone know!” She strutted away before Hina had a chance to finish arguing…

“What are _you_ so upset about… it’s not like she gave you a _hard_ job!” Souda muttered, rubbing the scratches on his arm…

“Umm… I guess not… Anyway, hope you guys get better soon!” She waved them goodbye and went to get her own food.

He was right, it’d wouldn’t be _hard…_ except maybe for keeping herself awake all night. But it’d still be scary down there all by _herself_ … But who’d want to go with her? Well… Sakura would, but Junko was ( _loudly, right now_ ) telling a bunch of people that she was going to do it on Saturday, which was when Sakura was hoping to call Kenshiro at the hospital, so she'd rather not ask her unless it was an actual emergency, rather than a silly favour…

Oh, duh! _Taka!_ She still had his voucher from her birthday! That'd be perfect! Especially as he was coming this way for his breakfast as well!

"Heya, Taka!" She greeted him, which made him jump out of whatever thought he'd been frowning about...

"OH! Err, Good morning, Hina." He said, more dully that he usually was in the mornings, "How are you?"

"Well... actually I was kinda hoping I could use that favour voucher you gave me..."

"Ah, well in that case, what can I help you with?" He asked, perking up a little.

"Well... this is a bit weird, I know, but... I want to spend tomorrow night in that secret room behind the toilets to prove there's no ghosts down there..." She admitted, "And I was wondering if you come with me to... keep me awake!" She was _not_ going to tell him she was worried about spending the night somewhere creepy by herself...

"Err... well, I'd be _willing_ to, except... That area's off limits to students..." He frowned.

"Oh, really? Gee, that's a shame..." She lied, Taka had just given her the perfect excuse not to go do Junko's suggestion! "Guess I'll have to save the vouch..."

"However, I _will_ go ask the headmaster if he'd be willing to make an exception, just in case!" He carried on, "Not that I think it's likely though..."

"Well, no harm in _asking_ , right?" Hina shrugged... although if the headmaster said _yes_ it'd be a disappointment.

"Indeed! I'll go do it right now and give you the answer in class!"

"But... what about your breakfast?" Hadn't that been why he'd come in here?

"Err... well, to be quite honest, I'm not that hungry this morning. I might just grab a banana and go..." He muttered, looking slightly embarrassed, "I hope enjoy _your_ breakfast though!" He added, before heading off.

“Alright, see you later!” Hina waved him off, and then went to the dining room to look for Sakura…

Oh, wow! Everyone else in their class were all sat together, even _Togami!_ Had she been told about this? She’d completely forgot if she had…

“Hi guys!” She smiled at them all, “What’s the occa…”

“Where the hell is Taka going!?” Mondo interrupted her.

“Oh, well… I asked him if he could do me a favour, but it turned out it would break school rules, but he said he could go ask the headmaster if he could make an exception for me!”

“Couldn’t he have waited until after breakfast?” Makoto asked.

“He could have… But he said he wasn’t hungry, so…”

“ _See!_ This is what I’m fucking talking about! Every meals he finds someone other than me ta sit with, and now we're all together he'd rather starve that be _near_ me!” Mondo snapped, loudly. “He’s takes every chance he _gets_ not to be in the same place as me!”

“Umm… what are you talking about?” Hina felt like she’d missed something.

“Kiyotaka’s been trying to avoid Mondo for the last three weeks.” Kyoko summarised, bluntly.

“He has?” Hina thought about it, “But I’ve seen you together a few times…”

“ _Trying_ being the key word.” Celes smirked.

“Well, it’s still pissing me off!” Mondo snapped, “I’m sick of havin’ ta _corner_ the guy in order for us ta hang out!”

“Then perhaps you should respect his obvious wish _not_ to be in your presence!” Togami briefly looked up from reading to suggest, “Believe me, stalking is _not_ an attractive behaviour.”

Oh, wow… Toko looked _really_ upset that he’d said that! Although he kinda had a point…

“Umm… I don’t think it’s really that though… He’s getting stressed out when Mondo’s around, but then he gets depressed when he’s _not…_ ” Chihiro pointed out.

“But it’s just _me_ he’s stressed near?” Mondo frowned, “So I _have_ done something ta piss him off!”

“Well… It… doesn’t necessarily mean he feels _negatively_ towards you, Oowada-dono…” Hifumi said, confidently, “It may be because he feels more _positively_ about _you_ in _particular,_ that he…”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Leon cut him off, “Why would he _avoid_ someone he _likes?”_

“Didn’t you say there was something about him in the school paper…?” Sayaka asked him, “Is he worrying about his reputation?”

“That was only two days ago.” Kyoko said, “I’m _sure_ this has been the same problem for the whole three weeks.”

“I keep telling you guys, it’s the dem…!”

“HE’S NOT FIGHTING A GODDAMN DEMON!” Mondo yelled at Hiro, at which the table collectively flinched and/or sighed at him. “Sorry, but I was kinda hoping for some _useful_ ideas!” He apologised.

“Well… has anyone _asked_ him what’s wrong?” Hina asked them all.

“I’ve tried a few times… but he just keeps saying he’s fine.” Makoto sighed, “Although maybe it’s worth trying again…”

“Well, can’t you just say you can tell he’s lying?” Hina shrugged. If he knew everyone was worried about him, maybe he’d just be honest about what was bothering him!

“I dunno… if you said that to _me_ , I’d just make up some fake problem instead of admitting the real one!” Junko admitted.

“Umm… yeah. I don’t think trying to _force_ him to talk about the problem when we have no idea what it even is will help…” Chihiro frowned.

“So, what the _fuck_ am I supposed to _do_ then!” Mondo cried, “I don’t even know any more if it’s _my_ fault or not!”

“W-well… why not ask _him_ that?” Toko snapped. “Or m-maybe try and think about _other_ things that are stressing him out and see if there’s a connection or something! You’re _supposed_ to be his ‘kyoudai’ aren’t you? Sh-shouldn’t you b-both be able to figure out what you’re h-hiding from each other?"

“Wait…. _What?_ ” Mondo stared at her.

“I said shouldn’t you be both be able to…”

“ _Shit_.” Mondo barely whispered it. “I… I think I know what’s happened…”

“ _That’s great!”_ Hina cheered, “Now you guys can talk about it!”

“Uhh… sure.” Mondo muttered, dully. “Thanks, guys.” He added, getting up to leave despite only eating half his food.

 _Mondo_ wasn’t hungry either? Was there a stomach bug going around the school or something…?

* * *

 

Kiyotaka looked into the entrance to the headmasters waiting area with some slight trepidation. To be quite honest with himself, he was wishing he hadn’t suggested asking the man for permission to do Hina’s request. What if he thought Kiyotaka was being foolish for even considering the idea? And, even worse, what if he said _yes?_

If he said yes, it’d mean having to spend the night sleeping _right_ _next_ to someone… What would happen if he had one of his dreams? Did he shout in his sleep? He had a worrying suspicion that he _did,_ which would mean Hina would notice and… then what? Admittedly she didn’t seem against homosexuality… but she did seem against _lies_ about it. What if she decided to tell everyone else about it?

He shook his head; he was being ridiculous! There was no chance the headmaster would grant him permission to go into an unauthorised area just to do a silly favour for someone! He probably wouldn’t even have the time to _speak_ with Kiyotaka before tomorrow! He was just coming to ask so he could tell Hina he’d made every effort to help her, like he did with everyone else, but in _this_ case she’d have to ask for something else!

“Good morning!” He saluted the headmaster’s secretary, “I’d like to try and make an appointment with the headmaster, preferably before…”

“Is that Ishimaru out there?” The headmaster’s voice came from his office, “Send him through, please!”

The secretary shrugged and gestured to go through. Well… just because the headmaster needed to speak with him, didn’t mean he was going to honour his request…

“Good morning, Headmaster!” He greeting the man with a salute.

“Good morning, Ishimaru. Take a seat.” Kiyotaka did so. “I understand you were guarding that secret room Hinai found behind the toilets. Did you enter it at all?

“No sir! I thought it was likely to be a safety hazard, and probably considered by staff to be out-of-bounds to students, and so myself and Ikusaba kept the other students _outside_ of it until security came.”

“Hmm, understandable.” The headmaster looked slightly disappointed, “Very well... you had something you wanted to discuss with me?”

“Ah, yes. Although, to be honest, it a bit of a superfluous request…” He started, “It’s just my classmate, Asahina, is hoping to discredit Hinai’s ridiculous story about there being bears down there…”

“Ah, the ones that apparently laugh like your classmate…” The headmaster interrupted him, “Hinai was rather worked up about that…”

“Oh, really?” She’d actually gone to the _headmaster_ with that ridiculous story? “Ah… well, it was because of that that Asahina wants to spend the night in the secret room, and asked me to go with her.” He finished his explanation, “Although, obviously I’ll understand if you can’t…”

“Ah! That will be perfect!” The headmaster exclaimed, “I need someone sensible to draw a map of the place! If it’s what I _think_ it is, it should be doable in one night…”

_Oh no… he was saying YES!?_

“Err… well, I’d be happy to help! But, I wouldn’t necessarily need Hina with me…”

“You ought to have someone there in case either of you have an accident, and Asahina has first aid training.” The headmaster countered.

“I see, but…” There must be _some_ way he could get out of this! “…Isn’t it inappropriate for me to spend in the same room as her?”

“Ahahaha!” The headmaster just laughed, “Don’t worry, Ishimaru. I _know_ you’re not going to get up anything inappropriate with Asahina…”

“…What do you mean by _that?”_ Something about the headmaster’s tone sounded a little too… _knowing!_

“I mean you’re an upstanding young man who won’t take advantage of his classmates.” The headmaster patted his shoulder, “Anyway, I’ll send a note to the school stores to furnish you with a communicator to contact security while you’re down there and your choice of camping gear…”

“Ah…” Well, there was the only _other_ reason he could think of not to go, gone! “Th-thank you, sir!”

“No problem, Ishimaru! I’m sure you’ll do a great job!” The headmaster smiled, “You are one of my _favourite_ students, after all!”

“Th-thank you, sir!” Kiyotaka stammered, as he stood to leave, hoping his face wasn’t going as red as it _felt_ like.

But once he was outside of the headmaster’s office, and on his way back to his dorm room to pick up his books, he sighed. Now he had no choice but to do as Hina asked… And not only that, he had to figure out what camping gear he needed to do it! Who was going to ask about _that?_ The only person he knew who’d gone camping before was _Mondo…_

…Who almost ran into him as he stepped out of the stairs and headed into the dormitory corridor.

Ah… well, he needed his friend's help… and his dream had been a _better_ one last night! Maybe he could afford to speak to Mondo a _little_ bit... Although he couldn’t be sure, as his face already felt like it was turning red again… But he needed the advice!

“Ah, Mondo! I need to discuss something with you…”

“NO!” Mondo jumped.

Kiyotaka’s jaw dropped and he blinked. Why would Mondo just say _no_ to him like that? Had he noticed Kiyotaka avoiding him and become angry with him? “W-why…?”

“Uhh… I mean… I _can’t!”_ Mondo clarified. “…Not feeling well!” He added, before dashing off to his room…

Mondo was _sick?_ Had he not been eating sensibly without Kiyotaka with him at mealtimes over the last few days? That was probably likely, wasn’t it? He’d ignored Mondo and let him get sick! He really ought to get Mondo some proper food at lunchtime… and they could eat it together… and he’d probably have to pick a bit of rice of off Mondo’s cheek… and while his fingers were there they’d brush his lips and he’d hold Mondo’s cheek and use it to guide their lips together and…

He slapped himself in the face. He was getting _worse_ again! Why had he let himself try to talk to Mondo! Now his moment of weakness had put him back several days again! That was unacceptable! That was _it!_ He had to avoid Mondo, _completely,_ until these dreams _stopped!_ No more letting his resolve slip! Otherwise he was going to end up having one of _those_ dreams tomorrow night when he had to sleep with _Hina_ in the room!

But Mondo was still sick, and needed someone to make him a proper lunch… perhaps Kiyotaka could leave some in front of Mondo’s door, hit the bell and then dash back into his own room before Mondo answered it… Or something like that…

* * *

 

“Well, I’m glad all _that’s_ sorted out!” Hina grinned, as they everyone but Mondo and Kiyotaka filed into their classroom. “We should all have breakfast together more often!”

“No.” Togami scowled. Urg! Spoiltsport… “Besides, you don’t _really_ think that idiot figured out Ishimaru’s problem, do you?”

“Well… he seemed to think he had…” Hina pointed out.

“…H-have _you_ figured it out?” Toko asked Togami.

“No. Which is why I _know_ that thug hasn’t.” He replied, then frowned after considering it for a moment… “Wait… what you said earlier… Have _you_ figured it out!!?” He scowled at her.

“W-well, I don’t know for sure… but I have an _idea…_ ” Toko admitted, “It’s…”

“Don’t tell me.” Togami snapped at her. “I’ll figure it out myself!”

 _Urg!_ Damn that four-eyed lemon! Just as _someone_ was going to find a way to fix all this! Now she probably wouldn’t tell _anyone!_

“Hmm… She said find a commonality between things that make him anxious…” Sakura mused, quietly to herself.

“Hmm… tough one…” Hina agreed, trying to think of an answer…

She drew a total blank, right up until Taka arrived at the classroom and came to talk to her, looking anxious. “Ah… Hina! About your request…”

“I guess the headmaster said no, right?” That would explain why he looked worried about it…

“Ah… no. Actually he says we can spend the night, so long as I make a map of the area while we’re there.” Taka replied, frowning.

“ _Eeeep!_ R-really!?” Hina squeaked a little bit. _Nooo!_ Now she’d had no excuse not to go into that creepy-sounding room!

“Wait… what is _this_ about?” Sakura asked, looking between them with worry…

“Oh! Hina’s gonna spend tomorrow night in the secret room to prove there’s no ghosts there!” Junko piped up from her seat. “And I’m guessing she’s taking Taka with her to keep her up _all night long!_ ” Junko winked at Hina in a stupid way… Was she suggesting they were going to be in there have _sex_ or something!?  _Urrggghh!_

“I could… but I was thinking it would be more efficient for each of us to take watch over half the night, so we still got _some_ sleep.” Thankfully, Taka _completely_ missed Junko’s second meaning.

“Ah… Is that really alright with you both?” Sakura asked them, “I could go in place of you, Ishimaru…”

“Ah! No! _I_ need to do it with her!” Taka exclaimed, which made Hina noticed made Junko snicker into her hands… “I mean… because she asked for it to be my favour!”

“Taka, you don’t have to do stuff you’re not comfortable with, just because of the vouchers, you know?” Makoto interrupted.

“Ah… No! I’ll be perfectly comfortable!” Taka insisted, “Hina and I _like_ each other after all, right!? So it’ll be fine doing a little indoor camping together! We’ll be _camping_ buddies as well as _aquathlon_ buddies!”

“Upupupu! Sounds like you’re upgrading your relationship!” Junko giggled.

“Yes! I… I suppose that _might_ be the case…” Taka agreed, although he still sounded like he wasn’t having the same conversation Junko was.

“Hmm… you still seem _anxious_ about this…” Sakura commented.

“What? No, I’m fine! I’ve not got anything to be worried about!” Taka denied it, too forcefully for anyone to believe him… “Well… alright. I’m supposed to be getting requesting camping gear for while we’re down there… but I’ve never been camping and Mondo’s too sick to answer my questions about it so I don’t know what I’m getting! That’s _all_ that’s bothering me!”

“Really? You should have said! _I’ve_ been camping!” Hina told him, “We can go to the school store together at lunchtime and get everything we need!”

“Ah? Well… that sounds like a good idea!” Taka agreed, “Although I was hoping to make Mondo some lunch, to help him get better…”

“…I can do that for you, Kiyotaka.” Sakura offered, “I have something to discuss with Oowada, anyway.” She added, looking as though she’d just figured out a puzzle…

* * *

 

(Saturday, May 19th 2012)

“Hey, Taka…?” Makoto sounded unusually serious as they were headed back from their roleplaying club.

“Is something the matter?”

“Umm… I was _meant_ to ask you this last night, but my uncle was visiting and wanted to chat.” Makoto started, “I was just wondering… did you see the newspaper article where it said Hina has a…”

 _Urg!_ Not _this_ again! “As I told Leon and Hiro, Hina and I are _friends._ Nothing else.” He replied, tersely.

“Right! Okay then!” Makoto presumably knew better than to try and persuade him when he was _that_ sure of himself… if only a certain baseball player had the same attitude! “Was there anything _else_ you want to talk about?”

“Hmm… Well, I’m still a little confused as to how grapple checks work, exactly?” He admitted, thinking back to the game they’d just played.

“Uhh… I meant more… generally?” Makoto asked, hesitantly. “I mean… is something _bothering_ you… _at all?”_

Other than the fact that he’d had yet another sexual dream about his unreceptive best friend last night and was increasingly more worried that spending a night with another person awake next to him would expose the way his mind and body were betraying him at the moment and then she’d tell everyone and he’d lose all his friends and probably never manage to become Prime Minister?

“No! I’m fine! Absolutely fine!” He lied.

“Alright… But you know you can talk to me about anything, right?” Makoto told him, “If you ever _do_ want someone to talk to!” He added.

“I… I’ll keep it in mind!” He promised, in case he had any _other_ problems.

“But anyway, the way grappling works is…” Makoto started to explain the rules on the way back to the dorms, which did at least distract him from his worrying until they got there and they both said their goodbyes…

Right, just enough time for one last inventory check! One sleeping bag, one pillow, provisions (rice balls, pickled vegetables and water to drink), two torches, spare batteries, the security communicator, clipboard, pencils and alarm clock. That was everything he needed to map out the passageways and help Hina with her request!

And then there were the other objects, being brought along out of sheer hope that they might help him sleep through the night without him having one of _those_ dreams in front of his friend: One copy of Twilight, with all the creepy bits pre-marked for convenience, and one dream-catcher…

…He was _really_ bringing along this useless mass of string and feathers? He was getting _desperate_ , wasn’t he…?

But _not_ desperate enough to follow that _other_ advice, from the internet! He needed to maintain _some_ standards, after all! And he was probably worrying too much about it anyway… surely even his subconscious wouldn’t be lewd enough to make him have that sort of dream with _Hina_ right there next to him!

_Right?_

Well, he’d find out soon enough. He’d done everything he could think of to prevent it… he just hoped it would be enough…

He headed out down to the ground floor toilets, where Hina was already waiting for him.

“Ready to go, _camping_ buddy?” She asked, her hand awaiting a ‘high-five’…

“Absolutely!” He replied, clapping his outstretched palm against hers. “I’ve made sure to bring…”

“HEY! TAKA! WAIT UP A SEC!” Kiyotaka flinched at the sound of Mondo’s voice… he’d _really_ been hoping to avoid his kyoudai at all costs today…

“Err… Mondo? What is it?” He asked, pleased to see that despite how urgent Mondo _sounded,_ he still wasn’t _running_ in the corridor…

“I need ta talk to you… like, _alone!_ ” He muttered, glancing at Hina.

“Well… does it have to be right _now?”_ Kiyotaka made a desperate attempt to put this off… “Hina and I were about to…”

“I don’t mind!” Hina piped up, “We have to split up to go through the different bathrooms anyway, so I might as well go now and you can catch up with me once you’re done talking to Mondo!”

“Err… Well. I suppose I have time for a _quick_ conversation then…” He agreed, reluctantly watching Hina head into the girls toilets. “So… what did you need to talk about?” He asked Mondo, once she'd gone.

“Well, for _starters_ … Did I _do_ something?” Mondo asked, anxiously.

“Err… when?” Kiyotaka asked him, not understanding exactly what Mondo was getting at.

“Just… at some point!” Mondo clarified…

“Well, I should certainly hope you’ve done _something_ at _some_ point instead of spending your _whole_ existence lazing…”

“I MEAN WHY THE FUCK DON’T YA WANNA BE ANYWHERE NEAR ME ANYMORE!?” Mondo yelled, with an expression that reminded Kiyotaka of a wounded animal lashing out…

“Ngh!” Guilt roiled in his stomach and made him want to throw up… Of course Mondo had noticed his avoidance strategy… but he’d assumed it was _his_ fault, not _Kiyotaka’s_ …

“WELL!?” Mondo shouted, expecting a reply that Kiyotaka couldn’t formulate into words… “WHAT THE HELL IS IT!? DID YOU…!” A look of horror passed over Mondo’s face, “Fuck! I _knew_ it! Oogami was wrong... You really _did_ find out what I did, didn’t you!”

“Err… N-no…? I…” Kiyotaka’s mind scrambled to find a way to assure Mondo that this _wasn’t_ his fault, whilst also not admitting the truth of the matter… “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you… It’s not _your_ fault, it just… I’ve had… Urgh…” He trailed off, realising how stupid he looked as he did it.

“…It’s not _my_ fault?” Mondo asked, looking relieved...

“No! _But_ …”

“…It’s something ya don’t wanna talk about?” Mondo said, gently.

“Yes…” He admitted.

“But it’s definitely _not_ ‘cause I fucked up something?”

“Absolutely NOT!”

“Hah… hahaha! Looks like I’m worrying for nothin’ then!” Mondo laughed, a look of relief passing over his face, “Alright… I’ll give ya some space then…” He added, ruffling Kiyotaka’s hair with his hand… it felt so _nice!_  Mondo had such strong hands... they'd probably feel good touching his…

_Oh gods, he couldn’t think about that right in front of Mondo what was wrong with him!?_

“W-well… if that’s all, I’m supposed to be meeting Hina up ahead…” He tried to squirm away from Mondo before he got anymore weird thoughts about him…

“Oh yeah…” Mondo took his hand off of his head and looked past him into the boys toilets … “What are you planning to do down there, anyway?”

“Well first, assuming I don’t _really_ get attacked by ‘murderous laughing panda bears’…” Kiyotaka allowed himself a smirk at Hinai’s ridiculous story, “I’ll be drawing a map of the paths down there, using my paces to judge the distance, whilst also checking for any signs of structural instability or rule-breaking from students… then Hina and I will find an inconspicuous place to camp and keep a watch for anyone who attempts to use the area for any rule-breaking!”

“Is that all?” Mondo asked, sounding slightly anxious about the question.

“Well… yes! Unless you think there’s some security aspect I haven’t considered…”

“No, I don’t mean that. It’s just… You and Hina are gonna be down there by yourselves…”

“Oh! I see why you’re worried!” Kiyotaka realised, “But don’t worry! We're _both_ trained in first aid and I’ve got a communicator so I can contact security if…”

“I don’t mean _that…”_ Mondo interrupted, “It’s just… seems ta be a lotta people sayin’ you gotta ask her out real soon, so…”

Kiyotaka froze, trying to hide any sign that Mondo’s words had made him feel as if the floor beneath him had just dropped away. It was one thing to disregard _Leon_ and _Hiro’s_ opinions of the situation, and Makoto had acquiesced easily… but _Mondo_ knew him better than _anyone!_ Did that mean the pair of them really  _weren't_ just friends!?

But… _Him and Hina?_ He’d been so relieved when she’d misunderstood his attempt to ask her out a few weeks ago! But what if he’d just been wrong about that? Should he have just bitten the bullet and clarified his intention straight away? Should he do it now? Everyone, even _Mondo,_ seemed to think it was the case… but the mere thought was making him want to recoil, _surely_ that wouldn’t be a good start to _any_ relationship!

But, if he didn’t, wouldn’t people wonder _why_ he hadn’t? What if people started paying attention to his reactions to Mondo’s presence? What if _Mondo_ started paying attention to them!? What if that was why he’d brought it up now, because he’d seen right through Kiyotaka’s vague excuses for avoiding him and was now gauging Kiyotaka’s reaction _right in this moment_ and he’d been silent for far too long but he _still_ didn’t know if he…

“ _Should_ I ask her out?” He shot out the thought in his head, just to say _something…_

“Why’re ya asking _me!?_ ” Mondo asked, “ _You’d_ be the one who had ta date her if ya _did!_ So it’s _your_ choice!”

“Err…” Mondo was right… that was a _stupidly_ suspicious sounding question! Unless he could think of a way to justify asking it Mondo was _sure_ to notice what was going on with him! “I just meant… Do you think she’d _want_ to?” Fear of rejection often stopped people doing that sort of thing, right!?

“Oh! Err… well…” Mondo seemed to think about it for a moment… “You’re a great guy! I mean… _I_ wanna hang out with ya all the time, so… she would want to.. I guess?”

“O-oh?” Kiyotaka stammered in the emotional conflict of feeling happy that Mondo liked spending time with him whilst also terrified of what he meant Kiyotaka now had to _do…_ “I-I guess she _would_ want to go out with me, then!” He forced himself to sound as pleased as possible about it, “I’ll make sure to ask her tonight!”

“Uhh… really!? You sure?” Mondo looked shocked, “And you’re sure ya wanna do it _tonight!_?”

Why would Mondo ask him that? He’d just told him it was a good idea to ask her, so why _wouldn’t_ he? That’s what _most_ men would want to do, wasn’t it? Was Mondo trying to test him or something? If so, he’d best make sure to pass with flying colours!

“Absolutely!” Kiyotaka lied with a laugh, “With your support in the matter, why wouldn’t I!?”

“Uhh… well…” Mondo scratched his head modestly…

“Anyway, I’d best get going, or Hina’ll think I’ve ditched her!” Kiyotaka told him, mostly because his forced smile was starting to hurt… “I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow!” He waved to Mondo as he slipped past the false panelling and quickly put it back into place…

He walked a few steps, before his legs turned into a bizarre mixture of jelly and lead and he let himself sink to the floor… He… he was going to ask _Hina_ out, _tonight_ , in a weird secret set of passages that shouldn’t even been under the school in the first place! Because if he _didn’t_ everyone would be suspicious of him and there’d be even more detrimental rumours about him going around than there already _were_ and Mondo probably wouldn’t want Kiyotaka anywhere _near_ him…

“ _Fuck!”_ Kiyotaka was jolted out of his thoughts of dread by Mondo yelling in frustration… “Oogami’s gonna _kill_ me…” He could just about hear Mondo mutter it as he walked away from the panelling…

What was that about? Why would Sakura want to hurt him? And why hadn’t Mondo told him about it?

Well, he couldn’t worry about that now, if he went back out to ask about it, Mondo would want to know why’d he’d been sat by the door listening… and Mondo was probably overreacting anyway!

He picked himself up off of the floor… he couldn’t sit here all day, he had to go map this place out  _and ask Hina out_ …

* * *

 

What was taking those two so long? Even with a torch, this place was starting to creep her out… Even though she knew full well there shouldn’t be anything in here, the long dark corridor ahead of her just swallowed up the faint light after a while… there could be _anything_ back there, and she wouldn’t know about it until it was already creeping its way towards her…

“Ah! Hina!” She jumped and almost dropped the torch when Taka suddenly came up right behind her and announced his presence loudly. “Err…Are you alright?” He added, jumping back slightly because _she’d_ jumped.

“You startled me!” Hina turned around to complain at him.

“Ah… sorry!” He stammered, “Err… Let’s get going, then!”

He didn’t really wait for her to respond, opting to take the lead and head slowly up the corridor, sweeping the torch over every inch of the corridor, counting steps so he could draw an accurate map of the place and occasionally tapping the walls or picking up bits of litter and placing them in a clear plastic bag… geez, even down _here_ he cared about how the school looked! Still, what _else_ should she have expected from Taka?

There was something weird about him though… he seemed nervous? It was almost like how he’d got right before the school exams, walking through all the corridors looking like he expected there to be a firing squad in the next room! But why was _he_ scared? He didn’t believe in ghosts or evil bears or anything, did he? He’d argued with Hagakure about spirits and stuff enough times, and he’d just been laughing at Hinai's story yesterday...

Still, _she_ didn’t believe in any of that stuff either… but down here in the dark, it didn’t seem quite so unbelievable anymore… maybe he was losing his nerve and would want to talk about it? “Hey… are you alright? You seem nervous…”

“Ah! Err… you noticed then…”

“Sorry, but you’re not much of an actor...” She giggled softly.

“Well… I might as well admit it then.” He sighed, “There’s something I need to ask you, but…” He trailed off.

“Well, what is it?” Was he gonna keep her in suspense all night!?

“Ah, well, I was wondering if… at some point…” He started, awkwardly, “…Would you like to have… err… _coffee_ with me?”

“Haha, _what?_ Why were you worried about asking _that?”_ Hina laughed at him, “We eat breakfast together every week!” Geez, he was still so stiff about being friends! Maybe she should get Makoto to talk to him about it…

“Erm… I, ah… I was thinking more like a _date,_ actually.”

 _HUUUUH!?_ A _date!? Her!?_ With _TAKA!?_ Why the heck would he ask _that!?_ They were just friends! He was her competitor for practise! Dating him would be… _weird!_ He was just one of her friends, and a really good friend at that! Why did he suddenly want to change that? Where’d he got the idea that they’d work as couple from!? He hadn't  _really_ thought that sharing food and running together meant she  _liked_ him, had he?

Well… he must have got the idea from _somewhere,_ or he wouldn’t be asking her on a date! But how long had he been thinking about _that_ for…

( _“About us being ‘Swimming Buddies’… Have you ever thought we could be… MORE than that…?”_ )

URRGGHH! She was such an _idiot!_ Of _course_ he’d meant _dating,_ not just doing different sports! But she was so used to him just being her swimming _buddy_ , she’d missed his point completely! And she’d almost done it again just now! How many other times had she done stupid things like that in the last month!? Had she been getting his hopes up the whole time? How was she supposed to say ‘no’ to him now, if she _had_ been leading him on this whole time like Junko said?

“Ah… Hina…?” He said, cautiously.

“Could you give me some time to think about it?” Her voice came out unusually thin and squeaky… She needed to calm down and think of a sensible explanation as to why she was saying no to him so she didn’t upset him _too_ much…

“AH! Yes! Absolutely!” He sounded overjoyed, “Take as much time as you need, ahahaha!”

Oh no… he thought there was a chance she’d say _yes…_ she was going to have to think up a really _good_ explanation…

* * *

 

Well, that was a _‘no'_ , right!? She’d tensed up dramatically the minute he’d clarified his intentions, so obviously she _wasn’t_ interested in him in that way at all! This was _perfect!_ He’d be able to _tell_ everyone that he’d _tried,_ but she wasn’t interested in him so they’d have to just stay as friends! That should convince Mondo and everyone  else not to look too closely at his reactions and relationships!

…For a while at least, hopefully…

Meanwhile, he had a secret chamber to investigate! And frankly, it was quite disturbing how many empty cans of beer and cigarette butts were down here! He’d definitely have to recommend _something_ be done with this place. Sealing it shut would be easiest… but the walls all appeared to be structurally sound, so it may be possible to renovate the place for something useful, so long as they put proper security systems down here…

“Hmm… I’ve think I’ve made notes on everything I can down here…and it’s all structurally sound!” He announced, once he was finished checking over his map to ensure he hadn’t left any unexplored turns off of it. “No sign of evil bears either!” He laughed, “Perhaps we should set up camp near the first corridor, so we have a simple evacuation route should something happen overnight.”

“Yeah… that sounds like a good idea…” Hina muttered.

…It was hard to tell in this poor light… but was she scared? What of? He’d just told her it was safe, the only other thing here that could scare her was…

_Him._

Oh dear… in retrospect, asking her out when it was just the pair of them, trapped by obligation, in a dark, bizarre secret cavern had probably made her concerned that he was going to do something… _creepy_ or something!

“Ah… or would you prefer we sleep in separate corridors?” He offered.

“NO!” She jumped… well, now that idea seemed to have scared her even more!

“Err… alright then…”

They both unpacked their sleeping bags, and ended up sharing the food they’d brought down (although he let her keep all her donuts…) before it was decided that she’d take the first watch, and he’d do the second…

Which meant he was going to have to go to sleep in front of her, right _now…_

“Ah… I might just read for a bit before going to sleep!” He told her, then proceeded to get out the Twilight book he’d bought and re-reading the marked pages… Hoping the sheer distastefulness would curb his subconscious, if only for this one night…

“Well… Goodnight, Hina!” He announced once he was done, and turned the torch off…

“Ah! Don’t turn the light off!” Hina shrieked.

“Why? Did you see something?” Kiyotaka asked, quickly turning it back on and scanning across the room with it… _He_ couldn’t see anything…

“N-no! It’s just… I don’t wanna be down here in the _dark…_ ” She admitted, looking around the room nervously…

“You’re afraid of the _dark_?” She didn’t seem like the sort to be scared of something so harmless…

“No, it’s not that…” She frowned, “It’s just… well all that talk of ghost or monsters bears or whatever’s freaking me out!”

“Ahahaha!” He didn’t _mean_ to, but he couldn’t help but laugh… “None of those things actually _exist!_ And we’ve certainly not found any evidence of them down here!”

“Yeah, I know…” Hina sighed, “But I keep thinking that what if there _are_ ghosts and the reason we haven’t seen them is because they’re only going to come through the walls once it’s dark!”

…This was ridiculous! It would be like arguing with Hiro, except she actually looked worried by it! “Well… if they can move through walls, then wouldn’t they not be able to touch us anyway?” He asked, trying to point out that even her _own_ logic was flawed…

“But… they switch between going solid and not-solid when they want… Or Hiro said some of them can…”

“You don’t _really_ believe him, do you?” Kiyotaka sighed.

“No… but… it’s still really creepy down here!” She insisted.

That was ridiculous… it was perfectly safe down here! But she couldn’t help having _feelings_ …

“Ah… Well, if having the torch on makes you feel better, then it’s not a problem!”

“Heh! Thanks, Taka! And Goodnight!”

“You’re Welcome! And Goonight, Hina!” He told her before lying down and shutting his eyes,,,

But really, to think she believed in something as ridiculous as ghosts who could move through things and still touch you…

* * *

 

Hina looked over at Kiyotaka, who was sleeping so peacefully he almost looked like he should be in a coffin or something. You’d _think_ he’d have at least been a _little_ anxious about waiting for her response, but once he’d stopped laughing at her about ghosts, he’d gone off to sleep with no problem at all!

At least it gave her time to think… what _was_ she going to tell him? Her initial reaction was _no, just no,_ and that hadn’t changed at all while they’d been exploring, but she couldn’t even put her finger on _why_ she wasn’t interested in him. They got on well, had several shared interests, he was helpful, if a little overbearing, but no one was perfect! He wasn’t even bad looking either, at least not now he’d made some friends and smiled a lot more, and he was good at motivating people and would probably do most of the chores and not be a total slob… If there was going to be a ‘right guy’ for her, wouldn’t Taka be it?

But she just… couldn’t imagine dating him, or couldn’t imagine even _wanting_ to go on dates or kiss him or anything. What would their future even be like…? With all his hard work he’d probably be well on his way to Prime Minister before long, and she’d be trying for the Olympics, so they’d probably not see much of each other. But he’d want kids so they’d make time for that. He’d probably organise a traditional romantic meal and invite her into the bedroom, then they take off their clothes, until it was just her in a bikini and him in his trunks and then…

…And then they’d have to kiss… and even _that_ would just be _weird…_ let alone doing the _other stuff_ with him. Which one of them would _start_ the kiss? _She_ wouldn’t want to be but couldn’t imagine _him_ doing it either! He’d never looked interested in her before…

Wait… _was_ he even interested? He’d seemed way too happy with that ‘I’ll think about it’ answer, and he’d fallen asleep without pressing her about it... and before he’d asked he’d said he’d _needed_ to ask her, not _wanted_ to… It was almost like asking her out had been a chore he’d had on his list, and now he’d done it, he’d struck it off and gone to sleep happy, not particularly caring what her answer was...

Had he just asked her out because he felt he _had_ to, like it was some form of impoliteness on his part _not_ to? Because it had been in the paper that she liked him and, so he’d asked her just in case it was true?

Hah! Hahhaha! _Of course_ he’d do _that!_ This was _Taka_ after all! He’d gone on that awful date with that creepy nurse just because Junko had told him she’d be sad and lonely on Valentine’s if he _didn’t!_ Of course he’d be willing to have a go at courting _Hina_ if she’d have wanted him to! Especially when 'every Prime Minister so far has had a wife!'

She really should have just told him how she really felt when he’d first asked! Oh well, she could let him know once he woke up for _his_ watch, and he’d probably laugh at how stupid everyone was for believing anything that annoying gossip-monger said! _And_ for listening to Enoshima talking about them both! As if Kiyotaka really had a ‘secret kinky side!’ He’d probably never even fantasised about _kissing!_

* * *

 

“Psst! Taka! Hey, Taka!”

Was that Mondo? Why was he whispering in Kiyotaka’s ear in the middle of the night? And what was he doing down _here!?_ And breaking curfew as well! “Kyoudai! Stop pestering me and go to your own room! You should be in bed!”

“Seriously, Kyoudai? Will ya at least _look_ at what I’m trying ta show ya?” Mondo sighed irritably.

“Alright… but then you _have_ to go back to your room…” Kiyotaka insisted as he turned his head over… to see Mondo’s transparent face sticking out of the concrete floor… “ _Oh gods!_ Are you alright!? What happened to you!?”

“Oogami killed me, I’mma ghost now.” Mondo answered casually, floating out of the floor to come to rest above him… “So I decided ta sneak down here and see you…”

“What? Why? Wouldn’t you rather see your brother…” Kiyotaka asked, despite feeling pleased that Mondo had wanted to see _him…_

“Ehh… Be a bit weird going ta kiss my _brother_ though…” Mondo commented…

“What do you mean by…MMPTH!” Kiyotaka’s question was cut off by Mondo’s answer, as his friend put his tongue into his mouth and dragged it over his own for a period time that was simultaneously too long and _far_ too short…

“You like that?” Mondo asked, once he let Kiyotaka breathe again…

_Yes, but he couldn’t let Mondo know that…_

“Or maybe I need to touch you more? Run my hands down your chest and everywhere _else_ you’ve been thinking about…?” Mondo smirked at him.

_YES! No, wait… NO! Maybe? Regardless, Mondo couldn’t get through all his clothes so it was a moot point! Success! Even if it felt spectacularly frustrating right now…_

“Heh… Did you forget I’m a _ghost_ now? We can _choose_ what we do and don’t wanna touch…” Mondo chuckled into his mouth as his whole body sank through Kiyotaka’s clothes and he felt the heat from Mondo’s body radiate across his bare skin…

* * *

 

“ _Mmpth…_ ”

Huh? What was _that!?_ Was someone else _here!?_

“Mmmmm _…_ MMM!” Wait, no… it was just Taka having a dream… a kinda… sexy sounding dream…

Hahahaha! What was she thinking? There’s no way _he’d_ be having some sort of _sex dream!_ It was just too weird to think about!

“Ahh…! _Yes! Yes! MMmgh…”_

Oh heck, he totally _was_ wasn’t he? Eewwww… Okay, she knew it was a thing that happened to people, but she didn’t exactly wanna be in the room with him when it _did!_ Who was he even dreaming about… there was nothing interesting down here except for himself and…

_Her._

Oh no… was Junko _right? Had_ he been interested in her all this time? Why hadn’t he _said_ anything! She could have turned him down straight away instead of letting him get his hopes up… Or accidentally _making_ him get his hopes up, assuming Junko _was_ right…

But that wasn’t her fault! Was it? She’d just been treating him like she’d always treated all her other friends! Just because he was one of the first _guys_ she’d been friends with, didn’t mean he should take her actions differently! After all, it was totally possible for guys and girls to be friends without one another without being attracted to each other, right!?

Well… she’d _thought_ so… She and Taka had been friends for _months_ … that couldn’t all have just been because he was attracted to her, could it? Had he just started feeling that way once they started hanging out more? But then shouldn’t he have noticed she wasn’t interested in him? It’s not like she’d ever said anything to him about it! And she didn’t care _what_ Junko said, eating, swimming and camping by themselves didn’t _mean_ anything! Not when they’d decided to do it _AS BUDDIES!_

At least it _shouldn’t_ do, and she was gonna tell him he was a _jerk_ if it turned out he’d just been _saying_ they were friends but thinking of their get-togethers as _dates_ instead… But would he see it that way? What was going to happen now, once she said she wasn’t interested in him in that way, and wouldn’t be _ever?_ Would he stop wanting to spend time with her because she wasn’t going to ‘put out’ or whatever he wanted? Or would he still carry on being her friend? And would that be a _good_ thing, now she knew how he felt? Or would she spend the entire time wondering if he was only being friends with her in the hope that she’d eventually change her mind if he stuck around long enough…

 _Urrgghhh!_ Why hadn’t he just been honest about this in the first place instead of asking her out and falling asleep so she’d have no way whatsoever to know what he was actually thinking or _dreaming_ ab…

“Ahh… _Kyoudai…_ ”

Wait… what was that? Did he just…?

“Mmm- _M-Mondo…”_

 _Mondo!?_ He was dreaming about _Mondo!?_

 _Hahhah!_ Oh, thank goodness for _that!_ Why had she’d been worried! He hadn’t shown any interest in her at _all!_ And he hung around with Mondo _way_ more than _Hina!_

At least, he had until a few weeks ago. And if he liked Mondo why had he asked _her_ on a date instead of _him_ …?

( _“People will expect me to get married, all the other Prime Ministers have been_. _” … “…would make 33% of people hate you!” … “Imagine trying to get first place in an exam if the school refused to even look at every third answer you gave!” … “ **I’d** **hide** **it**.”)_

Oh geez… was that why he’d started avoiding Mondo recently? Because he’d fallen in love with his friend, but knew admitting it would make it near impossible for him to become Prime Minister? But he couldn’t keep on like that forever, it’d drive him crazy! Not to mention he seemed to miss spending time with Mondo… but what could Hina say? It wasn’t like what he said wasn’t true…

But maybe she could at least get him to talk to her about it… it’d help him to know he had at least _one_ person on his side, right!?

“Ah…Ahh! MONDO!” Kiyotaka yelled and then stared up at the ceiling panting for a moment… and then his eyes slowly drifted over to stare at her in terror. “Err… Did I… happen to be… _talking_ at all?” He slowly asked, like he was defusing a bomb with his words. “In my sleep, I mean…”

“Yeah… You kept yelling Mondo’s name…” Hina admitted.

“Ah, yes… he was a ghost…” He muttered, absent-mindedly…

* * *

 

 _“_ A _ghost?”_ Hina raised an eyebrow at him, “So… why were you shouting his name?”

 _AAHHH! Why had he just told her that!?_ Why didn’t he just say he couldn’t _remember_ the dream!? Now she wanted to know _details!_

What could he say that sounded plausible? What would he usually shout at people for? Running in the halls? But that seemed too mundane for a dream… and it was _Mondo,_ so perhaps… “He was riding his bike in the halls… and _through_ the halls, even!” He added, remembering the whole ghost aspect…

“Was that all he did? That doesn’t seem like something that you’d shout his name for…” Hina doubted him instantly.

“Err… well… He was also…” What the heck did ghosts _do?_ All he knew about them was that he used to see lots of children in his hometown wearing old bedsheets with eyeholes cut on Halloween… “He wasn’t wearing a bedsheet, like ghosts are supposed to.”

“So he was naked?” Oh, no! That had just got her closer to the truth!

“No! No of _course_ not!” Which was _true…_ neither of them was actually _naked_ , but he could hardly tell her what that actually meant! “He… was stealing clothing from the male students to use instead! That was why I was shouting at him!” He finally came up with a plausible explanation.

“He was… _stealing clothes?”_ She didn’t look like she believed him, but he’d already committed to this lie so he might as well try and persuade her just by continuing and hoping enough details would convince her!

“Yes! So… he started with Makoto’s hoodie, but that wasn’t big enough so he just ended up wearing it like a very small cape…” He started, trying to imagine how Mondo could use multiple bits of clothing to cover himself… “So then he took mine and Leon’s shirts and tied them together with Hifumi’s tie to make a sort of poncho-like thing, and stole Hiro’s coat and tied it around his waist… And then finally he nabbed Togami’s glasses and Chihiro’s hair ribbons and turned them into a pendant.”

“ _Snerk… Ah… hahahaha!”_ Hina erupted into giggles as he finished…

“Why are you laughing?” Did that mean she’d figured out he was lying and laughing at how he’d done such a poor job of it?

“Because it’s funny! Mondo zooming around the halls in _everyone’s_ clothing?” She stopped to laugh again, “I know it was _your_ dream, but how do you _not_ think it’s funny?”

 _Because he’d thought of it in a panic while lying to her…_ “Ah… well, in retrospect, I admit it looked humorous… But _in_ the dream it was very frustrating having our things taken!”

“Hahhaha! I guess so…” She laughed, followed by a yawn.

“Ah… seeming as I’m awake now, did you want to swap over now?” He offered.

“You sure?” Hina asked.

“Well… I’m probably not going to fall asleep quickly enough to get any restful sleep in the next… 27 minutes!” He pointed out.

“I guess… but… did you want to talk at all?” Hina asked, “About _anything? At all?”_

“No, but thank you! You’re obviously tired and I can just carry on reading my book!” He assured her.

“Well… if you’re sure…” She sighed as she laid herself down on her sleeping bag.

It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, and she was quiet, aside from the odd chuckle at whatever dream _she_ was having. Why couldn’t _he_ have dreams like that? _Normal_ dreams. That he didn’t feel compelled to lie about?

Instead he was dreaming of Mondo night after night regardless of how far apart he tried to keep them! And he’d spent half a day with Hina and _still_ it was Mondo in his dreams!

…Did that mean he _was_ homosexual? If it _did,_ that meant he’d just broken his intention not to _lie_ about it. Hadn’t he? So much for being the Ultimate Moral Compass…

_Clickclickclickclick…CLUNF_

What was that…? “AHH!” Kiyotaka looked up just a the right time to be blinded by a flash of light…

“Wha? It’s just _you!?_ ” That sounded like Hinai… “What are _you_ two doing down here… what happened to the bears…?”

“We’re down here to prove that there was never anything as ridiculous as _bears_ here!” Kiyotaka told her, trying to rub the after effects of the flash from his eyes. “And what are _you_ doing here? Outside of curfew, I might add!”

“Nobody’s listening to me about what I saw on Thursday!” She complained, “So I wanted to get evidence…”

“You’re _still_ claiming you saw bears down here, even though there’s nothing here but old beer cans?”

“But… but I really _did_ see them!” She cried. “Somebody must have moved them after I told everyone about it!” She paused while Kiyotaka just gaped at her persistence… “Why doesn’t anyone believe me!?”

“Well, for starters, it would have shown up on the cameras if someone did that.” Kiyotaka sighed, “Unless you’re implying they floated through the walls.”

“No! _I_ wasn’t the one who said anything about them being ghosts!” Hinai complained, “That was probably _her,_ given she’s been insisting I’m a liar all week…”

He _guessed_ she must be referring to Hina, although he still couldn’t see where she was actually gesturing… “Well, perhaps if you didn’t keep making up lies about who’s she’s attracted to, she wouldn’t think you’re a compulsive liar…”

“Hey! I don’t ‘make up lies’!” Hinai snapped.

“You’ve said Hina has a crush on _two_ people she’s not interested in.” Kiyotaka pointed out, “How was _that_ not made up?”

“I had an anonymous source.”

“And you did you even _try_ to check with her?”

“Yes! But she just kept saying she’s ‘never going to want to have a relationship’!” She waved her hands, probably doing ‘air quotes’. “As if anyone would believe that!”

 _Never_ want a relationship…? Well... she'd never mentioned wanting to get married or have children and he’d never seen her _act_ differently around any of her friends, not even _Sakura,_ despite how close they were…

“Actually, from what I know about her, I’d say that’s perfectly believable.” Kiyotaka decided.

“Oh… really?” Hinai sounded slightly embarrassed, “Okay, but that’s _one_ thing I got wrong!”

“There’s also the fact that you told everyone I compared Mondo to an actor I’d never even _heard_ of!”

“Umm… well… I heard that _somewhere…_ ” She muttered. “And I’ve seen you reading Twilight so…”

 _That_ was her reasoning for potentially jeopardising his career, _and_ his friendship in one fell swoop!? “What sort of a source is _that!?_ ”

“Urg… It’s not like I write on anything _important_ like science or political stuff…” She huffed, “It’s just gossip… no one takes it seriously! So…”

“Well, _there’s_ your problem!” Kiyotaka told her, “ _You_ don’t take yourself seriously, so why should anyone else?”

“I… But I _was_ being serious this time!” She snapped.

Kiyotaka just sighed, “Have you ever heard of a parable called ‘The boy who crie…’”

“ _Tch!_ Alright, I _get it!”_ She snapped, storming past him and further into the tunnels. “But there _were_ bears down here and I’m going to prove it! Maybe there’s a secret entrance somewhere so they got them out through _there_ without getting caught…”

Kiyotaka looked over at Hina… it was surprising that hadn’t woken her up! Still, at least he had confirmation that she _didn’t_ want to date him, and perhaps Hinai would stop printing lies about her in the school paper now!

Although what the Columnist had been hoping to achieve with this ridiculous bear story, he couldn’t even _guess…_ especially as she’d come down here in the middle of the night despite the fact that as far as she was concerned, nobody should even have been here to see her… Could it be she really _was_ telling the truth this time? But there was no evidence for it at all!

She certainly was dedicated to looking for it though, assuming that’s what she was actually doing… It was almost 6am before she finally left, walking back past looking disappointed and angry…

Perhaps he should have helped her look… but that would have been a waste of time! Even in the unlikely case that is _was_ true, it was her _own_ fault for having been so careless as to what information she passed around as being true. Honesty was always the best policy!

…At least, that’s what he’d always told himself, and he’d mostly followed it, aside from the odd white lie here and there, to hide his poor finances or protect Togami from Syo…

But then he started having dreams about Mondo, and now every time anyone asked him if he was alright, he _lied_ to them. And Hina had asked about his dream, and he’d just outright _lied_ to her about _that_. Could he really keep doing that…? If he did, it wouldn’t be long before his friends caught on and stopped believing anything he said… and then no one else would and he’d never be Prime Minister _anyway!_

…Perhaps he should start by answering Hina’s question _truthfully_ once she woke up. And he could let her know the _real_ reason he’d asked her out and that he knew her answer to his question already…

* * *

 

“Look, Mondo, _here_ are some blankets from the laundry room!” Hina snapped at the ghostly biker that she and Hiro had just managed to catch in a net of wards… “Now give all the boys back their clothes!”

“Alright, _fine…_ ” He sighed. “But can I _BRRIIIIINNNNGGGG_ …”

“Ah!” Hina woke up with a start just in time to see Taka scrambling to shut up his alarm clock.

“Err… Good morning?” He greeted her sheepishly as she sat up, “Sorry, I forgot to ask if it was alright to set it for 6.30 like I usually do…”

“Huh? Weird, I usually wake up that time myself…” She yawned, she must have been more tired than she’d realised. “Besides, I wouldn’t mind a shower after sleeping in that cramped bag all night…” She realised.

“Hmm… Me too…” He scowled… “But first… do you mind if I discuss something with you?”

“Sure, go ahead!” She agreed as she stretched her arms… why did she feel like there was something she’d _wanted_ to talk to him about, anyway…?

“Alright.” He nodded, looking anxious. “Firstly… Hinai came down here last night and mentioned that you’d already told her you aren’t interested in romantic relationships. Is that true?”

Oh yeah, _that…_ She’d meant to tell him that last night, but then he’d distracted her with his funny ghost story. “Umm… yeah, it is…” She admitted.

“Ah, well… that’s probably just as well…” He sighed, “…and brings me to my second point.”

“Which is?” Hina prompted him after he just sat there, hugging his knees and staring at his boots for a moment.

“…I lied about my dream last night.” He said in a hollow voice.

 _OH! That_ was what she’d wanted to talk to him about! “You mean ‘cause you didn’t want to admit you’d had a sex dream with Mondo in it?” She guessed.

 _“WHAAAAT!?”_ She wasn’t sure if it was the light in here or whether he really _was_ turning blue… _“You already KNEW!?”_

“Umm… yeah? It was kinda obvious from the way you were moaning in your sleep…” She admitted.

“Then why did you let me go on and on with that ridiculous charade about him stealing everyone’s clothes!?” He cried.

“Because I thought it’d be better for you to talk about it when you were ready to.” She shrugged, “Like you are now!”

“How could you be so sure I would _ever_ tell you the truth?”

“Well… everyone can tell _something’s_ been bothering you, since you’ve been avoiding Mondo and making yourself miserable for the last three weeks…” She pointed out, “We thought eventually you’d realise you needed help and ask us about it!”

“You mean you all knew exactly _what’s_ been going on and for _how long!?”_ He looked horrified. “Oh, god… what does _Mondo_ think?” He added, panicking…

“No! We didn’t know _what_ the problem was… just that you _had_ one!” She told him quickly, “Mondo just thought he’d done something to upset you…”

“But… I’ve been telling you all that I was alright and didn’t have a problem, and you’ve known it’s not true?” He realised, “Didn’t it upset you? That I’ve been lying this whole time?”

“Well… seeing you so miserable all the time was kind of depressing…” She admitted, “But it’s not like we were angry that you had something you wanted to keep secret!”

“You _weren’t?”_ He looked completely shocked. “But… isn’t keeping things secret usually _bad?_ Especially if I’m lying about it all the time…”

“But… everyone’s got _some_ secrets they want to keep hidden, at least from _most_ people...” She shrugged, “And it’s not like you were doing anything that was hurting anyone.”

“I… suppose.” He agreed.

“I do think you should talk to _someone_ about it though… Y’know, in private!”

“You’re probably right… but I’m worried if Gekkogahara was to make a file on me including information about it, then in the future…”

Oh, boy! Friendship lessons one-oh- _two_ here we go! “I didn’t mean a _therapist!_ I meant a _friend!”_

“ _Which_ friend?”

“Well… _I_ already know most of it...” She tried to point out the obvious without making him feel like an idiot.

“But… wouldn’t you want to tell any of our other friends about it?” He asked, “Sakura, for example…”

“Not if you want it kept secret!” She promised, although he still didn’t look convinced… “How’s about this? If _you_ promise not to tell anyone, including _Mondo,_ that I got freaked out by the idea of ghosts and monsters, I’ll keep all _this_ stuff with him a secret from everyone, even _Sakura.”_

He carried on staring at his boots for a while, before finally speaking just before she was about to wave a hand in front of his face to check he hadn’t gone to sleep with his eyes open…

“Deal.” He stuck his hand out and they shook on it before he started, “Well… your assumption, that the issue I’ve been having these last few weeks is… that I’ve been dreaming of Mondo in… sexual situations, is correct.” He started. “The… frequency appears to be dependent on how much time I spend with Mondo, which is why I’ve been attempting to avoid him. However…”

“What is it?” She asked, as he trailed off.

“…It’s getting worse.” He admitted, “At first it was just _dreams…_ an unfortunate by-product of my subconscious, but nothing I could be _blamed_ for!” His voice rose as he said the word _blamed,_ as if anyone with any compassion would _blame_ him for how he was feeling. “But, this week… I’ve started to remember those dreams while I’m awake. Well, no that’s not even it. It’s more like I think of things that would be the sort of thing that show up _in_ my dreams, except several of them _didn’t_ unless I’ve had a dream I didn’t remember and it’s staying my subconscious memory until such a time that…”

“You mean you’ve started fantasising about him, while you’re awake?” Hina summarised to stop him overthinking it.

“No! I’m not…! I mean, they aren’t…! That is…” He spluttered in denial for a moment before realising it was true. “I suppose I have been…” He admitted, his face sinking into his knees. “…I’m starting to think there might be a chance that I’m homosexual.”

 _Starting_ to _think_ there _might_ be a _chance!?_ Was he _that_ far in denial that a week of fantasising over a guy hadn’t made him realise he totally _was?_ “Uhh… well… seems like it?”

“But… But I want to get married and have children!” He cried, “Doesn’t that mean I’m _not?”_

“Well… there are some places where gay people can get married and adopt…”

“No… no, I _definitely_ want to marry a _woman!”_ He insisted.

“Are you sure?” She asked him, and he started nodding heavily. “Are you sure you actually _want_ that? Or is it just something you _expect_ to do, because everyone’s always _said_ it’d happen?” After all, that’s why she’d always expected to fall in love and start feeling more ‘girly’ afterwards…

“I… I’m not sure you really understand…” Taka sighed, probably not realising that it seemed more like he was just trying to dismiss her because he didn’t want to admit she was right. “Perhaps I should ask my father for advice on this…” He added.

“Well, if he’s anything like _my mom_ , he’ll tell you it’s just a phase and you’ve not met the right person yet!” Hina said bitterly. Hopefully he wouldn’t do that though, hopefully hearing how happy Taka got when he talked about Mondo would be enough evidence that he was in love and then his father would tell him to relax and…

“…What do you mean, just a _phase?”_ Taka asked.

“Oh, it’s something some people say. ‘You’re not really _gay,_ it’s just a _phase!_ You’ll grow out of it once you meet the _right person!_ ’” She mimicked.

“ _R-REALLY!?”_ He smiled like a maniac… oh heck, now he was convinced that was definitely going to happen to him! “I didn’t realise! I… I thought this was going to keep happening forever! Thank you! _Ahahaha!_ ”

“Uhh…” She… she _really_ ought to tell him that didn’t always happen and for him it might _actually_ be forever… but he looked like he’d almost _cried_ with relief _…_ Was he _really_ that scared of being gay? Maybe it was better to keep quiet about it and hope it gave him some time to get used to the idea before he had to quit denying the truth to himself…

“Ah… not that it solves my… _current_ problem.” He sighed, “Until this phase is over, I’m still going to keep on imagining him, aren’t I?”

“Well… I guess. But _is_ that a problem?”

“Yes.” He replied, as if she’d asked if the sky was blue.

“Really? Are you sure?” She asked, and he just looked at her like she was an idiot… “Ok, think of it this way… you’re not going to _do_ any or the stuff you’re imagining, are you?”

“ _Of course not!”_ He said, upsettingly fast.

“So… what difference does it make if you fantasise about Mondo occasionally?”

“But he’d _hate_ me if he found out I’ve been… objectifying him like this!” He spat out.

So that was what was worrying him? A shame she didn’t know Mondo a bit better… she wasn’t sure if the biker would be more pleased that _someone_ found him attractive or upset that it was a _guy_ instead of one of the girls he’d asked out… But surely he wouldn’t _hate_ Taka for it?

“But that wouldn’t really be fair on you if he did though… you can’t help what feelings you’re having!”

“…Regardless, I’d rather he didn’t find out.” He admitted.

“Then… don’t tell him about it?” She suggested.

“But… these thoughts I’m having are so _constant_ now! If I were to start letting myself indulge in them he’d probably notice in minutes!”

“Well… You’ve been trying to force yourself _not_ to think about it _ever_ , right? Have you actually tried _letting_ yourself do it, in private or anything?”

“If I did _that_ I’d run the risk of convincing myself it’s _normal!_ ” He scowled.

She resisted the urge to snap that it _was_ normal… he wasn’t going to listen to that right now. “I don’t think you would though! I think all you’re doing is bottling it up and making it _worse_ , like when you’re angry but don’t _do_ anything about it!” She suggested. “I mean… I sometimes feel really sad, but then I let myself cry about it and feel a lot happier afterwards!”

“So… your hypothesis is that if I were to fantasise about Mondo in a controlled manner, then I wouldn’t be tempted to do so around him? Or while I’m asleep?” He mulled it over, “To be honest, that _is_ in agreement with the advice I found online…”

“ _Really?_ You mean you looked it up, saw that’s what you should be doing and then… _didn’t do it?_ ” Yeesh! If he’d just listened in the first place there wouldn’t have been all that angst between him and Mondo!

“I… thought it would be _distasteful_ , so I wanted to find _another_ way to deal with it…”

“Geez… You really need to learn to relax and stop making your own life so difficult sometimes!” Hina sighed.

“I’ll try to keep it in mind!” He nodded. “But… for now, perhaps we should get out of here…”

“Oh, totally!” She agreed, “Oh, but… What do you want me to tell people about all this…?”

* * *

 

Why would he want her to tell anyone _anything_ about this!? “I… You said you’d keep it a secret!” Kiyotaka spluttered.

“Ah, no… I meant about you asking me out!”

“Oh…” Of course… almost everyone was expecting him to have done so… and he _had_ done so, but had then rescinded it, so did that count?

“Do you want me to tell everyone that you asked, but I said no and suggested we just be friends?” She suggested, “That’s probably what would have happened even if you _did_ actually like me!”

Then… that wouldn’t be stretching the truth _too_ much… “That would wonderful! I-if you don’t mind… and of course, had I actually liked you, I would still have accepted your decision to remain as friends!”

“Yeah… I bet you would have!” She giggled. “Now c’mon! I wanna get a shower already!” She complained, grabbing his arm and dragging him up off of the sleeping bag.

By the time they’d packed themselves back up, it was getting close to the end of curfew. But at least he’d have enough time to get back to his own room and shower before having to talk to anyone…

At least, that’s what he thought, right until he moved the fake panelling aside and came face to face with Mondo… and most of the other boys in his class… Only Togami was absent from the group.

“What are you all doing here! Curfew is still in effect and…”

“Aww, c’mon! You didn’t really expect us to _wait_ , did you?” Leon asked, pushing past Mondo to come talk to him. “How’d it go?”

“Well, the structure is perfectly safe, however I saw a large amount of evidence of alcohol consumption and therefore I will have to recommend that…”

“Uhh… that’s not really what we were asking…” Hiro interrupted.

“Err… then what…?”

“Mondo told us you were planning to ask Hina out…” Makoto admitted.

“Oh!” _All_ of them knew about that!? “Well, I did!” He announced.

“Y-you _did_ … _?_ ” Hifumi looked shocked, and slightly concerned for him as well… had _he_ known that Hina wasn’t interested in romance as well?

“So… what did she say?” Chihiro asked.

“Yeah… you guy’s dating now or _what?_ ” Mondo asked, glaring sideways at him…

Why did he look annoyed? Did he know that his asking Hina out had only been a pretence, a cover for his current problem? Would he be disappointed that he hadn’t succeeded in securing a girlfriend? Part of him was wishing that he’d asked if Hina would be willing to _pretend_ to be his girlfriend. But such a childish ruse would be liable to be caught rather quickly so…

“No… we decided it’d be better to stay as friends.” He told them, staring down at the floor...

“No way! She _friend_ - _zoned_ you!?” Leon exclaimed.

“See, I _told_ you she’s not looking for relationships!” Makoto exclaimed in response to him.

“But they do all that stuff together!” Hiro countered.

“Umm…but they always do that sort of thing _as friends!”_ Chihiro countered.

“Yeah, but it still sucks that she’s friend-zoned him!” Leon countered. “Especially after we all told him to go for it!”

“You mean _you_ told him to…” Makoto started.

“Well… At least he still has Oowada-dono?” Hifumi stated, sounding confused by everyone’s reactions.

 _Did he?_ He barely gathered the courage to look up and see Mondo’s reaction…

Which was to give Kiyotaka a reassuring smile and push past Leon in order to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “Uhh…Yeah! I mean, I _know_ getting shot down sucks, but we’ll both find someone, alright?” He rubbed Kiyotaka’s head, “And until then, you’ve got _me_ instead!”

“Ah… yes, thank you! I’m sure we’ll _both_ meet the right women someday soon!” Kiyotaka replied, wishing that Mondo’s statement wasn’t _quite_ as true as it felt to _him,_ as he could already feel his body starting to warm up from the hug… “Err… but right now I need to go and shower…”

“I need ta go back to my room as well…” Mondo muttered, starting to lead him out of the bathroom. Curses, that meant they’d walk back together!

“Well, we’ll all see you at breakfast then!” Makoto announced from behind him, which meant he and Mondo would be walking together _alone…_ if he was a bit more cynical, he might think the other’s had all _planned_ that!

* * *

 

“Sooooo!? What happened down there?” Junko practically squealed as Hina opened the fake panel in the girl’s bathroom.

She wasn’t the only one there, Sayaka, Celestia and Sakura had apparently decided to wait for her as well.

“Nothing happened, because _ghost don’t exist_ and Hinai’s a crazy idiot!” Hina sighed at her.

“Ghosts? Why would anyone think there were ghosts down there?” Celestia asked in confusion, “ _I’m_ here because I had a bet with Hifumi about whether Kiyotaka would ask you a _question_ …”

“What? You mean you _knew_ he was going to ask me out down there?” Hina cried, “Couldn’t you have warned me about it?”

“That would have meant Hifumi won our bet…” Celstia smirked, “And I wasn’t going to let _that_ happen!”

Geez… poor Hifumi! That look in Celestia’s eyes was downright _evil!_

“And Leon only told me he’d told Taka to do it _after_ you’d already gone down there… Sorry!” Sayaka apologised.

“But c’mon! You still haven’t told us the _important_ bit!” Junko moaned. “What did you _say!”_

“Well… I told him I’d rather we be friends!” She did as she’d promised Taka.

“I take it he agreed to that?” Sakura asked.

“Yep!” Hina giggled. “We’re going to do our aquathlon training on Monday’s as always… at least that’s what he said!”

“Hmm… With most boys, I’d usually say he might just be _saying_ that…” Sayaka mused, “But, with Taka, I get the feeling he actually means it!”

“I wouldn’t bet against you.” Celestia agreed.

“Urg… well that’s all _boring!_ ” Junko sighed. “Can’t believe I got up _this_ early on a _Sunday_ just to find out _nothing’s_ changed and the school _isn’t_ haunted!” Junko left, grumbling as she did so, and was followed out by a grinning Celestia and a relieved looking Sayaka…

“I… I should apologise as well.” Sakura started, once the others had left. “I fear it may have been _me_ that caused Kiyotaka to proposition you.”

“ _You?_ Why would you…?”

“I told Oowada I was concerned that Kiyotaka would ask you out, but only because he felt that it was expected of him.” She explained. “I thought _he_ may have been able to give Kiyotaka the courage to defy those expectations, but it seemed Oowada’s attempt to discuss it caused him to believe that even _Oowada_ expected him to ask, and that was the tipping point that caused him to do so…”

…Because he was worried Mondo was going to figure out he was gay and had a crush on him... Was he always going to be like that? Her otherwise honest, confident and upstanding friend lying to everyone, even himself, about who he was in love with? If he kept on like that it’d be like he’d turned into a different person completely!

“I am sorry… I did not mean for my request to upset you…” Sakura sighed.

“Huh? What makes you think it upset _me?”_ Other than making her realise exactly _what_ Taka was going through… and not knowing how to help him properly…

“Because… I noticed it frustrates you when people assume you wish to be involved in romance.”

“Oh! Well… I _guess_ it’s annoying having to keep telling people the same thing over and over at times!” Hina admitted, “I just don’t understand why no one believes me when I say I’m happy by myself!”

“Hmm… perhaps because you recognise the importance of it for others?” Sakura suggested, “They see you become happy when you see _others_ in love, and assume you think romance is wonderful and would want it for yourself.”

“Hmm… that makes sense, but…”

“But those of us who know you can tell that that is not who you are.” Sakura smiled knowingly, “You find happiness in pushing yourself to new heights, or leading others to work together… you wish to be able to connect with many… not to pledge yourself to a single person forever.”

Heh… _Sakura totally got it!_

That… that was really weird, in a nice way… not needing to explain herself for once…

“…Or… have I misunderstood?” Sakura checked.

“No… no, you’ve got it!” Hina grinned, “But, y’know… If I _did_ have to pick one person… It’d definitely be _you!”_

“And from you, that is a _great_ honour…” Sakura smiled, and they headed off for breakfast together with half the boys.

* * *

 

“Hey… Taka?” Mondo asked, turning surprisingly serious once they were out of earshot of the bathroom.

“Err… Yes, Mondo?”

“Did ya _really_ ask Hina out?”

“Y-yes! You can confirm it with _her_ if you need to…!” Although the fact that Mondo didn’t trust his own words was worrying…

“Nah, I trust you!” Mondo laughed and patted his shoulder, “It’s just… _why?_ ”

“Well… we… we get on well! And… and… she’s attractive, obviously!” He tried to think of some good reasons, “And… you said…”

Mondo just sighed at his response, “So it _was ‘_ cause I said about it…”

“Ngh! Not… not _just_ that…” Kiyotaka started panicking… Mondo had seen _right through him,_ which meant it probably wouldn’t be long before he noticed his _phase_ and…

“Really? Would you have _ever_ thought to ask her out if I hadn’t said about it?”

“Well… I’m sure I _would_ have… at some point!” Kiyotaka spluttered.

“Taka, quit _lying!_ You _suck_ at it!” Mondo snapped.

“Ah!” He flinched… this was it, wasn’t it? “I suppose you’ve got me figured out then, haven’t you?” As if Mondo wouldn’t have noticed…

“Well, yeah. I kinda had a similar deal myself up until last month…” Mondo admitted.

“ _You did!?”_ Mondo had gone through this phase while they’d been friends? How in heaven’s name had he not noticed _that!?_

“Yeah, I did. Hell, I was even worse than _you_ are about it!” Mondo laughed and put an arm around him, “But you’re a great guy! Everyone likes you!”

Everyone liked him? What was Mondo _saying!?_ That he was somehow making not just Mondo, but _other_ men have… unwelcome thoughts about him? Did that mean… Mondo had been thinking about… _him!?_

“Err… _Everyone?_ Are you sure…?”

“Well… everyone who bothers to get ta know ya!” Mondo admitted, “So… you ain’t gotta get a girlfriend just ta impress other guys!”

“ _WHAT!?_ What makes you think I was attempting to impress _men!?”_ He’d been trying to _hide_ his attraction to Mondo, not get him to reciprocate it!

“Well… I guess that was more _my_ deal…” Mondo muttered, “With you, I suppose it’s impressing _voters_ …”

“V- _voters?”_ What was Mondo talking about? Where had he got _that_ idea from?

“Yeah… Oogami told me about that whole ‘All the other Prime Minister’s have been married’ line ya came out with.” Mondo sighed, “But, seriously! You’re the _Ultimate Moral Compass!_ And I know you keep sayin’ that’s nothing special, but that’s just ‘cause you don’t realise _how_ fucking awesome you are at all that shit! You’ll be a fucking _amazing_ Prime Minister, ‘cause you actually _care_ about people instead of just wanting power for the sake of it! And there’s no way people would ignore that just ‘cause ya ain’t found someone ya wanna marry before you start running for it!”

Mondo thought he was trying to get a girlfriend just to help him become Prime Minister!? Admittedly he knew it _would_ help, but…

“That’s not the only reason!” Kiyotaka argued, “I mean… I _want_ to have a wife and children when I’m older!”

“Well, so do I!” Mondo snapped, before reconsidering and scratching his hair awkwardly, “I mean… probably… But that doesn’t mean ya gotta _force_ yourself to get one _right now!”_

“But… it’d good practise for me to be in a relationship now so I don’t end up messing it up once I’m more notable and looking like a fool!”

“Are you serious? Who the fucks gonna care if ya get _dumped?_ ” Mondo rolled his eyes… “It doesn’t have anything to do with how good you are at politics!”

“It’d still affect people’s perception of me negatively!” He turned out from under Mondo’s arm to face him. “And I need every advantage I can _get_ to reach my goal!”

“You’re _you!_ That’s, like, a _million_ advantages!” Mondo insisted.

“Well, then I need a million and one!”

“No you fucking _don’t!”_ Mondo yelled, then looked like he regretted it instantly… “Argh… Look, I’m _sorry…_ It’s just pissing me off that we’ve not been able to hang out or even _study_ together ‘cause you’re too busy chasing girls ya don’t even _like!_ ” He grumbled.

...That wasn’t the reason for it at all… but it seemed his attempts _not_ to upset his kyoudai were just making them _both_ miserable.

“You’re right. I should have spent more time with you… I’m sorry.” He admitted. “Once I’ve showered and had breakfast I should have a few hours spare before my sparring practise...”

Mondo gave a grin that could have lit up the sky and leapt forward to wrap his arms around Kiyotaka. “Hah! Th-thanks…” He sniffed, “Y’know, for while there, I though you didn’t wanna be friends with me anymore…”

“I’m sorry…” Kiyotaka sighed, unable to resist relaxing into Mondo, regardless of how dangerous it was, “…but why wouldn’t I want to be friends with you…?”

Mondo didn’t answer…

“Mondo…?”

“I… uhh… Okay… the thing is…” Kiyotaka could feel Mondo’s grip starting to shake.

“…It’s something you don’t want to talk about right now?” Kiyotaka guessed.

“Yeah…” Mondo sighed, sounding irritated.

“Well, that’s alright!” It’s not like Mondo could ever do something _that_ bad, after all… “But if you _do_ want to talk about it, I’m available at any time!” He offered.

“Thanks, man.” Kiyotaka felt heat rushing through him as Mondo squeezed him a bit tighter before letting him go and walking towards the dorms, “Come to my room when you’re ready, alright?”

“Of… of course…” Kiyotaka stammered, hoping Mondo hadn’t noticed how red he probably was…

It took him about half a minute to realise he was supposed to be going to his _own_ dorm to shower. He made sure to go a little slower than usual, so he wouldn’t risk catching up to Mondo and having an awkward conversation about why they hadn’t just walked together. Once inside he breathed a sigh of relief and started stripping his clothes, cringing at the mess he’d made of his underwear last night before stepping into the warm shower…

Why did Mondo have to be so wonderfully _nice?_ This would be so much easier to deal with if he wasn’t… Kiyotaka wouldn’t keep getting dizzy spells from him being so close, would be perfectly happy staying a safe distance from him at all times, wouldn’t get caught up in the heat of his hugs and reminded of their times in the sauna together and how _interesting_ all of Mondo’s scars made his tanned skin and…

 _Urg… not again!_ Kiyotaka sighed and reached of the temperature dial…

But… cold showers hadn’t really been working, certainly not for long enough for him to spend several hours sitting in close proximity to Mondo in his room! But the only thing he hadn’t tried yet was… well… ‘releasing semen’, as it had been put online! But doing _that_ because he’d been thinking about _Mondo…_ He could just imagine the looks of disgust he’d get for it!

( _“That’s not really fair on you though… You can’t help what feelings you’re having!” … “You really need to learn to relax and stop making your own life so difficult sometimes!”)_

Kiyotaka cringed slightly as he took his hand off the shower dial and put it… _somewhere else_. He didn’t doubt Hina was right but… he still couldn’t _believe_ he was about to do this!

But… he was either going to go crazy if he didn’t, or _worse,_ lose his friendship with Mondo! And it was just to get him through this _phase_ he was going through! Just… until he met the _right_ _person…!_

* * *

 

(Monday, 21st March 2012)

“Well… you didn’t do as well as last week… but at least you didn’t collapse this time!” Hina tried to cheer Taka up as he slowly made his way through his usual breakfast…

“Hmm…? Ah! Yes! I realised I need to work on pacing myself correctly for these longer events!” He smiled. So it hadn’t been the fact that she’d been so far ahead of him that was upsetting him then. So in that case it probably had something to do with…

“So… How are things with Mondo?” She whispered, having checked no one was close enough to listen to them.

“ _Uurgh…_ It’s… it’s _manageable_ … but I’d rather not talk about it…” He cringed in disgust.

Well… that was slightly better than he was yesterday, at least… It’s not like she could have expected him to get over it completely in one night, as much as it would have been nice to see him be more like himself…

“Hold on a moment… _Tanaka!_ What is that on your forehead!?” He suddenly perked up when he saw the breeder approaching their table “I should hope it’s not a tattoo! Students are expressly forbidden from…”

 _Was_ it a tattoo…? It kinda looked like he’d used body paint or something to turn a bruise into a paw print shape…

“This was no willing modification of mine!” Tanaka sneered at him, “Although I could hardly expect a mortal such as yourself to recognise the mark of one who has renegaded on a demonic contract!”

“Did you get hit by an animal you were trying to train?” Hina tried to guess what he actually meant.

“Hmpth! The details are not ones that should be recounted lightly!” Tanaka smirked, “I merely came to congratulate you on untangling the web of lies enshrouding this school…” He threw a copy of the school paper on the table and sauntered off.

“Oh _great…_ What’s she put _this_ time!?” Hina sighed as she picked up the paper and flicked to Hinai’s section…

_‘ **Everything I’ve lied about over the course of my position as columnist for the Hope’s Peak Pinnacle**_

_The following is an extensive list of correction for all stories I have run previously that were either made up, exaggerated or based on unsubstantiated rumours._

_However, I stress that this does NOT include my latest piece regarding the hidden chamber hidden behind the ground floor toilets…’_

“She’s really still insisting she saw something down there?” Taka pursed his lips as he read the paper upside-down.

“Well, I guess I can live with her having _one_ crazy story she won’t back down on.” Hina sighed, as she noticed the very first line read “Asahina doesn’t have a crush on anyone.”

“I’m more concerned that perhaps it’s _not_ so crazy…” He frowned.

“Are you kidding!? _You_ were the one who said ghosts don’t exist!” Hina laughed, “And there’s security cameras on the corridor right outside! They’d have picked it up if she was actually telling the truth and someone moved whatever was there!”

“I suppose… and the headmaster found an older version of the school plans with maintenance tunnels that almost exactly matched the map I made, so it’s not as if the area was purpose-built…” He mused.

“ _Almost_ matched? _”_ She asked, he done a pretty careful job of sketching that map, it was hard to imagine he’d made a mistake…

“Well… one of the corridors is a yard longer on the plans than my estimate, but that might have been because I mis-counted my steps…”

“Wait, you were even _measuring the distance_ for your map?” She’d have just confused herself in minutes try to do _that_ …

“Yes! The headmaster asked me to check the place thoroughly after all!” He beamed proudly.

“So, she probably just found a weird place under the school and decided to make a big deal of it by saying it was haunted!” Hina summarised, “And then she was upset that we called her on it.”

“Hrmg…To be honest I don’t know what to think about it. She seemed genuinely upset but… It _is_ rather hard to believe.” He admitted, “Especially with how ridiculous some of these other stories are! Look at _this_ one! ‘Hagakure _doesn’t_ wash his hair with fabric softener’? _Ahahaha!_ Of _course_ he doesn’t! That would be completely ridiculous!”

“Huh? Hey! Did I hear you guys talking about me?” Hiro suddenly came over to the table, followed by Leon and Mondo…

“Hah… it’s nothing serious!” Hina assured him, “Just the paper’s correcting a story where they said you wash your hair with _fabric softener!_ ” She giggled.

“Eh? But I _do_ wash my hair with it!” Hiro exclaimed, “It smells nice!”

“What!?” Taka cried, “You can’t do that! The chemicals in fabric softener aren’t tested against _skin!_ Not at _those_ concentrations anyway…!”

“Well… they must be alright, ‘cause I’m fine!” Hiro shrugged and laughed at him.

“ _Ngh… Urgh…”_ Taka didn’t have an answer for that one…

“Tch! Why’d they decide to correct _that_ bullshit and not the stuff about you crushing on _Taka,_ then!” Leon rolled his eyes irritably.

“Oh… She’s corrected that one as well!” Hina held the paper up to show him, “She’s correcting _everything!_ ”

“Geez… there’s a whole _page_ of this crap…!” Mondo squinted at it.

“Hey! Look at _this_ one! ‘Ishimaru _doesn’t_ think Taylor Lautner looks better shirtless than Oowada’! Hahaha!” Leon laughed, “Does that mean he thinks _Mondo_ looks better then…?”

Across the table from her, Taka’s body froze, his eyes shifting to his right as if he wanted to see Mondo’s reaction, but couldn’t bear the thought of actually facing him…

“Uh… is that the werewolf dude in that new chick flick?” Mondo asked.

“Yeah! The one all the women apparently cream themselves over!” Leon laughed.

“So… _do I?_ ” He asked, taking a seat next to Taka uninvited.

“Err… do you _what?_ ” He asked, looking confused and scared at the same time.

“Do I look better than that werewolf guy!?” Mondo spread his arms to show off his muscles through his tight tank top.

“Err…” You could practically _see_ Taka’s brain melt as his eyes got stuck slightly above the top of his friend’s neckline, “Well… it’s not something I’ve considered!”

“So no then…” Mondo sighed bitterly.

“ _I didn’t say that!”_ Taka’s attention snapped back up to Mondo’s face. “Honestly, I’d say _your_ chest is far more interesting, with the scars and tan lines! _He_ looks like he’s never been outside for a day in his life!”

“Ya seriously think that?” Mondo pulled a face at him.

“Err… Well…Ah…!” Taka stammered as his brain caught up with his mouth and he realised he’d made it totally obvious he stared at Mondo’s chest in the sauna and _had_ considered if he was hotter than the actor…

“Heh… Thanks, Kyoudai…!” Mondo put his hand over Taka’s shoulder and pulled him over for one of their usual sideways hugs…

Taka’s face relaxed almost instantly as he leant into Mondo’s body with a slack look that suggested he could barely believe his luck… Aww! Maybe a few more hugs like that and Taka might realise his whole world wasn’t going to come crumbling down if he admitted he liked a guy…

“But it’s not like ya need scars or a tan ta look good, y’know!” Mondo continued, “I mean, _your_ skin’s pretty pale, but it still looks good, cause ya take care of yourself and it shows!” He patted Taka’s chest with his free hand, completely oblivious to the fact that his friend’s face was turning purple…

Well… Taka _might_ realise it, so long as Mondo didn’t accidentally make his brain explode first…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope the stuff happening in the background of this chapter makes sense? (If not, Mondo's chapter should clear some of it up.)
> 
> It's occurred to me while writing these last few chapters that having Ishimaru say 'I've been denying it for months' and actually writing him going through said denial are two very different things. As always, sorry if I'm doing a rubbish job of it. I promise Taka's not gonna be hating himself so much next chapter... Which will be Togami's!


	12. Remuneration package 09/06/12 (Byakuya Togami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote Celestia's chapter I thought 18,000 words was way too long. Now I've written Togami's chapter and I feel like 23,600 words is selling him short...  
> Some reminders about the Togami familiy (Some of which isn't mentioned in DR1):  
> He states in his free-time events that he has 13 half-siblings that he had to compete against in order to become heir to the Togami corporation.  
> His captive in Despair girls is his butler, Aloysius Pennyworth, who he apparently says in DR:Togami (which I've not actually read) is who'd you'd want to target if you wanted to bring down the Togami family. DR:Togami also gives him an older sister named Shinobu, who I briefly mention.  
> Shoutout to Dangan Ronpa Abridge Thing (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ2qHjL_gVN577A6Qam2V1-RghVuB8zfy ) Because I have pretty much stolen one of it's best jokes. (It was supposed to be a straight reference, but the wording didn't work right)  
> Edit: So, about three hours after posting this, I realised Byakuya's POV contracts the end part of Chihiro's chapter... Unless he was being super oblivious during that part... (oops) so can we just assume that, please?

(Friday, May 4th 2012)

Togami strode out of the front gates of Hope's Peak, followed by well-wishes from several of the more obnoxiously cheerful members of his class and burdened by an unnecessary assortment of paraphernalia.

Honestly, when he'd told them he needed to leave tonight in order to attend the birthday _gala_ organised in his name tomorrow, it was so they knew that the occasion was being celebrated in all it's necessary splendour by his _family._ Not so they could organise their usual jolly little get-together the day _before_ , when he was supposed to be leaving, and completely throw off his schedule!

And he'd thought that talking about the extravagant presents he got _last_ year would discourage any attempts to furnish him with well-meaning, but ultimately useless, presents from _them..._ but _no._ They'd all still rallied together to make sure there was a cheerful assortment of coloured parcels for him to unwrap while they all sipped on the limited arrangement of cheap tea and fruit-juices that the school provided.

As if he wasn't the Ultimate _affluent_ prodigy and couldn't have just _bought_ himself things like the series of books Fujisaki had decided to load onto his phone (Which admittedly, he'd never _heard_ of), or the collection of logic puzzles Kirigiri had provided (Made _slightly_ more interesting by the additional note telling him how long it took _her_ to complete), or the wooden paper weight Oowada had shoved at him (Which was surprisingly good quality, given who it was made by and the way the gang leader had seemed more interesting in getting his put-upon boyfriend to talk to him than Togami himself while handing it over.)

...But regardless of the thought behind the presents, they could have just _suggested_ these things to him, then _he_ could have bought them and had them delivered conveniently to his room! And _then_ he wouldn't have been forced to carry it all out of the school, because they'd all delayed him so much with their meaningless chatter that he'd lost track of the time until Kirigiri had tapped him on the shoulder and asked what time he was supposed to be leaving...

So now he was forced to rush out of the school, presents in hand, and thank the stars that whoever had organised his limousine had thought to send along Aloysius Pennyworth, his lifelong butler and probably the only person Togami knew who was actually worth _listening_ to... something he'd learnt after several embarrassments from his childhood that he was _not_ going to dwell on now...

"Good to see you, young master." Pennyworth had the car door open, and started helping him put the presents on the back seat, next to where he'd be sitting.

"You to, Pennyworth." Togami answered, honestly, "I've been delayed, my bags need taking from..."

"Already arranged, young master." He interrupted.

" _How?"_ Togami asked, his room should have been _locked..._

"The headmaster's daughter supplied me with the copy of your key that you gave to your cleaner." Pennyworth answered, handing him the key before they both moved into the car and sat down opposite each other.

Kirigiri and Ishimaru... He should have known. He'd seen he'd seen her discussing something with him at one point, but had assumed they were just planning how to interfere with Fukawa's attempts to harass him!

"Do you want a drink, young master?" Pennyworth gestured to the small fridge the limousine was furnished with... "And should I type up a letter of termination for the cleaner?"

It was a fair question. Togami had given Ishimaru the key to _his room,_ a room _full_ of precious items and corporate secrets, because he _trusted_ Ishimaru not to do anything untoward with it. And now Ishimaru had taken that key and handed it over to one of their class (who Togami had _not_ furnished with a key), because she wanted to give it to a man he'd probably never even heard of, let alone _met._

It was the sort stupid, naïve thing that could have resulted in _billions_ of yen worth of losses if either Kirigiri or Pennyworth had turned out to be spies... _or_ that imposter!

However, Ishimaru was a good worker, with enough potential that Togami would rather not burn his bridge with the hall monitor over a minor security slip. Not to mention, Ishimaru was sure to be distraught enough at the thought that his well-meaning action could have lost Togami more money than the amount his family _owed_ , that he'd never do anything that _stupid_ again.

"No thank you... to both of those."

"Ah... so this 'Yukizome' I've heard about is as good as they say?" Pennyworth asked, looking sceptical at his decision.

"The Ultimate Housekeeper? No... I spoke to her, but she seemed too meddlesome for me to want her in my room." Togami recounted. "I'm talking about the Ultimate Moral Compass."

"There's no use having morality in a subordinate, if they hand over their access to everyone who can come up with a good story as to why they _should..."_

 _"_ Indeed, which will be something I make sure to impress upon him before I return this key..." Togami smirked, "However... "I think I can forgive him, _this_ time. He just wanted me to have an 'enjoyable pre-birthday party'."

"Very well, young master." Pennyworth nodded, looking less sceptical about the decision, "And _did_ you have an enjoyable party?"

"It was the sort of party commoners would throw for a twelve year old, and I've been given presents I could have acquired for less than an hour of my income." Togami summed it up.

"That... doesn't answer my question, young master." Pennyworth noted.

"...It will probably have been more enjoyable than the gala will be." Togami admitted.

(Saturday, May 5th 2012)

The gala was, as he expected, the usual affair of greeting business collaborators, discussions with useless old members of the family that still insisted on sticking their noses into how _he_ was going to run things and watching his half-siblings verbally flail around as they attempting to give the impression that there was something worthwhile in all their meagre portfolios.

One particularly notable example of the former was when Togami’s third-oldest (probably) brother had a ‘discussion’ with another, much older, guest that was loud enough to be heard across the room. Something about whether or not the older man was infringing on the younger one’s intellectual property and having to raise finances to decide it in court…

“Who _is_ that?” Togami asked Pennyworth, who he’d obviously insisted be at his side for the entire party. “The one I’m _not_ partially related to, at least.”

“Jogen Okane, as you might have gathered, he’s currently starting up a company using technology that’s probably patented by your half-brother… and stubbornly refusing to admit it.”

“Hmm… So he can sue, but he'll only see the benefit  _after_ investing the money for a lengthy court case about it…” Togami summarised.

“Indeed, I believe his current plan is to increase the interest rates the credit card companies he owns charge, to raise the funds…”

“Ha! What short-term thinking!” Togami laughed, “His customers will just move away in droves…”

“If they _can…_ He takes on a lot of debtors no one else will touch…” Pennyworth pointed out.

“There’s usually a reason for that…” Togami smirked, imagining his half-brother’s reaction when all those desperate debtors defaulted… although something was still niggling at him. “But why have _I_ heard the name Okane?”

“Ishimaru’s financial advisor.” Pennyworth supplied.

“Ishimaru has a _financial advisor!?”_ Togami couldn’t believe the hall monitor had enough money to need advice _about_ … _or_ that he hadn’t thought to request advice from _him!_ So much for all his bluster about having faith in his classmates, apparently he hadn’t thought _the heir of the Togami corporation_ would be shrewd enough to…

“Most Prime Ministers have advisors for that sort of thing, sir.” His butler answered him calmly.

“…You’re talking about Toranosuke.” Togami realised.

“Yes, young master.” Pennyworth said simply. He had the good grace _not_ to point out how foolish it had been to assume he was talking about Togami’s classmate, but he still felt the need to explain himself…

“His family’s being represented by one of my class these days.”

“Much like yourself, then, sir?” Pennyworth had an _interesting_ take on it…

“In a way…” Togami admitted, “An _inferior_ version though. He’s unlikely to become anything of much importance.”

“Ah… another genius Ishimaru…” Pennyworth assumed.

“No, nothing of the sort, he just puts in enough effort to make up for it.” Much to Togami’s chagrin after the mid-year exams… “But he’s too naïve… he’ll get stabbed in the back the second he steps foot on the political scene.”

And _then_ perhaps he’d stop being stubborn and agree to work for Togami on a permanent basis… It would be good to have more than one _competent_ member of staff he could actually _trust_ …

“But explain to me how someone who’s last financial advisee ended up destitute and shamed, so much as managed to start a company, let along get into _my_ birthday party?”

“Well… his advice to Toranosuke regarding off-shore account loopholes  _was_ legally sound, just not… accepted by the general public. And I believe your brother was hoping that him wanting to get in here, meant that he was willing to settle their dispute _outside_ of the courts.” Pennyworth explained, “But then, that begs the questions of what he _actually_ wants…”

“ _Me,_ apparently.” Togami realised, as the old man locked eyes with him and put on a show of waving politely before slowly starting to hobble over on his walking stick.

He started the conversation by wishing Togami a Happy Birthday, as had everyone else here who’d wanted something from him, and then congratulating him on his admittance to Hope’s Peak, as if it hadn’t been practically guaranteed for him!

“It was hardly _difficult…”_ Togami told him.

The old man gave a fake laugh and apologetically started getting to the deal he was actually intending to make… or at least, that’s what he called it. Looking over the details, it was obviously _far_ too much in Togami’s favour to be what the ‘financial advisor’ actually wanted. It was probably just bait to lure him into a trap.

But, it might be worth biting, just to see if he could steal the bait without springing the trap…

“Hmm… interesting. We’ll have to talk in more detail at some point, of course.” Togami lied.

The old man’s eyes lit up and he suggested that he and an extra guest make a visit to Hope’s Peak, and after some comparison of calendars, it was decided that the 9th of June would be a suitable time to discuss the deal over dinner.

Hmm... that extra guest was suspicious, it might be some fast talking lawyer type who'd attempt to rewrite the contract, perhaps. But it was odd that he’d insisted on coming to Hope’s Peak. It seemed unrelated to whatever the trap would be, unless his goal was to eat food cooked by Hanamura… Or so Togami thought, until he’d asked whether it was true that Togami was in a class with a specific student…

“You mean Ishimaru _.”_ Togami corrected the man’s over-familiar use of the Moral Compass’s given name.

He missed the hint and confirmed that he’d been talking about ‘Toranosuke’s little grandson’ then put on a show of reminiscing about how the last time he’d seen the Hall Monitor was when he was small enough to sit on his lap and it would be good know if he was getting on alright these days… as if he didn’t go to _Hope’s Peak…_

“He’s working for me, so he’s doing perfectly well.” Togami assured him.

Okane laughed at that, heavily hinting that he’d like to see an _Ishimaru_ actually doing some work for _someone else…_

So… this trap involved Ishimaru? What could he possibly think _he_ was going to do? Was he thinking he might be able to convince Ishimaru to do something like spy on Togami? It would be fun to see him _try,_ especially as he’d obviously not bothered to try and help Ishimaru’s family out of their dire financial situation…

“Well, I can probably have him wait on us, or something, if he’s available. I’ll check with his people…” Togami told the waste of space, as he opened his smart phone and ordered the artificial intelligence Fujisaki had furnished him with to ring ‘Ishimaru’s staff’…

Of course, what he meant by ‘Ishimaru’s people’ was actually a single person… and it wasn’t staff, like the secretary or PA that most respectable sorts would have…

But until Ishimaru had enough money to get himself a phone, or stopped being too much of a martyr to accept a hand-me-down for convenience’s sake, Togami would have to make do with phoning the hall monitor’s boyfriend every time he needed to organise something with Ishimaru…

The biker picker up the phone with his usual crass greeting, which Togami had taught himself to ignore. “I need to speak to Ishimaru.” He explained.

Oowada’s unnecessarily loud and vulgar response caused him to make a mental note to himself to thank Fujisaki for programming his phone to automatically lower the output volume when he rang the biker’s… Really, how did Ishimaru expect to get elected as _anything_ with this crass, disreputable idiot on his arm?

“He doesn’t _have_ his own phone. You’re usually close enough to him that furnishing him with one of his own is unnecessary.” More complaints and swearing… “Can you at least tell me if he’ll be available to work on the 9th of June?”

Oowada _finally_ quietened down, and couldn’t think of any reason Ishimaru _wouldn’t_ be available… “ _Thank_ you! Was that really so hard?” Togami sighed at him, before putting the phone down. “June 9th is fine.” He announced to the so-called ‘financial advisor’.

Well, he seemed happy with that, _too_ happy really. How had _anyone_ ever wanted to deal with him when he such a poor job of hiding the fact that he had ulterior motives? Either he’d lost his subtlety in his old age, or everyone he’d ever dealt with before was completely dense…

Still, it would be interesting to see if Ishimaru could pick up on quite what a loser his grandfather must have been to trust him…

* * *

 

(Wedesday, May 30th 2012)

Kiyotaka let out a quiet whimper as he finished... well, _thinking about Mondo,_ and used the warm water running from the shower to clean the mess he’d just made off of his hands, before allowing himself a moment to enjoy the resultant post-orgasmic haze…

Following Hina’s had advice had made Kiyotaka’s temporary obsession with his kyoudai surprisingly manageable over the last month! To think all he’d needed to do was allow an extra five minutes, (he’d scheduled ten to be on the conservative side) in the shower, during which he’d imagine that his kyoudai was in there… _with him_ … sometimes kissing, sometimes running calloused hands over his body, sometimes wrapping those warm arms around him, sometimes murmuring appreciatively and whispering gentle assurances in his ear…

And then Kiyotaka would finish his shower feeling happy and relaxed, dry himself off, slip in his underwear and crawl into bed, pull the heavy covers over himself and imagine that Mondo was still next to him, and the weight he could feel were his kyoudai’s arms wrapped around him as he drifted off to sleep…

(Thursday, May 31st 2012)

* _BRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG*_

…And the only drawbacks were the pang of guilt as he woke up, silenced his alarm and remembered he’d used his friend’s visage for his own gratification yet again, and the sting of disappointment as he realised that the warmth and assurances had all been figments of his imagination, and here in reality he’d have to spend yet another day mentally checking his own behaviour to ensure that he didn’t let his current state show…

If only he knew how long this was going to last! It’d be much easier if he could put a countdown to the date in his calendar, or at least tell himself how long it would be until it was all over! But when he’d asked Hina how long it would take, she’d awkwardly admitted she didn’t know, as every person was different… which was understandable, but _incredibly_ frustrating!

But now wasn’t the time to be focusing on that. He had other students to go and clean for this morning…

* * *

 

The doorbell rang. It was Thursday, so this must mean it was 7:30 am and Ishimaru was here to clean his room and take the laundry away. Of course, _this_ week Togami had something else to discuss with him…

“So, about the 9th…” He started.

Ishimaru seemed surprised he even remembered! How could he have _not_ remembered an appointment he’d made himself? What sort of disorganised cretin did Ishimaru think he was? And why was he talking about what food _he_ was going to organise? How did he even know food was involved, he hadn’t told Oowada that…

“I was intending to have Hanamura prepare something.” Togami told him.

Ishimaru looked slightly concerned at the idea, and implied that Togami had organised different catering options for his guests previously.

“No… I’ve always had Hanamura cater when I have guests over for dinner.” Togami told him.

Ishimaru _finally_ got the hint that they were talking about him working for Togami at this dinner he’d organised.

“Yes, I’m talking about you working for me on the 9th of June. Now, the plan is…”

…Ishimaru suddenly announced… no he _couldn’t_ have just said that…!

“What do you _mean_ you’re not available on the ninth!? Oowada specifically told me you _were!_ ”

… Although, in retrospect, he probably should have double-checked that with Ishimaru himself. And even _Ishimaru_ said as much, before anxiously telling Togami that that was Oowada’s birthday and he didn’t understand why Oowada wouldn’t have said as much when he’d asked…

 _Oh for heaven’s sake!_ Of all the days they’d picked, how had they managed to find the one solitary day of the year that Ishimaru would be reluctant about! He’d sooner work on his _own_ birthday than _Oowada’s!_

And of course, it was perfectly obvious why Oowada had assumed that wouldn’t be the case when Togami had asked him. That was when they’d gone through that period where Oowada had started to smother Ishimaru so much that the hall monitor had actively avoided him for several weeks, probably trying to decide if he wanted to keep Oowada as a boyfriend, before Oowada took Togami’s advice about backing off for a while and Ishimaru started being willing to be in the same room as him, if not even closer than before…

Ishimaru was keeping most of that to himself though, he was the sort who felt that if you had time to complain about a problem, you had time to solve it. Although Togami did wonder if the Moral Compass knew that his silence on the matter had led to ridiculous rumours that he’d attempted to ask out _Asahina_ and it was her turning him down that fixed his problems with Oowada…

But regardless of the reason for Oowada’s inaccuracy, he _had_ been inaccurate, and Ishimaru was unlikely to be willing to change his plans unless absolutely necessary…

“I’ll see if I can reschedule it, then.” Togami told him, before dialling Okane’s number…

Gods! What an infuriating mess of staff he had! It took Togami almost half an hour to reach the man himself, and then explain to him that Ishimaru was celebrating his ‘kyoudai’s’ birthday and wouldn’t want to attend that day, only for the resultant answer to be that Okane was unable to reschedule either, followed by the old man making a snide comment about how he’d expected the Togami’s to deliver on his side of a deal…

“I didn’t say he _wouldn’t_ be here, just that he wouldn’t _want_ to be there.” Togami insisted, “I just thought, as a friend of the family, you’d care what _he_ thought on the matter. But if you’re insistent he be there on the ninth, he’ll be there on the ninth.” Togami hung up the phone and turned to explain the situation to Ishimaru…

Who’d already finished cleaning and left with the laundry. Typical. Still, it would give Togami time to figure out an appropriate remuneration package for the hall monitor…

* * *

 

Well, that was an embarrassing mix up! A good thing that Togami had been so willing to rearrange it! But… why on _Earth_ would Mondo have thought he’d have been willing to work on _his_ birthday!? They were _Kyoudais!_ Of _course_ he was going to want to spend the whole day celebrating with him!

But, obviously Mondo hadn’t thought as much when Togami had asked him about it… so perhaps he’d best find out _why!?_

He scanned the dining room for signs of his kyoudai, and quickly spotted his bleached pompadour amongst the crowd.

“Kyoudai! Good morning!” Kiyotaka headed straight over to him, without worrying about his breakfast for the moment.

“Oh, hey Taka! You done cleaning for today then?”

“Yes… but, when I went to clean for Togami, he mentioned that he’d asked you about my availability on the ninth of June… and you’d said I _would_ be available to work?”

“Uhh… yeeeahh… That sounds familiar…” Mondo drawled.

“But that’s _your birthday!_ I’m going to be spending it with you!” Kiyotaka cried, before considering a possibility as to _why_ Mondo wouldn have said he’d be available that day… “Unless you don’t _want_ me to!”

“What! No! I mean, I do want ya there!” Mondo cried. “Shit… I mean… unless ya can’t get out of whatever Togami’s asked ya ta do, I guess?” He added, looking upset at the idea.

“Ah… no, it’s fine. Togami’s rearranging his plans to suit me.” Kiyotaka assured him. “But… why did you tell him I’d be available that day in the first place!? Don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday!”

“NO! I’m not _that_ thick!” Mondo snapped, “It’s just… Uhh… Y’know when you were … sorta trying to avoid me?” Mondo asked, awkwardly.

“Err… _yes_ …” Kiyotaka looked away from him in shame.

“Well… _that’s_ when he asked me… so…” Mondo trailed off.

Mondo had thought Kiyotaka would miss his _birthday_ because of that? Why would he think _that!?_ Had Kiyotaka seemed _that_ upset with him, at the time?

Presumably he had… he’d been so  _stupid!_ And _Mondo_ was the one who’d been hurt by it… “I’m sorry I did that…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“You, uhh… you wanna talk about _why_ you did that, at all?” Mondo asked.

“ _Ngh…”_ Kiyotaka froze… he _couldn’t,_ but…

“Guess that’s a no, then.” Mondo muttered, “It’s cool. You can tell me whenever, alright?”

“Ah… thank you…” Kiyotaka sighed in relief… “But… I still apologise for it! And, of course, I’ll be spending the whole of your birthday celebrating with you!”

“The _whole_ day?” Mondo asked, sounding slightly put out. “Is that, like, _my_ idea of the whole day, or _your_ idea of the whole day?”

“…What’s the difference?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Well… _My_ idea of a whole day starts at, like, _eleven_ on a Saturday… whereas _yours_ is, what, _six am?”_ Mondo guessed.

“Err… Well, I set my alarm for six _thirty…”_ Kiyotaka corrected him, even though he realised that wasn’t exactly Mondo’s concern. “Then… how about I spend the whole day doing activities relating to celebrating your birthday… such as setting up the party in the morning!”

“Ya mean my surprise party?” Mondo asked, innocently.

“Yes, your surprise part…” Kiyotaka started to agree, before realising what he’d just let slip out… “ _Ah!_ I… err… I mean… _What party? Who said anything about a…?”_

“Bahahaha!” Mondo spluttered out a laugh, “I’m just teasing ya, I mean, ya threw _Togami_ a party, of course you’re gonna throw _me_ one!”

“Ahh… yes, I suppose I am a little predictable about it…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“It’s nice though… we all know we can rely on ya!” Mondo smiled, “And I like the sound of ya being there for, like, _all_ of the day… regardless of what happens!”

“In that case, I promise that I’ll spend the entire day with you, regardless of what happens!” Kiyotaka assured him… “In fact, I make it a _man’s_ promise!” He held out his hand for Monfo to shake.

“Alright… Imma hold you ta that… the _whole_ day, got it?” Mondo told him, looking darkly serious.

“Got it!” Kiyotaka agreed.

* * *

 

Togami scanned the dining room at lunchtime, looking for the distinctive white and gold of his target… he was easily spotted, and luckily for Togami, appeared to be sitting _away_ from his boyfriend for once, instead earnestly discussing something with Kirigiri…

It turned out they were discussing the effects of Atroquinine poisoning… which was concerning. It was no surprise to Togami that Kirigiri was being involved in _that_ particular case, but he’d have thought it would be confidential enough that she wouldn’t involve Ishimaru…

“Why are you discussing _that_ with _him?”_ He demanded.

Ishimaru looked confused, blathering on about what the issue was… whereas Kirigiri just silently held up a book in his line of sight, her fingers pointing at the name of the poison on the page…

What _was_ this? These weren’t the details of the case at _all…_ if anything it seemed like a _story_ of some kind…

“You’re reading a mystery novel together.” Togami realised, to which Ishimaru nodded and eagerly recommending it to him, and Kirigiri just smirked. “I don’t have the time to reading fictional nonsense! I’m just here to discuss the dinner meeting on the ninth!”

Ishimaru looked irritated and implied that Togami should have rearranged the day…

“I attempted to, but it wasn’t possible, so I _will_ need you to work for two hours on that day.” Togami told him, “However, given that it is Oowada’s birthday, I am willing to treat it as a holiday and offer you time and a half in pay.” Togami told him.

He said no. Very emphatically.

“… _Twice_ your pay?” Togami tried, which only served to irritate the hall monitor into scowling and bidding him a good afternoon, before walking away… “I don’t suppose _you_ happen to know the standard rate of compensation for a spouse’s birthday?” He asked Kirigiri.

She seemed confused that he’d used the word ‘ _spouse’…_

“It refers to a marital partner. I realise that’s not strictly true but…” _Why was she smirking at him!?_ “What are you finding so humorous?”

She had the _gall_ to say he was bad at reading people… and used his inability to figure out why Ishimaru started avoiding Oowada for several weeks as evidence for that statement...

“Of course I figured _that_ out! It was just a simple case of him getting irritated with his overly-smothering boyfriend. Once Oowada followed my advice…”

Kirigiri interrupted him to tell him he’d got it wrong completely… and ask him when he thought they pair had started dating…

“Well, I didn’t exactly pay attention, and it’s hard to tell with Ishimaru’s aversion to public displays of affection… But my best guess would be that it was after that nonsense after Valentine’s Day... Perhaps Oowada got jealous of Tsumiki and confessed…”

She told him it was an interested theory, in a tone of voice that _also_ suggested it was wrong.

“Well, if _you_ know the answer, why not tell me?”

She told him that she thought he’d wanted to figure it out _himself…_

“Touche…” Togami admitted, he’d have to try and figure out what assumption he’d made incorrectly to start with…

Kirigiri offered him a hint, saying that there was one other member of the class who’d got it wrong in the exact same way as Togami, and therefore talking to him might give him a clue as to what his mistake had been.

“Who is it?” Togami asked.

 _It was YAMADA!?_ He’d made the same mistake as _that_ idiotic _cretin!?_

“Good. Avoiding spoiling the answer by overhearing it from him will be easy, given I aim never to talk to him anyway.”

Kirigiri just smiled and wished him luck… with both the puzzle _and_ convincing Ishimaru…

As if he’d need luck with the latter! He’d just keep negotiating, offer better deals until the Moral Compass said yes, that was how business _worked!_

* * *

 

(Friday, June 1st 2012)

“Togami, I _told_ you! I am _not_ working on Mondo’s birthday!” Kiyotaka insisted, as the heir had stopped him on the way to the phone booths…

“ _Five_ times your normal salary!” Togami offered, determinedly.

“It _isn’t_ an issue of _money_ , Togami…” Kiyotaka told him, checking his watch. “Now excuse me, I need to speak with my father…” He strode past the heir, and heard him tutting loudly before stalking away...

Makoto was staring at him in curiosity as he approached the phones... he’d have to explain the problem to him once they’d both finished talking… maybe if Togami was willing to pay _that_ much, Makoto might appreciate the chance to make some extra money!

“Good Evening, Father! I hope you’ve had a good week!” Kiyotaka announced once his call was picked up…

“Ah… Kiyotaka…” He was met with a sigh from his father.

“Did something happen!?” His father didn’t usually sound _that_ tired when they talked!

“Well…” His father sounded anxious before he even started his explanation, “It’s just… what do you have, in the way of savings?”

 _Savings!?_ “Err… I don’t have _any_ savings! I… I’ve been sending all my money to _you!”_ Kiyotaka cried, “I mean… the interest on our debts is higher than anything I could get from a savings account, so…”

“Ah… I’m sorry! I… I assumed that was the case but… it was just wishful thinking; I guess…” His father sighed.

“Why!? Did something happen!?” Kiyotaka asked, “How much do you need…? Maybe if I do some extra work…”

“No… no it’s nothing urgent! It’s just… if you’d had something it would have been cheaper for me to borrow it now and you not send as much to make up for it…” His father explained, “It’s nothing to worry about!”

“…Isn’t that _always_ the case with debts? Because of the interest rates?” Kiyotaka asked him.

“Yes, that’s true… but it’s just especially true at the moment…” His father started, “I… I have an old credit card with… a _lot_ on it… I’ve been trying to paying it off, gradually… it’s what I’m putting about _half_ the money you’re sending home towards! But I got notification a few months ago that Togami is raising the interest rate…”

“ _What!? Togami!?”_ Kiyotaka cried.

“Ah… not your classmate, one of the other ones!” His father corrected him.

“I see… my apologies!” Kiyotaka cringed… why had he instantly thought it would be _his_ Togami when he knew full well he had thirteen half-brothers?

“Yes… well, the rate's increasing from 24 to 28 percent a year… And I haven’t had any luck applying for any with lower rates…”

“So it’s about to get harder to pay off, I see…” Kiyotaka sighed. In retrospect, that explained why his father had seemed more interested in any extra money Kiyotaka could send home, recently. “May I ask how much ‘a lot’ is?” He asked, dreading he answer.

“… At the moment it’s about a million yen.” His father admitted, shamefully.

“ _A Million!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, then realised he was probably over-reacting… after all, it wasn’t _that_ much compared to his _grandfather’s_ debts… “Err… I mean… I’m surprised you were allowed that much in the first place!”

“Well… it was an _old_ card… I got it when your grandfather was still Prime Minister, so the limit was set quite high.”

“Ah… that makes more sense! And then after grandfather’s fall, you needed the money to look after Mother and I…” It must have been a severe temptation, mouths to feed and a pool of money to draw into, he’d probably thought he could pay it back soon enough… “… _Father?_ Are you still there?” He asked, as his father had gone silent.

“Err… It… wasn’t   _quite_ like that…” His father admitted. “I… _lost_ it.”

“ _Lost_ it? You had it drawn out as _cash?”_ That wasn’t very safe, was it?

“No, no… You see, your grandfather had advisors for various things, including how best to invest his money…”

“You mean like the tax loopholes his businesses used?” Kiyotaka said, disapprovingly.

“Yes… Those were recommended to him by Okane… Who… well, he hadn’t expected your grandfather to suffer the backlash he did when it was discovered…”

Kiyotaka resisted the urge to suggest he shouldn’t have recommended something so selfish as _dodging tax_ regardless… They didn’t have unlimited time to talk…

“And… well, when he spoke to me afterwards, he said he wanted to help, so he recommended an investment opportunity to me… said I’d double or maybe triple the amount I put in, with only a small chance I’d lose it…”

“…Sounds too good to be true…” At least, for someone who wasn’t an Ultimate like Celestia or Togami…

“Yes… It was. I took the money from the card and lost it all… and then I ended up storming into his office and screaming at him that he was a fraud… I’m lucky I didn’t get myself arrested!” His father said, wryly.

“Well… it seems like a fair reaction to me!” Kiyotaka told him… the man had given disastrous advice to _two_ of his family!

“It was a stupid thing to do though… he probably would have been able to help me move the debt to cheaper places, or at least give me advice on which debts to pay off first!” His father sighed, “Bit now his office won’t even accept my calls, and I’m barred from the premises, even after all these years…”

“Oh, well… Perhaps I could ask Togami for advice!” Kiyotaka suggested. “ _My_ one, I mean!”

“What? No… no this isn’t something you need to worry about!” His father assured him. “I’ve got it under control… it’s just the interest rate means it’ll take a little longer to pay off, that’s all!” He managed to laugh slightly.

“Well… if you’re sure!” Kiyotaka agreed, “But, I’ll see if he or her highness have any extra work I could do as a one off! To get the benefit now!”

“Well… thank you.” His father sounded slightly cheered up… “You’re a good lad, Kiyotaka! Ah… I have to go! Have a good week!”

“Yes! You to!” Kiytoaka said, as he put the phone down with a sigh.

“Hey, Taka…” Makoto was already next to him, smiling gently at him, “What was all that with Togami?”

“Ah… it’s not _our_ Togami, it’s just my father has a credit card with one of his brothers and the interest rate will be going up soon…”

“Uhh… actually I was talking about _before_ you called your dad?” Makoto corrected him, “But… is that other thing going to be a problem?”

“Err… well, we’ll _cope!_ It’s just a little disappointing… but it will help if I can get some extra money this week as well!” He summarised, trying to stay cheerful about it… “As for _our_ Togami, he wants me to work for a couple of hours on Mondo’s birthday, and keeps offering me increased amounts of money to do it!”

“So… you’ll accept then?” Makoto asked.

“No! Absolutely _not!”_ Kiyotaka insisted, “I’m spending _all_ of Mondo’s birthday with _him!”_

“But… you _need_ the extra money… and Togami’s _offering_ extra money…” Makoto pointed out, “Have you thought about asking Mondo what he thinks? I mean, he probably wouldn’t mind all _that_ much…”

“No, I can’t! I made a _promise!”_ Kiyotaka explained. “And besides, I’m sure I can find some other work to do at more convenient times!” He added, as he and Makoto began walking back to their own dormitories…

* * *

 

(Saturday, June 2nd 2012)

The doorbell rang. Good. That meant it was 7.30 am Ishimaru was returning his laundered clothes… giving Togami another chance to offer him an increased remuneration package…

Opening the door revealed that he was correct, as Ishimaru gave his usual morning greeting before entering the room and beginning to hang up Togami’s suits in the wardrobe without needing to be ordered. Togami had long since bothering to inspect the quality of Ishimaru’s work, after all… He’d just come in and hang up the clothes and then leave, sometimes working in complete silence if it was apparent that Togami was on the phone or concentrating…

This morning, however, Ishimaru seemed reluctant to leave the room. Perhaps he was regretting turning down the five times salary increase?

“Did you want to ask me something?”

The hall monitor nodded and asked Togami if he had any other chores that needed doing, embarrassment clear on his face as he explained that he was trying to raise funds in a hurry. For Oowada’s birthday present, presumably.

Hmm… so no mention of this Saturday… either he was a master of negotiation or ridiculously stubborn!

“I have a position I need filling for 2 hours this Saturday…” He was briefly interrupted by Ishimaru refusing, “I’d be willing to pay _ten_ times your normal salary!”

Another refusal, saying that day was to important to miss…

Wait… if he needed the money for Oowada’s _birthday_ … “Fifteen times your salary, _in advance!”_

Ishimaru just gaped at him, before asking him why he’d rather pay _him_ that much, instead of just hiring someone _else…_

“My guest specifically wants to see _you.”_ Togami admitted. Ishimaru almost looked suspicious about that. “He was your grandfather’s financial advisor.”

Ishimaru excitedly stated the name, which Togami confirmed. He seemed pleased that the man was hoping to contact his family at all…

“So you’ll work on Saturday?” Togami asked…

 _Oh, for pity’s sake!_ Ishimaru was _still_ declining, and only offered to give Togami contact details to pass along to the man before thanking him for the time and muttering about having to go and do the extra work Nevermind had given him!

Hmm… This dinner meeting was quickly become far more expensive that he’d intended… but even the Moral Compass must have a breaking point _somewhere._ He’d just have to keep up the negotiations until he found out where it _was…_

* * *

 

(Monday, June 4th 2012)

Kiyotaka exited the shower, sloppily dried himself off and almost fell asleep standing up as he put his underwear on for the night. Her Highness had not been exaggerating when she told him that her classmate’s rooms required a lot of time and effort to clean… But at least she’d not asked him to do nurse Tsumiki’s... that would have been _awful_ after what happened on Valentine’s…

But the extra work earnt him some extra money, while it was still most worthwhile to do so… even if it did mean he’d barely seen any of his friends since Friday night! He’d have the time to spend with them later… at some point… he could afford the time to rest when his family weren’t in so much debt!

If only he could have accepted Togami’s offers though… he’d been increasing them steadily over the course of the weekend, which had been nigh on torturous while he was working, thinking that if he was just talking about a different day, then Kiyotaka would have been free to stop the laborious work and go spend the time with his friends instead… The last one had been for _fifty_ times his salary.

But, he’d _promised_ Mondo he was going to be there on his birthday! And things like that _mattered_ to Mondo, so Togami’s offers _weren’t_ being accepted, regardless of _how_ tempting he made them! He could always just _imagine_ that he’d spent time with his friends, if he got lonely. He’d become quite good at imagining Mondo, thanks to his phase. It was easy to imagine that Mondo was sat waiting for him on the bed, pleased to see him as he exited the shower and made his way over to the bed…

“Hey, Taka! How are you?” Yes… that sounded like something Mondo would say… “Are you feeling alright?”

“Hmm…” Kiyotaka imagined himself explaining that he was tired from cleaning as he slipped into the bed, the pretend warmth of Mondo’s arms hotter than ever as Kiyotaka slumped sideways into a fictitious hug and quickly began to succumb… to… sle…

(Tuesday, June 5th 2012)

* _BRRRIIINNNNGGG*_

Kiyotaka awoke with a start, and barely managed to silence his alarm clock before he was jolted sideways by something that pushed against the left side of his torso...

“ _DAIYA!”_

“AARGH!” Kiyotaka let out an instinctive scream and flinched further away at the sound of a loud, unexpected voice right next to his ear… only to quickly realise it was just Mondo… who was sat on his bed… panicking. “Ah… Mondo!? Mondo, what’s wrong!?” Kiyotaka tried to shake his kyoudai reassuringly.

“Huh...?” Mondo’s breathing slowed as he looked around the room and seemed to realise he was safe… “Uhh… just a nightmare…”

“Ah… about how your brother died…” Kiyotaka realised.

Of _course_ he must still have bad dreams about it… It wasn’t something that Mondo liked to talk about, but he’d once admitted that Daiya was killed in a traffic accident… something as violent as that happening to someone he cared about must have been a high shock to him. Of course it still upset him…

“W-what!? H-how did you know that!?” Mondo started to panic again. “W-was I sleep talkin’? What did I say? I mean… I can explain…!”

“Ah… you just shouted his name as you woke up.” Kiyotaka explained, “But… You’ve not got anything _to_ explain! It’s perfectly normal for something like that to still frighten you at times!”

“Uhh… yeah… yeah, I guess…” Mondo muttered.

“…Did you want to walk about it?” Kiyotaka asked him, after he stayed silent for a while.

“What!? NO!” Mondo yelled, quickly.

“Ah… alright then…” Kiyotaka stammered, feeling slightly silly as he looked away from Mondo. He’d thought they'd become close enough that Mondo might want to talk about his feelings, but apparently not…

“I mean… you’re obviously sick so you don’t need ta be worrying about me!” Mondo suddenly added…

“ _Sick!?_ I’m not sick at all! Why would you think that?” Kiyotaka asked in confusion.

“Whaddaya mean you’re not sick!? Ya ain’t been to _anything_ that ain’t school since Friday and ya fell asleep on me last night without saying a word!” Mondo cried, “Ya didn’t even look surprised I was on your bed!”

Kiyotaka’s vision blurred momentarily as he realised what was going on… he’d become so used to pretending that Mondo was sharing his bed that he’d let himself crawl into bed next to the _real_ Mondo, snuggle up with him and fall asleep on his shoulder like it was perfectly _normal_ to do so! And Mondo was understandably concerned about it…

“Ah… That… that was just because I was tired! I’ve been cleaning a lot lately… maybe some of the chemicals went to my head…”

“Cleaning? That’s why you’ve been off by yourself all the time?” Mondo asked.

“Yes! I’m trying to earn some extra money before the interest rates on my father’s credit cards go up!” Kiyotaka took the opportunity to steer the conversation away from his behaviour last night…

“Uhh…” Mondo stared at him in confusion…

“Ah… Did I forget to mention that to you…?” Kiyotaka asked... He'd told  _someone_ about it, hadn't he?

“Yeah… and I don’t really get what it means either.” Mondo admitted with a cringe.

“Ah… well… When you borrow money on a credit card, if you don’t pay it back within a month, then the company who issues the card charges you a percentage of the amount you borrowed, called an interest rate!”

“But… if you ain’t got the money to pay ‘em back anyway, how’d they charge you?”

“Err… they just add the interest to the amount you owe them…” Kiyotaka explained, “And insist you pay at least _that_ amount, plus a very small amount extra to pay off the debt, every month… Although, we’re currently paying more than they ask, so our debt will go down quicker!”

“Okay… I think I get it…” Mondo nodded hesitantly. “But… what did you mean by the interest going up?”

“Well, different credit cards have different percentages they charge… so the higher the rate of the card, the more they add each month… but occasionally, the interest rates can change, due to economic reasons. That’s what’s happening to us, the rate is being increased.”

“Uhh… but you’re already paying more than they ask ya to, so why’s it matter if they want a bit extra?”

“Well… you’re right, it’s not like we can’t keep up with the minimum payments!” Kiyotaka admitted, “But, it makes it more difficult for us to pay off our debt.”

“…I don’t get it…” Mondo mumbled after a moment.

“Ah well… let me give you some numbers. My father has a one million yen debt on a credit card that currently charges him about 2% in interest every month…”

“So… they’re adding… _20,000…?”_ Mondo glanced at him for confirmation, as Kiyotaka smiled and nodded at how good he was getting at his maths. “…They’re adding 20,000 to the debt each month.”

“Exactly. So I send home around 70,000 yen, half of which father is putting towards paying off the debt on the credit card…”

“So… that’s 35,000 yen… which means you’re paying 15,000 more than the interest, so that’s how much your Dad’s debt goes down each month.”

“Yes! Exactly! But soon they’re going to put the interest rate to 2 and a _half_ percent each month…”

“So… That’d be… 25,000 interest… so you’d only be paying back 10,000 each month?” Mondo asked, and Kiyotaka nodded. “Got it! So, the rate going up is like you’re paying an extra 5000 yen for no reason, right?” Kiyotaka nodded again, and Mondo smiled… “So… what are the actual numbers?”

“Err… I beg your pardon?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Like… how much does ya Dad _actually_ owe? What’s the real amount you guys are having ta pay?” Mondo asked.

That… those _were_ the real numbers…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Wait… _what!?_ So… you pay those assholes 35000 yen every month, but they only take _15000_ off of ya debt to ‘em? That’s not even _half_ of it! That’s bullshit!” Mondo’s pride at figuring out the mathematics turned to anger as he realised the practicalities of it.

“Well… it’s our fault for having such a large debt in the first place…” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“But… that wasn’t _your_ fault!” Mondo snapped.

“Regardless, it’s still our family’s responsibility!” Kiyotaka insisted, “And the extra money I’m paying is helping! As the amount we owe goes down, so will the amount we’re being charged in interest!”

“But… then they’ve just said they’re gonna put that _up?_ So now you’ve gotta pay an extra 5000 yen each month., just ‘cause they _say so?_ ”

“Well… yes. Unless we could reduce the amount we owe them, at least, which is why I’m doing the extra cleaning!”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well… Say, with my extra work now, I managed to earn…” Kiyotaka tried to think of an easy number to use, “100,000 yen, and we pay them _that,_ and reduce our debt to 900,000 yen. With _that_ amount of money, when they increased the rate of interest, we’d only be charged 22,500 each month!”

“So… working hard _now_ will save you two and half thousand every month, from now on!” Mondo smiled that wonderful ‘I’ve got it now’ smile of his again… “How much more work do you have to do before you hit 100,000 yen?”

“Ah… I… I probably won’t manage _that_ , that was just an easier number to use as an example…” Kiyotaka admitted, trying not to think about the fact that it was the value of two hours of work at fifty times his salary… I.e. the last amount Togami had offered him… “I’m only paid 1000 yen an hour, after all… even with her highness asking me to clean for the rest of her class, it’s only an extra 15,000…”

“Oh.” Mondo’s smile dropped. “So… you’d havta to work an extra… what? _Five hours_ each month, just to get to the same thing you were doing before?”

“Well… it’ll get easier over time but… for now, yes, that’s what it amounts to.” Kiyotaka sighed.

“That’s fuckin’ bullshit! They shouldn’t be allowed to just screw you over like that!” Mondo growled. “Like you ain’t got too much to be getting on with already, without adding extra chores to the list!”

“Well… that’s how it is.” Kiyotaka shrugged, which just seemed to irritated his friend further… “Ah! But don’t worry! I’ll manage! It’s just something _else_ I need to put some effort towards fixing!”

“Yeah… I guess… But… why’d they have ta pick on _you?”_ Mondo asked, sadly.

“Err… well… it’s not like my father was the _only_ person they’ve done this to! I think it’s just something they did to _all_ their customers!”

“So… there’s people all over the country having to deal with this shit?” Mondo grimaced.

“Well… not with the exact numbers I’m dealing with, but similar effects in terms of increasing the amount of time it takes to repay their debts…”

“That’s… that’s bullshit! Why’re they doing it?” Mondo cried.

“…I don’t actually know…” He’d not thought to ask his father what the company's motives were…

“Well… maybe if you find out, you can convince ‘em _not_ to!” Mondo suggested.

Convince a multi-million-yen corporation _not_ to increase profits in whatever manner they’d wanted to? Just by himself? “It’s a nice thought… but it’s not likely to work. I’d be better off focusing my efforts on reducing my debt through hard work, not begging for allowances!”

“Well… if ya think that’s the best use of your time…” Mondo frowned, “…Maybe I can help?”

“Oh! Well… that’s very kind of you to offer, but I can’t expect you to do my cleaning duties for me! You have better things to do with your time!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Ah… but I promise this won’t affect me being able to spend time with you on your birthday, of course!”

“Heh… Thanks, Kyoudai…” Mondo smiled softly and put a hand on Kiyotaka’s naked shoulder, and pulled them together for a quick, incredibly _warm_ hug. “If ya need any help, Imma be looking up stuff on my laptop in my room, alright?”

“Of course, but don’t forget to come to class!” Kiyotaka reminded him…

“I won’t… and don’t _you_ work too hard and sleep through ‘em!” Mondo ruffled Kiyotaka’s hair before heading out of the room with a slightly _angry_ look on his face.

What was _that_ about? Was it just the credit cards? Admittedly it was a disappointing turn of events, but it was hardly worth getting angry over! But then again, Mondo was always very kind about these things, and often said he hated seeing Kiyotaka having to work hard to fix something that hadn’t been _his_ responsibility in the first place, so of course he’d be overly-sensitive to finding out that his end goal had been pushed further away arbitrarily.

Which was all the more reason not to be lazy around in bed all day! As nice as it had been to have a morning chat with his kyoudai, he had school work to be getting on with! He threw the covers of off himself and shifted his legs sideways…

At which point he noticed the rather prominent erection he had apparently developed at some point.

 _Oh gods!_ When had _that_ happened? What if _Mondo_ had noticed it!? What if _that_ was why he’d looked so angry as he left? How could he have been so stupidly _careless,_ letting himself get so tired and deluded that he just… got into bed with Mondo as if they were a couple and spent the night asleep on his shoulder!? What if he’d had one of his _dreams?_ While _asleep on Mondo’s_ shoulder!? That could have easily turned into a complete disaster!

He was going to have to be much, _much_ more careful with himself until this phase ended… And try to find out if he _had_ done anything last night that had revealed his problem to his friend…

* * *

 

His doorbell rang… perhaps it was finally Ishimaru! After a steady set of increasing offers had all been refused, Togami had realised he ought to back down and wait a while, to give the impression that he’d been giving his final offer last time, and had avoided speaking to him about it today. _That_ should convince him to accept the offer of fifty times his normal salary for the time spent…

“What do yo… _URK!”_ Togami’s opening question was cut off as _Oowada_ , not Ishimaru, picked Togami up off the floor by his throat and started growling and yelling a torrent of angry questions about what was ‘wrong’ with Togami, and didn’t he know Ishimaru as busy enough as it was, and why wasn’t Togami answering…

Honestly! Was this stupid display of aggression supposed to _scare_ him? Or was he just _that_ over-possessive of the hall monitor? “Can’t… talk… chocking… _imbecile_ …”

Oowada let out a low growl and dropped him, explaining that he was being given 30 seconds to explain himself…

“Well, it’s _your_ fault! _You_ were the one who told me there’d me ‘no reason’ he _couldn’t_ work on your birthday…” Togami started, “Besides, it’s only two…”

Oowada just started yelling again, insisting that he wasn’t talking about his birthday, but instead was talking about another thing Togami had done… something to do with numbers going up and it wasting Ishimaru’s time and/or money for no reason…

“…You don’t actually understand whatever it is you think I’ve done, do you?” Togami realised. Obviously _something_ had caused the hall monitor to lose money, or perhaps he’d lied and _said_ that so Oowada didn’t realise he was saving up for a secret birthday present (that was something ordinary people did, wasn’t it?), and Oowada had for some idiotic reason assumed it was Togami’s fault…

Oowada did at least have the good grace to admit that, no, he _didn’t_ understand what Togami had _apparently_ done, except that it had been some stupid ‘effing’ decision that was ruining the lives of _thousands_ of people… and then he was hoisting Togami up into the air and asking him how he could just stand there after doing something so selfish and wasn’t he going to at least _say_ something…?

“How _can_ I say anything when you’ve done such an appalling attempt at telling me what it is I’ve supposedly done?”

Oowada insisted there was nothing ‘supposed’ about it, because he’d read the news online, and started trying to get Togami to reverse whatever decision had irritated the biker by threatening to hit him if he didn’t…

Well, this was probably going to painful… and he’d have to think of some way to get revenge on the idiot…

…Or he _would_ have, if Oowada hadn’t been interrupted by a wimpish cry from _Naegi,_ of all people, who must have seen the altercation and was now attempting to hold the bikers arm so he couldn’t punch him and asking what Oowada was _doing…_

That prompted Oowada to repeat his rambling mess of an explanation about numbers and Ishimaru… and Naegi _somehow_ managed to understand that the biker was annoyed because the _interest rates_ on Ishimaru’s father’s _credit cards_ were being increased…

So, he’d read that ‘Togami’ owned cards were increasing and hadn’t realised… “That has nothing to do with me.”

Oowada didn’t believe him, and confirmed Togami’s suspicions that he had indeed read the name ‘Togami’ on an online article… But Naegi looked as if he _did_ understand the problem.

“There’s more than one Togami in the business world… Tell him, Naegi.” Oowada would probably believe _him_ more than _Togami…_

He was right about that as well, Oowada was satisfied far more quickly by Naegi’s explanation that Ishimaru had told him it wasn’t…

“I’ve told you before not to use that name.” Togami reminded him. Just because he’d offered the boy a job as an advisor about the behaviours and opinions of common people, the idiot now thought they were friendly enough to be on first name basis!

Neagi had the gall to roll his eyes before carrying on with the explanation that Ishimaru had said it wasn’t ‘our Togami’ but was instead one of his half-brothers… To which Oowada insisted that as head of his family, Togami ought to be able to get him to ‘cut that… _stuff_ out’.

“You really have no idea how businesses _work,_ do you? This is part of a long term-development plan for his company…” Even if it was a poorly thought out one. “It will have been voted on by many other people aside than himself, who I have no control over! His business isn’t like your idiotic gang, where the leader’s brother can just come in and take over with no resistance whatsoever!”

... Oowada took so much offense to that, Togami thought he actually _was_ going to punch him there for a moment. Instead he just growled at Togami that he didn’t understand _anything_ about running a gang and what he’d had to do to get the gang to respect _him_ instead of his brother…

“Well, what did that include?” It was probably nothing compared to the trials he’d had to overcome to be named head of the family…

It seemed Oowada knew as much already, he just snapped that it was none of Togami’s business and stalked back into his room like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs…

At which point Naegi pointed out the blindingly obvious…

“I don’t _care_ if I upset him! Consider it revenge for the inconvenience he’s caused me about Saturday!” Togami snapped, “I _still_ haven’t been able to make arrangements with Ishimaru, even after offering him _fifty_ times his normal pay!”

Once Naegi stopped chocking like a dying fish at the word ‘fifty’ he seemed to sympathise with Togami, suggesting that it sounded like he needed the hall monitor to do him a _favour_ …

“He’s not doing it for fifty times his base pay, why would he be willing to do it just as a favour?”

Neagi suddenly sighed and brought up Ishimaru’s birthday present to him, and the extreme lengths he’d gone to for several of their other classmates for _their_ birthdays… chief among them being Enoshima and Ludenberg…

“Oh… yes. The vouchers.” Togami realised. He’d kept them around… mostly to get them out and have a joke about how one of his staff had effectively given up a week of his pay as his birthday present… But if he took the ‘Personal Favour’ one as seriously as Naegi was claiming he would…

Well… it might sweeten the deal a _little,_ but the _money_ was going to be far more important! The voucher would just be the opening softener for a much more _dramatic_ final offer…

* * *

 

(Wednesday, June 6th 2012)

Kiyotaka glanced around the dining room at breakfast time nervously… and was half pleased and half terrified to see that Mondo was sat by himself… Pleased because this meant that he’d have a chance to talk to Mondo, which he hadn’t managed since yesterday morning because Mondo had been busy researching something on his computer… but also terrified because he had no idea if Mondo was upset with him about… well, the _entirety_ of what happened on Monday night and yesterday morning…

“Ah… Good morning, Kyoudai…?” He started the conversation, trying not to sound too nervous.

“Oh, uhh… hey, Taka!” Mondo briefly glanced up at him, before looking away again avoiding eye contact…

Did Mondo not want to talk? Or even look at him? He really _had_ noticed what happened Tuesday morn…

“You not sitting down?” Mondo asked, after he’d stood awkwardly worrying for a moment.

“Ah… if you don’t mind?” Kiyotaka asked, starting to sit down opposite Mondo.

“Why the fuck _would_ I mind!?” Mondo scowled.

Well… that was as good an opening as any… “Well… I was wondering… about Monday night… I didn’t happen to do anything… _odd?_ Or weird, did I?” He asked gulping the tension down into his stomach as he did so… “I mean, _other_ than getting into bed and falling asleep on you, I mean, that pretty weird all by itself and…!”

“Eh? It wasn’t _that_ weird…” Mondo shrugged, “You were tired as hell…”

“Ah… oh! But… Even so, I mean… you don’t think it’s odd?” Kiyotaka stammered dully… he _knew_ getting into bed with Mondo like that was something he shouldn’t have done! But… right now, in the face of Mondo’s indifference, he couldn’t quite put his finger on _why…_

“Well… it’s ‘cause we’re so close, right? Ya _trust_ me so much it didn’t register as weird when I used your spare key to show up on your bed without knocking!” Mondo grinned at him…

 _Urg…_ Mondo didn’t know the _real_ reason he’d not thought it was odd… he’d was just assuming the best of Kiyotaka’s action, because they were friends and Mondo was kind and _trusted_ him…

And Kiyotaka was betraying that trust by imaging the pair of them together every night, even though he knew his _friend_ would never want that! But… he _couldn’t_ tell Mondo what was actually going on! And it was just a _phase_ after all so…

“Ah… ahahaha, yes! That’s it… I’m glad you understand!” Kiyotaka forced himself to laugh while lying to the face of his best friend. “I’m just absolutely positive you’d _never_ hurt me, because we’re _Kyoudais,_ and you’d _never_ do anything to hurt your _brother!_ Right!?”

“…Yeah.” Mondo said, blinking at him with dull shock spread over his face. “’Course not.”

…He’d been _far_ too forceful with that lie, hadn’t he? Now Mondo was going to be even more suspicious of him than ever! He needed to think of something to say to explain his over-enthusiasm and…

“Ishimaru!” Kiyotaka’s attempts to think of an excuse ware interrupted by Togami suddenly approaching the table and throwing a single piece of paper down in front of him, “ _This_ will be my _final_ offer! _One Personal Favour…_ ”

His _favour!? That_ was Togami’s _last resort!?_ But… he’d offered _one hundred thousand yen_  last time! Did he… did he really think Kiyotaka’s time was worth that much!?

Perhaps, if Togami was that desperate for his help, he could at least _ask_ Mondo if he’d mind if he arrived a couple of hours late to his birth…

“And _one hundred_ times your normal salary!” Togami continued, slamming a metal case down on top of the voucher, “Paid _in advance!”_ He added, opening it…

It was full of 1000-yen notes, like something out of an TV drama... How much was _there?_ A hundred times his hourly rate, for two hours? That was 200,000 yen! Kiyotaka had never seen that amount of money before… not as cash, not all in one place…

“How’s it a favour if you’re _paying_ him as well?” Mondo asked Togami.

“Tch! He’s already turned down offers that far surpass _one favour…_ I’m just adding it to sweeten the deal… a _little._ ” Togami smirked. “It’s not as if I’d bother to use it otherwise!”

Sweeten the deal a _little?_ He wouldn’t bother to use it otherwise? So _that_ was how little Kiyotaka’s promise to help him meant to him? He’d just thrown it down to soften him up slightly, before trying to break his resolve with an even more tempting amount of money than before…

Why was Kiyotaka surprised? What was _one favour_ from _anyone_ worth to a man who must have spent his entire life being able to buy anything he wanted or pay someone to _do_ anything he wanted! What did people’s resolve matter to _him,_ when he must have grown up knowing that every person had a _price_ , and he could _easily_ afford it…

Was that what he was trying to show off, here, with this cartoonish case of money and careless use of Kiyotaka’s present? That for all Kiyotaka’s talk of morals, for all his dedication to doing the right thing and changing the world for the better, that for all his talk of being _Kyoudai’s_ with Mondo, he’d still do whatever Togami asked of him, just so long as the pile of money he received in exchange for it was _big enough?_ That politicians might enter the field with talk of standing by the people and making things _better,_ but they’d soon bend over backwards to bribery from corporate lobbyists? That _money_ mattered more than _effort?_

Well… Kiyotaka was going to have to show him that was _wrong…_ even _if_ it meant turning down enough money to counteract the increase in interest rates completely, which _apparently_ was worth so little to Togami that he just had it lying around in _cash_ in his room…!

* * *

 

There, he’d made the offer. A _extremely_ generous increase in his salary, handed over in a convenient, yet secure, carrying case, so Ishimaru would be able to pick it straight up and take it to wherever he wanted to buy his boyfriend’s birthday present from, and it looked like Oowada might have an idea of what he wanted, given the way he’d started doing calculations on his fingers once Togami had made the offer…

Meanwhile Ishimaru was staring at the money in silence… this was it. _This_ was the offer he was _finally_ going to accept! His love for Mondo might be strong, but given his financial situation, he’d have to be _insane_ to turn down _that_ amount of money just to spend an extra _two hours_ with his boyfrie…

Except that Ishimaru pushed the case away from him, standing up to yell that there were _some_ obstacles Togami couldn’t get rid of just by throwing enough money at them, and apparently Ishimaru’s _morals_ weren’t one of them…

Honestly, why was he so _incensed_ about this? He’d not been anywhere _near_ this irritable the _last_ time Togami had asked him about it… And why was he now starting a lecture about political lobbying!?

Wait… _lobbying?_ Of course… how had he not thought about it before? Ishimaru accepting a case full of money? It had ‘political scandal’ written all over it! Typical! It seemed the hall monitor wasn’t _completely_ naïve after all! Why had he tried to do this in the _cafeteria_ of all places, instead of waiting until he got a chance to ask him in private? Now he’d have to make another offer, in _private_ , to convince him to help… and that was probably going to cost him another hundred thousand yen…

“Alright, you’ve made your point.” Togami sighed, closed the case ready to pick it up and leave… he had better things to do than listen to the Moral Compass’ rambling idea of a lecture…

But then Oowada cried out for Togami to wait… then started asked Ishimaru why he was turning down enough money to… undo the effects of the interest rate rise? _That_ was why he was earning extra money? How much money did his father _have_ on that awful card? Hadn’t he tried to switch it!?

The pair then proceeded to have a back-and-forth argument about whether Ishimaru should accept the offer, with _Oowada_ of all people being the voice of reason and insisting that unless Togami’s request was illegal, it would be perfectly understandable for Ishimaru to take him up on the offer, even if Togami _had_ inadvertently made it look like a ‘dodgy-as-eff’ bribe…

But the Ishimaru finally brought up the fact that Togami was asking him to work on Oowada’s birthday. It was unlikely the biker would continue to be so reasonable after _that…_

* * *

 

“ _So!?_ What’s it _matter_ if you work on my birthday!? It’s _two hundred thousand yen!”_ Mondo cried, gesturing wildly at the box.

“But… but I _promised_ you I’d spend the _entire_ day…”

“It’s just two hours! And then ya don’t gotta worry about the credit card thing!” Mondo insisted, “It ain’t like you won’t see me at all!”

“But… it’s the principal of the matter!”

“No, Taka… there’s no fuckin’ _principal_ here! I ain’t worth you turning down _two hundred fucking thousand YEN!_ ” Mondo snapped.

“Yes you _are!”_ Kiyotaka retorted, without even thinking about it…

“No… trust me, I _ain’t!”_ Mondo growled, “Besides, even if I _were,_ he’s offering you like, what… A hundred and ninety-eight free hours of time? Ya could spend _that_ time with me instead of havin’ ta clean people’s shitty rooms!”

“But… that wouldn’t be on your _birthday!”_ Kiyotaka cried.

“So? It’s not _that_ important! We can just hang out the day after, like we’ll do with _your_ birthday!”

“ _W-what?”_ They’d not discussed his birthday at all… Why would they wait until the day after it to celebrate!?

“Your birthday’s in the holidays, right? So I was thinking we could have a party when we all get back…” Mondo suggested.

“Oh… well… That does seem the most logical thing to do…” Kiyotaka admitted. It would be a large time commitment for Mondo to ride the extra day _past_ Hope’s Peak, just to visit Kiyotaka’s house for a single day…

…But that logic didn’t help the sting of disappointment that had hit him. Admittedly he’d not really thought about his upcoming birthday but… part of him had thought, now he had _friends,_ that his actual birthday would be… _different_ this year! That maybe someone other than his father would make the effort to do something nice for him, to brighten the day up, maybe give him a present to open…

What a selfish thought, that they’d go to _that_ trouble, when they could all just wait a day and celebrate it far more easily back at the school instead! And it’s not as if everyone would forget his birthday completely, was it? Even a party one day late would be better than back in middle school, where the occasion was ignored completely by his classmates…

“Well… I guess we can spend time together the day _after_ each of our birthdays instead…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“ _Each_ of our…?” Mondo looked confused for a moment, then turned serious, “…You _promise?_ You… you’ll definitely hang out with me on Sunday, _all_ of Sunday, regardless of what happens on my birthday?”

“Err… of course! Why wouldn’t I?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Just… just promise it, alright!” Mondo snapped, irritably.

“Of course! I, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, promise you that I will spend time with you, the day _after_ your birthday!” He recited, which seemed to calm Mondo down a little. “Now it’s your turn!” Kiyotaka reminded him.

“Eh?” Mondo blinked.

“Well… you’re going to promise to spend the day after my birthday with me, right?”

“Oh, yeah… sure! Man’s promise! If ya still want me to, anyway…” Mondo muttered.

“Why _wouldn’t_ I?” Why did Mondo seem convinced he didn’t want to spend time with him… or wouldn’t want to? Was this _still_ because of his avoidance strategy from a few weeks ago… If only he’d realised at the start just how badly that would hurt Mondo…

“Uhh… don’t worry about it…” Mondo mumbled. “Just… take Togami’s cash before he changes his mind!” Mondo pushed the case towards him…

Kiyotaka looked towards the heir, who’d started looking through something on his phone while they were talking… “Did you make a decision yet?”

“Yes… I accept.” Kiyotaka nodded. “I guess I was being a bit over-dramatic about celebrating birthdays…”

* * *

 

About time Ishimaru relented! And apparently he had the biker to thank! It was good to know Ishimaru would listen to _him…_ hmm… and _he_ would listen to _Naegi_ …

He probably could have saved himself a large sum if he’d just told _him_ to change Ishimaru’s mind, couldn’t he? Well, that was an expensive lesson learned…

He still looked vaguely disappointed as Togami gave him the money though, why were birthdays so important to him anyway? They'd always just been a chance for his family to organise a large networking event...

No matter, he’d got what he wanted. Now he could _finally_ start getting Ishimaru on board with the preparations!

“Very well… I’ve organised a dinner meeting, and you’ll be waiting on us. In a _suit_ of course…” Togami started to explain.

(Saturday June 9th)

“…I didn’t mean _that_ hideous thing!” Togami snapped, as Ishimaru arrived at the door of the office room he’d booked for the dinner, wearing that ridiculous white lace trimmed _thing_ Ludenberg had forced him into months ago, which was _somehow_ covered in badly washed dirt and looked as if he’d had to put _patches_ on the knees! “I’ve organised _this_!” He thrust the bag containing a long sleeved white shirt and black waistcoat along with black trousers and Oxford shoes…

Ishimaru looked completely overjoyed just from being allowed to wear sensible clothing, and happily rushed to the nearest changing room to swap outfits and returned to the room enthusing over how well it fit him.

“Well, I did have it custom-tailored for you.” Togami explained, at which point Ishimaru expressed shock that he hadn’t just rented it and nervously asked the stupidiest question he could possibly have come up with… “No, of _course_ you don’t have to _pay_ for it! I _said_ it was expenses paid, remember? Just make sure you take better care of it that you did with Ludenberg’s one.”

He was so grateful for it that he bowed in thanks, before asking what he needed to be doing now.

“I had Hanamura set up a makeshift kitchen in the secondary room. Go speak with him about what food he’s prepared and give him any help he needs…”

Ishiamru seemed to tense slightly at the order, but nodded and headed off towards the ‘kitchen’ regardless. Presumably he’d had dealings with the perverse chef before! Although, Hanamura had behaved a lot differently _this_ time. He’d been focused entirely on his food, and had spoken about ‘re-branding’ his image when Togami had asked whether some of his previous signature dishes would be making an appearance...

* * *

 

“Ah… hello? Hanamura?” Kiyotaka knocked on the small door Togami had pointed out to him, “Togami asked me to see if you needed help and could discuss the food with me?”

He waited, slightly apprehensively… The chef had been out of his room during the time when her Highness had suggested he clean for him, which meant that the last time they’d spoken to each other had been that time they’d gone to the baths together…

“Enter.” Hanamura intoned from inside… at least he _thought_ it was Hanamura… he sounded a lot different from the last time they’d spoken.

Kiyotaka did as he was told and pushed open the door… It smelt _amazing_ in here! There was meat being roasted and boiled, cheese being melted and bread being freshly baked, all by the single student calmly moving around between it all in a red chefs outfit and hat, with a yellow scarf around his neck…

Well, it might not keep his hair in proper check still, but at least he was wearing a bigger hat now!

“You’re the one serving my creations today? Hmmhmmhmm… Does it get tiring, serving all us more _sophisticated_ students, just for the odd scrap here and there?” Hanamura asked, which was a rather _personal_ way to start a conversation.

“Err… well, I guess it can be frustrating at times…” Kiyotaka started.

“I’m glad I wasn’t born poor then!” Hanamura interrupted him, “I’d hate not to be able to afford my creations…”

“Ah… speaking of which… what _are_ your creations, today?” Kiyotaka asked, trying to ignore how hungry all the delicious smells were starting to make him feel…

“Hmm… I forgot you’re a man of business, not pleasure…” Hanamura smirked, “For starters, they’ll have focaccia con terrina a la fegato grasso et pistachio. For the main, I am preparing Vitello Milanese served with a side of Tartiflette Savoyarde and for desert I have made Torta Caprese, which is in the chilled box over there. You’ll need to get it out just before serving the main course.” He explained, sounding almost completely unlike himself as he did so.

“Ah… Understood… But could you repeat those names again, please?” Kiyotaka asked, sheepishly.

“Not familiar with European cuisine?” Hanamura scoffed at him. “I assumed as much… I’ve written the names down.” He waved dismissively over at a piece of paper on the other side of the room.

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka bowed, “Did Togami ask you to make it European? It seems like a big departure from your usual style…”

“No… Just with my mother dying, I realised I’d only ever cooked the same things as _her…”_ Hanamura said, casually.

“Ah! Your mother _died!?_ My condolences!” Kiyotaka hadn’t known anything about that! “She must have been a fantastic cook herself, to make dishes like that!”

“Hmm… she was holding me back…” Hanamura commented, the callousness of it almost causing Kiyotaka to tell him he shouldn’t say such things… “But… She’s the one who got me started, with my cuisine… and I’ll always have her with me.” He added, looking down at himself.

Kiyotaka nodded, he could understand _that_ feeling, at least! Then he decided to let the chef continue his work, while he attempted to memorise the names of the unfamiliar dishes, until Togami called him into the other room...

* * *

 

Ishimaru arrived quickly when called, which made a nice change from having to watch Okane limp along at a snails pace through the school halls…

“You know Jogen Okane…” Togami introduced him to their guests, an odd thing to do for a waiter. “And this is his granddaughter, Seikaku…” he pointed to the petite, blonde girl who had turned out to be Okane’s extra guest, so much for it being a lawyer or someone to watch out for…

Ishimaru shook hands with them both and did the introduction he’d taught him… but only the once, since Fujisaki had asked Togami to explain to him that he didn’t need to say the introduction multiple times to every single person he met.

Okane continued to act over-familiar with the hall monitor, and the latter did a reasonable job of hiding his annoyance at the man patting his arm and hair like they were related… Although Togami’s keen eyes could see that his face was set more sternly than usual.

“We’ll be sitting over here…” Togami gestured to the table… he was sure Ishimaru had no desire to delay getting to his kyoudai’s party by talking to this old man.

The younger Okane innocently asked why there were only three chairs for the four of them, to which Ishimaru replied that he was waiting on them and would be in the kitchen most of the time…

And then the _older_ Okane pretended he’d told Togami he’d wanted to ‘see’ Ishimaru, and had meant that in a _friendly_ sense…

“That… wasn’t the impression I got.” Togami said, guardedly. The man was outright  _lying,_ but there was no use arguing it with him, it would just turn into a petty case of one man’s words against another’s.

But why lie? Was it just to get Ishimaru to turn against Togami? If it _was,_ it hadn’t worked. Ishimaru’s first thought was that the music at the gala might have caused them to mishear each other.

Okane claimed that Togami must have misunderstood, due to his inability to see people as anything other than _workers…_ Which was _obviously_ nonsense!

But before he could say as much, Ishimaru took it as a cue to try and break up the tension in the air by loudly announcing that he didn’t mind not eating now, because he had plans to eat later, and if they’d all sit down he’d go and get the starter from the kitchen…

He soon returned to the table, followed by Hanamura, who briefly stopped to smirk at the hall monitor’s attempt at pronouncing the ‘sophisticated’ name for bread and pate in an Italian accent, before leaving the room. Presumably the main courses were being kept warm in the kitchen…

Well, time to see what the chef’s ‘rebranding’ had achieved… He went to take a bite of the starter… Hopefully this wouldn’t be some ‘New Coke’ style reduction in quality...

This… this was _exquisite!_ This far and beyond exceeded _anything_ the chef had made for him previously! To think he’d taken an event like his mother’s death and used it as motivation to make _this_ sort of food! It was so utterly amazing that Togami might have felt that he wasn’t worthy of eating it… if he wasn’t _Togami_ , that is…

But he _was_ Togami, so he ate his entire portion… the same wasn’t true of the Okanes though. The younger girl started to slow as she reached the last few pieces and Okane himself barely managed a few bites before taking on the look of a man who was re-evaluating his life choices…

“So… this deal of yours…” Togami decided to start the business proceedings, and asked a few obvious questions about the documents he’d given Togami a month ago, all the while looking for any signs of treachery or trickery from the old man…

Hmm… nothing yet… He was answering everything in full (Togami had researched this extensively on his own end) and wasn’t attempting to bring up any additional deals or plans…

So what _exactly_ did he actually _want?_ Was his goal really just to turn Ishimaru _against_ him? And more importantly, was it working if that’s what he _was_ trying…?

Togami made sure to pay attention to the hall monitor as he came back through to collect the plates… He didn’t look _upset_ to be waiting on them… and Togami was paying him incredibly well for it, so it wasn’t as if he had anything to be upset _about!_

If anything, he looked more irritated with Okane than Togami, scowling as he picked up the old man’s plate.

* * *

 

What a waste of food! What was the point of him insisting on Togami organising dinner, if he was hardly going to _eat_ any of it! Kiyotaka should say something… but try to be subtle about it…

“Was everything alright with the food?” Kiyotaka asked, on the basis that he could always say that Hanamura wanted to know…

“It’s amazing!” The younger Okane smiled brightly, “My compliments to the chef!” She added.

“Yes… even for an Ulitmate, Hanamura’s outdone himself today…” Togami smiled.

“Yes… I’d not heard of him preparing foie gras before…” The older Okane said.

“Err… Foie gras? He said it was…”

“That’s just the Italian for ‘Terrine of Foie gras with pistachio’.” Togami stopped him from repeating it. “He’s still naming things far more pompously than he needs to.”

“Yes… I read somewhere that the Ultimate chef is known for his tendency to make food that’s usually like poor people eat, but with fancier names…” The girl mused, “So I was a little surprised by the foie gras as well!”

“Well… this _is_ a new style for him…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But that wasn’t really true before… a lot of his dishes included expensive meats like beef…”

The whole table looked at him like he’d grown a second head for a few moments.

“You mean Kobe beef, for instance?” The younger Okane asked.

“No, I mean… beef.” Kiyotaka repeated, “Normal beef.”

“…Beef isn’t expensive.” Togami said, completely dead pan, “It’s just a basic meat.”

“It’s _twice_ the price of chicken! And even _that’s_ too expensive to be having regularly!”

“…Your family really _isn’t_ doing well, is it?” Okane said, sadly.

“Well, we might not be able to afford much in the way of luxuries, but we’re coping!” Kiyotaka assured him.

“You’d be coping _better_ if your father wasn’t so stubborn…” he sighed.

“Ah… I beg your pardon?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Oh… sorry, I assumed he’d have said something, about that time I tried to help him invest money…” Okane sighed. “I mean, I _warned_ him not to put all his money into _one_ investment, no matter _how_ good it looked…”

“Oh…” Was that the case? That wasn’t exactly what his father had said… but it didn’t exactly contradict it either… Had his father been so desperate that he’d not listened to the warning...?

“And now he keeps refusing my help…” Okane added. “He won’t even take advice on which debts to pay off first, like that awful credit card he’d got… I hate to say it, but he’s probably wasted a lot of your family’s money from not paying things off in a sensible order…”

Wait… that was the complete opposite of what his father had said on the phone! Even _yesterday_ when Kiyotaka had said he’d be meeting him today, he’d asked Kiyotaka to apologise for him if he got the chance to!

“Ah…” He stammered, not sure what to say in the face of this blatant lie… until he noticed Togami was staring at him intently.

Of course… _He’d_ kept quiet when Okane said that he’d wanted Kiyotaka their as a _guest,_ not a waiter… so if _that_ had been a lie, and Togami hadn’t called him on it, then perhaps Togami wanted him to be quiet and play along with all his lies… Maybe?

It was probably safer to go along with it for now, than to cause a ruckus that couldn’t be taken back!

“I see… I didn’t know that. Thank you for telling me.” He lied, “I’ll go and get the main course…”

* * *

 

The main course turned out to be veal escallops served with a gratin of potatoes, cheese and onions… all stupendously cooked and too good for Togami to eat the entirety of in one sitting!

His enjoyment of the food was only slightly marred by Okane’s refusal to actually do anything of interest, regarding his obvious upcoming trap… and it wasn’t as if he was too busy eating his food to talk… he’d taken a few bites of it and then spent the rest of the meal listlessly pushing it around his plate…

Togami was _almost_ starting to consider the possibility that there was not trap whatsoever and he just wasn’t a particularly good businessman… In which case he might as well get this dinner over and done with.

“Ishimaru?” He signalled the makeshift waiter over once the girl had put her knife and fork down. “The desserts please.” He ordered.

Ishimaru commented on the fact that none of them had finished their dinner.

“Hanamura gave us unnecessary large portions.” Togami told him.

Ishimaru disagreed, stating that they’d looked on the _small_ side to _him_ … Which, when Togami considered it, was probably _true…_

“Then I suppose we’re just not very hungry today.” He shrugged, “Just get rid of the excess and bring out the desserts.” He repeated, aware that Okane was starting to smirk at Ishimaru’s continued lack of producti…

_Ishimaru refused._

“What do mean, ‘ _no’?”_ Togami asked, to which Ishimaru stated the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard… “What are you talking about!? There’s no _rule_ that says you have to eat the entirety of your main course before you can have dessert!”

Ishimaru insisted that there _was_ such a rule, and _he’d_ grown up with it…

“That’s abnormal…” Togami sneered… which turned out to be a bad idea, as it caused Ishimaru to go off into a loud lecture about how Togami didn’t understand how ordinary people lived and how incredibly privileged he was to never have to worry about _what_ he wanted to eat, let alone if there’d be _enough_ of it, and how people like Togami and the Okanes being so willing to throw away perfectly good food was probably the cause of so much of world hunger and he wasn’t going to contribute to that so he was going to stay in the kitchen and refuse to serve the desserts until _all_ of the main courses were gone…

“You’re not _serious,_ are you?” Togami asked him, just before the ‘kitchen’ door slammed shut. “I guess I need to talk to his _manager_ then!” After all, he knew who Ishimaru would listen to…

Togami pulled out his phone and started typing, while the Okanes discussed the impracticality of Ishimaru’s ‘rule’ between themselves… the key point being how a _buffet_ would work… Hadn’t Ishimaru ever been to a _buffet!?_

“ _Oowada, Ishimaru is refusing to serve desserts just because we haven’t finished our main courses. Do me favour and tell him that’s a ridiculous rule! He’ll listen to YOU.”_

 _There!_ That would convince Ishimaru… but Oowada was certainly taking his time to reply…

_“if urnt hngry nuff 4 dinnnr jst skp dssssrt nd get kyd kyus kydi Taka eer alrddy”_

Togami squinted at the reply… he couldn’t be entirely sure, but it appeared to be a refusal.

Well, he knew who _Oowada_ would listen to, didn’t he?

_“I’m trying to get Ishimaru and Oowada to concede that refusing to serve dessert to someone who hasn’t eaten the entirety of their main course is an abnormal ‘rule’, but they’re refusing to listen to me. You tell them, Naegi.”_

There, _that_ should stop this ridiculous…

“ _Byakuya, that’s a perfectly normal rule.”_ Naegi texted back.

That was NOT what he wanted Naegi to tell them! Honestly! How could anyone grow up with such a ridiculous mind-set?

“ _Also could you be as quick as possible please Junko brought beer Mondo’s drank ALL of it and now hes getting stroppy that Takas taking so long…”_

“ _That’s none of my concern. But we’ll be quicker if you tell Ishimaru to bring the desserts out.”_ Togami explained.

_“How He doesn’t have a phone Just try talking to him Or eating your dinner”_

“Tch…” Togami scowled at Naegi’s last reply… the boy had a point, Togami would have to chase after Ishimaru and then ring Naegi, which would make it obvious that Naegi was only telling him what Togami wanted him to… And getting this old man to actually eat this… _bizarrely_ delectable dinner would take even longer than waiting for Ishimaru to relent… so Togami was probably going to have to swallow his pride and follow his waiter into the _kitchen…_

Okane took his irritation as a chance to smugly ask him if he was having trouble with his staff… and suggest that his granddaughter try and deal with Ishimaru’s rebellion instead, at which point she took her plate of food and followed Ishimaru into the kitchen area.

Now, why would he think _she_ would be any use in dealing with Ishimaru, whatsoever? Or was that just to make sure the Moral Compass was preoccupied while he started getting on with his _real_ reason for being here…

* * *

Kiyotaka looked around the room irritably. It had been several minutes already, and no one had attempted to talk him down. He’d thought Togami might come and complain that he’d made his point, and he’d make sure to save the food for later or… _something_ that would at least show him that food wastage would be something the heir might consider in the future! And then he could have served the desserts and they’d get on with going to Mondo’s party!

Now his and Togami’s stubbornness combined were probably going to make him late… which he’d been especially worried about today… for some reason, Mondo had seemed to be getting increasingly anxious over the last few days, and he’d hoped the party might help him relax a bit. But _that_ wasn’t going to happen if Kiyotaka never showed up, was it?

Not to mention, he was starting to get hungry! And being in a room filled with delicious smelling food wasn’t helping…

Then again, if they couldn’t even be bothered to finish off the _main_ course, then they certainly weren’t going to miss the _starters_ , were they? If only Togami had said as much earlier, he could have tried it while it was still warm…

He bit into it, the crisp crust of the bread quickly giving way to the fluffy inside, which had soaked up the juices from the nut- infused meat… This was _incredible!_ He’d never had food anywhere _near_ as good as this in his _life!_ Was it even alright for him to be eating it?

...Well… it would go to waste if he _didn’t!_ Although… it still seemed too good just for _him_ to eat… maybe he could take it to Mondo’s party, and share some of it with _him!_ Maybe it would make up for upsetting him so much... this phase of his had turned him into a terrible kyoudai, so it was the least he could do…

In fact, he should probably stop eating anymore of this… Mondo deserved it much more than _he_ did…

“It’s almost too good to actually _eat_ , isn’t it?” A soft voice suddenly came from behind him, "Like you don't deserve it..."

“Ah! Okane-san!” Kiyotaka jumped and turned to face her, “Err… I mean… it was going to go to _waste_ if no one ate it so…”

“Well, that’s what happens with most leftovers… I think it’s called a waiter’s perk…” She smiled.

“Really!? I didn’t realise…” Kiyotaka admitted, “It’s typical of Togami not to mention it though… he’s a nice man, but he doesn’t seem to realise we grew up in different worlds!”

“You… you think he’s _nice?”_ She asked, surprise written all over her face, “The cold, ruthless boy who fought his way to be heir of the Togami family… is _nice?”_

“Well… I admit, he does have a very… _cold_ exterior! But underneath all of that, he’s actually very generous and loyal… to those who’ve _earnt_ it, at least… Err… like _myself,_ I suppose, ahahaha!” He laughed, feeling a bit awkward at complimenting himself like that…

“Huh…” She titled her head sideways as she looked at Kiyotaka in surprise…

“Ah… It’s probably more believable once you’ve know him a bit longer…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Oh… no! I believe you!” She said, moving her hand towards his face, “It’s just you’re actually good looking when you laugh…”

“Err… thank you?” Kiyotaka answered hesitantly, not sure exactly what to make of the odd compliment. “You… appear to be good-looking regardless of your expression!” He added, on the basis that compliments should be matched for politeness sake, even if her make-up was a little over the top...

“Hehehe! Thank you!” She giggled at his ridiculous statement, “But… I came in because I thought you might like some of _my_ portion! Seeing as you said you don’t get to eat much meat, I thought you might like the veal!”

 _That was veal!?_ Wasn’t that expensive? As well as being slightly cruel to make… He wasn’t sure he was worthy of eating it… “Ah… well, I’m going to a party after this… so maybe I’ll just save it for later!”

“A party?”

“Yes! It’s my best friend’s birthday today! So I spent the morning setting up his party and Togami and I will go once your dinner is finished!” Kiyotaka explained.

“So… haven’t _you_ eaten?” She figured out. “Why don’t you at least eat a little of it then?” She suggested, holding the plate out towards him.

“Ah... well, just a small bit for now, maybe…” He conceded, taking a bit of the breaded meat that she’d cut into a slightly-larger than bite-size piece…

His eyes fluttered shut and he couldn’t help but smile at how _good_ it tasted! The soft, juicy meat practically melted between his teeth, but was offset by the delicious crunch of the breadcrumbs and herbs…

He really _didn’t_ deserve food this good, though…

“Th-thank you!” He took the rest of the plate and put it with the leftover starters. “Was there anything else I can help you with?” He asked her, “Are you feeling alright? You’re looking slightly red in the face…” He noticed.

“Well…” She looked up at him, looking slightly redder as she did so… “Oh! H-hold on… You’ve got a little bit of something on your mouth…” She wiped her thumb over the corner of his mouth… and then moved it around to the back of his neck…

“ _Err_...” He froze, because this relative stranger had started touching his _face_. But before he could think of a way to respond, the hand on the back of his next was pulling him downwards and she must have been standing on tip-toes because her face was suddenly level with his and she was pushing their lips together and _oh gods she was kissing him!_

It started with her moving her other hand around the back of his waist and pushing her lips softly up against his several times, making them feel tacky enough from her lipstick that Kiyotaka couldn’t resist the impulse to lick his lips... and hers as well, inadvertently.

He cringed as felt her shocked intake of breath seconds after he did it, and waited for her to pull away from him to complain… but instead just tilted her head at a different angle, forcing their mouths closer together and then _stuck her tongue in his mouth…_

 _What? Why was she?_ Wait… that was something people _did,_ wasn’t it… kissing with tongues… Okay… that made sense now… Except she seemed to be pulling at his neck and waist, while poking at his tongue as well, as if she wanted something…

Oh, right… he should probably be… moving his tongue as well, right? And holding her? Like she was doing to him?

Once he’d got _that_ figured out, his body finally unfroze and he moved his hands to the back of _her_ neck and waist, and began mimicking the movements her tongue was making in his mouth with his own… trying not think about how it would look to anyone who came in the room, or notice the weird taste of the lipstick as his tongue moved over her lips, or pass out from the lack of air…

After _entirely_ too long, she finally pulled back slightly, allowing him to straighten up and gasp for breath.

Well… that was his first kiss, then.

Was that _it?_ Wasn’t he supposed to be feeling something? Getting excited? Being desperate for _more?_ That’s what he’d always expected… what every movie or book with a kissing scene in it had implied… Perhaps he just… hadn’t done it right? Or something?

Ahh… and now she was looking at him, with her head titled in confusion, well, of _course_ she was he was just stood there staring at her!

“Ah… I’m sorry, that was my first time!” He tried to explain, “I don’t think I did that right…”

“Really?” She looked surprised, “You were better than most of the boys I’ve kissed…”

“Ah… really? Err, well… May I try again?” Perhaps it had just been the initial surprise that put him off…

“Alright!” She blushed and looked up at him expectantly…

He swallowed his nerves and leant towards her, holding her chin in his hand to help guide her mouth to his, which felt awkward. Then their lips were together again, hers feeling warm and still slightly sticky from the lipstick, although it was less distasteful this time…

He went through the same motions as she had before, gently pushing at her lower lips with both of his, then cautiously getting his tongue involved as well…

After a short while he pulled back… Even the second time he’d just felt… _nothing_ … this all just felt… _weird!_ Why did people _enjoy_ this? Was _she_ enjoying it? Her face was flushed; she was smiling… either she _was_ enjoying it or she was a good actress…

“You’re _much_ better at this than I was expecting…” She admitted, shyly.

“…Why did you _do_ it then?” And if he was _good_ at it, why didn’t _he_ enjoy it?

“Ah!” She gasped, embarrassed, “Well… Grandpa said he thought we’d get on well…”

“Oh… really?” How would _he_ know? Kiyotaka couldn’t even _remember_ meeting the man, even though he apparently had done, once.

“Well… he said we’re both polite, well behaved, model students…” She listed their similarities.

“Ah… yes, I suppose that does… fit.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“And you’ve got good morals! Standing up to Togami like that! That was so _brave_ of you!” She added, with a smile… “Even if it _is_ a little silly…”

“How is it…?” Kiyotaka scowled.

“Well… It’s not _our_ fault the chef made too much food, is it? And you _did_ just say you can save it for later!” She argued, “So… couldn’t we just have our desserts anyway?” She asked looking up at him with a coy smile… as if she knew he’d do whatever she wanted… Why would she think that?

Ah… they’d _kissed…_ didn’t men usually do whatever women wanted, in exchange for kisses? In media and such, anyway… he’d always thought it slightly ridiculous… and still did.

But he wanted to get this dinner over and done with so he could go say Happy Birthday to Mondo! And he’d probably embarrassed Togami enough over this, without having a personal argument and letting the heir find out that he’d been in here kissing one of his guests when he was supposed to just be waiting on her…

“Err… give me a few minutes and I’ll bring them out…” He conceded.

“Thank you!” She stood up on tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss on the lips, before scurrying out of the room…

He started getting the desserts arranged to take out to Togami, Okane and… his new _girlfriend!_ Presumably? They’d _kissed_ after all… even if he hadn’t enjoyed it that much… and she was respectable and polite and _liked_ him and was everything he’d ever hoped for in a girl! He’d finally met someone… _right_ for him!

So why didn’t he feel any _different?_ Why did he still feel cold, and like he needed to be on guard? Why wasn’t he getting warm and comfortable, like when he was near _Mondo_ …

Would he have enjoyed it if he’d been kissing _Mondo?_ If _Mondo’s_ hands had been behind his neck and _Mondo’s_ lips had been brushing over his and _Mondo’s_ tongue had wormed its way into his mouth and…

And _now_ he felt warm… _hot_ even, at the thought of _Mondo_ doing all those things that had only minutes ago left him feeling cold and… confused.

This _wasn’t_ a phase, was it? There wasn’t a ‘right woman’ who was going to come and magically switch him off of this way of thinking, was there? He was _gay…_ he _had_ to be, otherwise why was he thinking of his best friend moments after kissing the perfect woman for him!

 _UUURRRGGGHHHH! Why!?_ Why _him!?_ Was his life not hard enough, already!? Was the goal he aimed for not improbable enough, without his own _body_ intent on sabotaging him? Didn’t he have enough things to fill his time with, _without_ wasting it with fantasies of a friend who wouldn’t _want_ him in that way… And what was he going to do _now!?_ How was he going to _deal_ with this?

He shook his head… _that_ would have to wait! He’d just… go out there and act like a respectable waiter for now… Then he’d go to Mondo’s party and act like a good _Kyoudai…_ and _then_ he could schedule some time alone in his room to try and figure... _something_ out!

* * *

 

After a period of Okane doing nothing of note aside from mocking Togami’s inability to control his own staff, his granddaughter came back and smugly announced that Ishimaru had caved in to her demands… implying it just needed a ‘woman’s touch’

Hah! As if the world’s loudest proponent of ‘manly bonds’ would back down on something he considered to be a moral issue just because some high-born lady had _pouted_ at him a little bit! He’d probably just come back out with her portion of the food main course again…

Or so he’d thought, until Ishimaru _did_ come out of the room and Togami almost dropped his drink at the sight of him not only apologetically handing out the desserts… but doing so with _lipstick_ smothered around his mouth!

He’d _actually_ kissed her!? And it had _worked!?_

No… it _couldn’t_ be! It must just… be something that _looked_ like lipstick! Or she’d _tried_ to kiss him and then he’d explained about his boyfriend and then felt bad for her and brought out the desserts to try and cheer her up…

Except she’d just given her ‘darling’ a napkin to wipe his mouth with… And he responded by doing so and cautiously thanking his… _‘sweetheart’_ for pointing it out… And then they’d shared a brief smile and he’d gone back to playing the part of waiter and avoiding looking at her…

What was he _doing!?_ Why would he break up with Oowada for _her?_ She was the sort of simpering submissive who’d bore him to death… Was he thinking he could marry into a rich family and solve his family’s financial problems… if Togami had realised he’d be willing to do _that,_ he could have introduced him to Shinobu! They’d have probably made quite the useful pair…

But he’d missed the chance for _that,_ by assuming the Moral Compass would be too naïve, and care too deeply for his current boyfriend, to do something so crass as marry just for money! It would seem Kirigiri was right that reading people was, perhaps, a weakness for him…

It was an annoying, niggling thought he couldn’t get out of his head, confounded by the impossibly perfect, rich taste of the flourless chocolate cake that was starting to make even _him_ feel somewhat… _inadequate!_ Perhaps he should have listened to Kirigiri more, actually asked her advice on some of their classmates, instead of treating their feelings like a puzzle to be solved…

He ended up leaving half of the cake. The girl even ate more than him, this time!

And Okane didn’t even touch it… what had he done, just stared at it the whole time? His only excuse was not being hungry enough to eat it.

His granddaughter suggested that Ishimaru take it to Oowada’s party (so he’d told her about Oowada?), at which point Okane’s eyes lit up and asked what party this was they were talking about…

Ishimaru started to explain, before Togami could remind the senile fool that he’d _told_ him about this less than two weeks ago! He must have spent almost five minutes enthusiastically yammering about his ‘kyoudai’ and how’d they’d not got on well at first, but despite his appearance he was very kind and it was his birthday today…

Only for Okane to interrupt, with a claim that if he’d have known about _that,_ that today wasn’t a good day for _Ishimaru,_ then he would have been more than happy to reschedule the event!

Ishimaru just blinked at the man, shock written all over his face… well of course he’d be shocked… Togami had told him he’d _tried_ to rearrange it, but that it had been _him_ who refused… and that was true! But the hall monitor had no way of knowing that! So who would he believe, Togami, or this old friend of his family… who’d granddaughter he was apparently dating now…

Well, why should Togami be worried? He’d done lots of things for Ishimaru, right? Like… employ him with good pay… because he was a good worker. And _not_ fire him for being so careless with the key to his room… because _Ishimaru_ had proved he was trustworthy…

He’d never actually done anything to prove _his_ trustworthiness to the hall monitor, had he? He’d only ever treated Ishimaru as a worker, a _good_ worker, but still just a worker! After all, he’d _thought_ that would be how he’d _want_ to be treated! Ishimaru wanted to prove himself with hard work and effort, not get boosted through life because he’d happened to meet a rich man in high school who’d handed him opportunities on a plate!

But here he was now, flirting with some dull pretty rich girl, probably for no other reason than to get his hands on some money! And he wasn’t even _questioning_ the lie! At this rate, it might end up that Ishimaru would be easier to convince to become a spy than he’d thought… which meant Togami would no longer be able to trust his best worker here! He really _should_ have listened to Kirigiri…

* * *

 

Well, _that_ was a complete lie, he’d _heard_ the heir tell him that it was his kyoudai’s birthday today! But Togami wasn’t saying anything, so _obviously_ he’d wanted Kiyotaka to play along with it!

“Ah… well… nevermind! I’ll just make up for it tomorrow!” He said, jovially.

“Well, I think I’ll accept your offer…” Togami changed the topic of conversation back to business once Kiyotaka had taken away the uneaten parts of the deserts… “I’ll file all the paperwork as soon as I’ve taken you back to the entrance…”

“Why not do it now and have Kiyotaka take us there?” Okane suggested, which was something _else_ that seemed to irritate Togami, but he agreed to it regardless… Much to Kiyotaka’s disappointment. He could have used the time to tidy up, so now he was likely to be later to Mondo’s party than he’d said he would be.

And to make matter worse, it took an irritatingly long time for the man to limp through the corridors on his cane. But eventually they got to the main doorway and Kiyotaka prepared to say goodbye to the pair… Which now included his girlfriend, didn’t it? He… probably ought to ask for some way to contact her, right? People would think it was odd if he didn’t, wouldn’t it?”

“Err… So, Seikaku…" It would be appropriate to use her first name now, wouldn't it?" do you have a phone number I could use to contact you?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Oh? What’s this? Is there something going on between you two?” Okane asked. Kiyotaka looked at his granddaughter, who’d turned slightly red at the comment, “Hehhehheh… You know, I _thought_ you two would get along with each other!” Okane reached into the file he’d been carrying and brought out a set of papers, handing them out to Kiyotaka… “In fact, I was _so_ certain I organised something that would help the pair of get a good start in life… start dealing with the debts those idiots Toransuke and Takaaki racked up…”

“Errgh…” Kiyotaka had to bite his tongue as he took the papers… How _dare_ he accuse his father of being an idiot when _he’d_ been the one who’d assured him it would be worthwhile to invest that money!?

“I know… it’s a little presumptuous… But I want to make sure Seikaku’s got someone to look after her when I’m gone…” He brushed her hair affectionately, and she smiled… although she _did_ look a little annoyed at the insinuation that she couldn’t look after herself… “And it’ll be a good opportunity for you, Kiyotaka!”

“Err… Well, I’ll consider it?” Kiyotaka told him, as he started to flip through the file… this looked _incredibly_ complicated… he’d probably have to ask Togami for advice…

“Oh… but just a little warning! Make _absolutely sure_ Togami doesn’t see that!” Okane added, “I pre-signed it so you could get it processed quicker… but that means it would be possible for _him_ to steal it from you!”

“Ah… I don’t think Togami would do that…” Kiyotaka told him.

“Tch…” Okane scowled for the briefest of seconds, “You’re a very kind boy, to say that after he's forced you to play waiter for him… but you really shouldn’t trust him! Once you’re in the business world, you’ll realise that no one gets to _his_ position without being willing to stab his friends in the back!” He insisted, “Believe me, it would be a terrible idea for you to show that to Togami!”

“…I understand.” Kiyotaka told him.

“Good!” Okane smiled, “I’ll see you soon!” He added, as the pair of them got into the car and they drove away…

Wait… he’d never got that phone number from her… for all that talk of them getting along together, he hadn’t seemed too concerned with actually letting them talk at all… it just seemed like his main priority was getting Kiyotaka to sign this contract. The contract that _apparently_ would be a _bad idea_ to show to Togami…

Well… he’d lied about everything _else_ this afternoon, hadn’t he!? It would give the heir something to do at Mondo’s party…

* * *

 

Well, _that_ dinner had certainly been a waste of time _and_ money! All the hassle and expense of convincing Ishimaru to attend and all that had occurred was that he’d signed some papers he could have safetly signed a _month_ ago andprobably caused himself to become the target of Oowada’s wrath, once Ishimaru broke things off with him in favour of that woman…

Given this whole farce had been nothing but beneficial to the hall monitor, Ishimaru could have at _least_ had the good grace to look _happy_ as he came back from escorting his new girlfriend and her grandfather to the front door… but instead all he did was shove some papers in Togami’s face with some vague instructions that Togami should read them, and then hurried to pack away everything in the kitchen and insisted on taking the remaining food with them to Oowada’s party…

…Which might be when he decided to break up with his boyfriend…

Tch! Togami would be best off making sure that he gave Oowada his present and excused himself before Ishimaru told his kyoudai what had occurred at dinner…

 _That_ went as planned, although Oowada had gotten so drunk that he barely even noticed Togami as he took the chocolates and placed them in a heap of other presents without opening them. Instead he was just leering at Ishimaru and the envelope in his hands. Probably thinking of what ‘Personal Favour’ he could get his boyfriend to do… And Togami did not need to be there when he asked for _that…_

Togami started to quietly walk out of the room while Oowada attempted to claim whatever favour he’d decided to ask for right there in the middle of the party… but then he was stopped by Naegi, because Oowada had started making a drunken racket, insisting that he needed to tell them all someth…

 _He murdered his own brother!? HIM!?_ The one who _constantly_ went on about how many of his ideals were taken from the man?

_…_

_Tch!_ Honestly! How over-dramatic could he _be!?_ _That_ was just being involved in a traffic accident, not a _murder!_ Still, at least he seemed content being comforted by Ishimaru, it meant Togami could get on with reading this suspicious offer and finding out exactly what the catch _was,_ while still appearing to be ‘socialising’ like Naegi kept insisting he should do all the time.

But whatever this trap was, it was hidden well! Two read-throughs and he still didn’t understand it! On the surface it was the typical 100-yen ‘sale’ of a company in so much debt that it needed a rich benefactor to step in and settle it… Which was reasonable, given that Okane was liable to get sued for patent infringement sometime soon, but if he _knew_ that was going to go badly for him, why was he offering the company to _Togami,_ instead of trying to cut a deal with his brother?

The way he’d done this deal, it seemed as though Okane was just handing him the entire company, which Togami would then be able to use as a bartering chip, to save his brother the trouble of pursuing the court case… And while there was some mention of Okane staying on as an advisor and a betrothal to his granddaughter, it wasn’t an official tie to _him_ , and specifically mentioned that the girl wouldn’t share assets with him if they _split…_ so there was nothing to stop Togami from just gutting the company assets anyway he felt like and divorcing the girl as soon as she’d furnished him with a competitor for his future heir…

So what was the _catch?_ There must be _something_ about this deal that he was missing, otherwise it seemed like Okane had just gone mad in his old age…

Hmm… perhaps there was something he’d mentioned to Ishimaru, that the hall monitor hadn’t passed onto him… Unfortunately, by the time he’d realised he’d need to ask him about it, the pair of Kyoudais had disappeared back to one or other of their rooms. But with Oowada in such a drunken state, he probably wasn’t going to keep Ishimaru very busy this evening…

* * *

 

“Umm… can I spend the night in your room, again?” Mondo asked, as Kiyotaka helped him get back to the dorms. “I… kinda got nervous ‘bout telling you all that and trashed mine yesterday….”

“Ah! Of course!” Kiyotaka agreed… there was no chance of him saying no to requests from Mondo right now… “And I’ll help you tidy it up tomorrow!” He added, as he awkwardly opened the door one handed and guided his slightly swaying kyoudai through it and towards the bed so he could sit down... “Give me a minute and I’ll get your pajamas and toiletries from your room!”

“’Kay... uhh, but can we hug again, first?” Mondo sniffed.

“Of… of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, sitting on the bed next to Mondo and leaning over to allow him to wrap his arms around him… Although Mondo started fiddling with the pieces of paper in his hands instead… “What are you…?”

“Tryin’ ta give ya the voucher…” Mondo muttered.

“Kyoudai, I don’t need a voucher in order to give you a hug.” Kiyotaka told him, taking the initiative and wrapping his arms around Mondo’s torso.

“You… you sure?” Mondo asked, hesitantly moving his arms around Kiyotaka’s back…

“Yes!” Kiyotaka repeated, rubbing his friends back comfortingly…

As if he’d consider _this_ doing Mondo a favour! The chances were Kiyotaka was enjoying it more than _he_ was!

“Th-thanks…” Mondo sniffed, “You… you’re amazin’… don’t deserve you…”

“Yes you _do_ …” Kiyotaka told him, as gently as he could, “It was an _accident…”_ He added, assuming Mondo felt he didn’t deserve to be cared for after what happened to his brother...

“I know… _but_ …” Mondo sobbed _…_ “Didn’t think you’d still wanna be _friends_ … ”

“Of _course_ I do! I… I just wish you’d told me earlier… I’ve said things that must have hurt you, haven’t I?” Kiyotaka realised… like when he’d said Mondo would never hurt a brother… or _gods,_ what about that time he’d said he’d have liked to _meet Daiya!?_ He’d have _never_ have said that if he’d realised it would mean _Mondo_ would be dead instead!

“Yeah… guess I shoulda just told ya all… like… back when Toko did…” Mondo murmured, “Then the circle thing woulda been working right…”

“The… circle… thing?” What circle thing? Was something of Mondo’s broken, like his bike wheels?

“Yeah… sorry… dunno the real name… only just figured it out…” Mondo mumbled drowsily, “You know the thing… _You’ve_ known for _ages_ …”

It was something _he_ knew about!? That was circular and not working…

…He didn’t mean the _dreamcatcher_ did he…? No… that would be ridiculous! That nonsensical thing wouldn’t have worked _regardless_ of whether he knew Mondo’s secret or not…

“Err… I don’t quite follow you Mondo…” Kiyotaka admitted, to silence. “Mondo…?” He turned to face his friend…

Mondo’s eyes were shut gently and his breathing was gradually becoming steadier as more of his weight sank down onto Kiyotaka’s shoulder… Mondo really _must_ have had too much to drink if he was inebriated enough to fall asleep while holding Kiyotaka in his arms…

To think Mondo had needed a six-pack of ‘liquid courage’ to tell them all about his poor brother… and, even worse, he’d felt he needed to try to use his voucher to stop Kiyotaka from _hating_ him for having been involved in such a tragic accident! How long had he been dealing with this? How long had Mondo been living in fear that he’d find out and hate him for it? All that time Mondo must have been worrying, and Kiyotaka hadn’t even noticed, because he’d been more concerned with his own lust than his friend’s _feelings!_

If either of them didn’t deserve the other, it was _him…_ But Mondo was so distraught right now… he needed support, someone to care for him and remind him that he was still a good, kind person, and one accident and a desperate attempt to keep his gang together didn’t change that! So if Mondo wanted hugs, Kiyotaka would give him hugs… and try to keep his mind from focusing on how _good_ it felt to be wrapped in Mondo’s arms… how tempting it was to wipe his friend’s tears away and feel Mondo’s skin under his thumb… whether he could make _Mondo_ happy by kissing _him_ …

… _No._ Probably not. And he was assuming Seikaku had even been telling the truth about that anyway…

* _Bing bong.*_ Kiyotaka flinched slightly as his doorbell rang. Who would have followed them after Mondo’s confession? They’d all seen how upset he saw about it, hadn’t they? He carefully laid Mondo down on the bed and got up to answer the door…

No one was in front of the door… but Togami was stood to the side, pressing the doorbell on Mondo’s room. “Ah. I assumed you’d be in _one_ of these two.” He stated, coming back to Kiyotaka’s doorway. “About this offer. Did Okane mention any pertinent details to you?”

…Why was he not surprised? The heir was as bad at reading the atmosphere as _he_ was at times… And he was unlikely to leave him and Mondo in peace until he got his answer. “No… All he said was that it was a great opportunity for me and…”

“For _you!?”_ Togami scowled, and blinked for a moment. “Well… that makes _much_ more sense! _You_ wouldn’t have just stripped the company away from him…”

“Err, If you don’t mind me asking… what exactly _is_ going on with that offer?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Hmm… well. I can _try_ to explain it to you.” Togami shrugged, “The offer is effectively giving you a free company, on the conditions that you marry Okane’s granddaughter and keep _him_ on the staff as an advisor.”

“I see... He didn't himself being kept on staff, but that doesn't seem like a bad deal for me?” Kiyotaka admitted.

“I assume he didn’t mention anything about the intellectual property dispute, though...” Togami smirked.

“No… What… _is_ that?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Well… not to go into details, but this company is producing goods that probably make use of technology patented by one of my half-brothers. _He’s_ gearing up to launch a big court case against the company over it…”

 _“Probably?”_ Kiyotaka asked.

“Patents are a complicated business. There’d probably be a long drawn out court case over it, which would likely drain _this_ company of what little free cash it has. Which would only be a slight nuisance if the court case went _your_ way, as my brother would be forced to repay your legal fees and the company could continue to grow, probably successfully…” Togami explained, “ _But_ there’s the possibility that it _wouldn’t,_ and _then_ you’d owe my _brother_ for both _his_ legal fees, and an amount based on how much profit _he’d_ lost from the patent infringement…”

“How do you _know_ all this?” Kiyotaka asked.

“I heard about it at my birthday gala. My brother was trying to convince him to settle the matter out of court, If it had been me I’d have offered a deal where I got a percentage of money earnt from the sales of the offending technology.”

“But… that seems like a perfectly reasonable solution!” Kiyotaka cried, “Is he really that greedy that he couldn’t have settled for that?”

“Well… I don’t know exactly how much it would have been, said brother has a bad habit of trying to get the most out of everything, even if it’s not sustainable in the long run.” Togami admitted, “But either way, it seems Okane decided he’d rather keep the company close… but not so close that _he’d_ be the one liable to pay compensation!”

“So… you mean he was trying to trick me into taking the fall for him, if this court case didn’t go in his favour? While also trying to marry me to his granddaughter to ensure she would still benefit from it, in case it _did…_ ” Kiyotaka summarised, “Even though he could have just settled the matter with your brother…”

“Yes.” Togami nodded.

Well…. At least that gave him a reason not to keep up his pretence of liking her! But why on _Earth_ did Kiyotaka's grandfather ever trust that man for advice? Had he really been so used to the idea that everything would go his way, that he just trusted everyone he met, and never assumed that they might just think of him as a way to get what _they_ wanted, and offer no help once everything went south?

No wonder Okane had even had the nerve to take advantage of his father’s desperation, and tried to make _him_ take the fall for his own company’s mistake! He probably thought that foolishness ran in the family!

Lucky for him, he _wasn’t_ a fool… and he’d had Togami here to explain this to him!

“But _you_ knew about all that, which is why he told me not to tell you about it…”

“ _What!?_ ” Togami looked shocked, “He specifically told you _not_ to tell me about this?”

“Well, yes!” Wasn’t that obvious? “Presumably he was worried about you doing what you said about stripping the company away from him and…”

“So why _did_ you?” Togami asked, “Didn’t you trust him?”

“No, of course not!” Kiyotaka almost laughed, “We spent the entire two hours _lying_ to each other!”

“What do you mean?” Togami scowled.

“Well… when he acted surprised that I was _waiting_ on you, not eating with you, it was obvious you disagreed…” Kiyotaka started.

“You… you _knew_ that was a lie?” Togami scowled, “ _How?_ Don’t tell me you just _trusted_ me enough to have…”

“Well… Obviously I couldn’t know for _certain_ at _that_ point… but I have more reason to trust _you_ than _him…”_

“…You _do?”_ Togami looked almost shocked, “Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kiyotaka asked, “I mean, you’ve stopped inspecting my work and just assume I’ve done it right every week, you let me in your room unsupervised, despite all the valuable items in it, and you even gave me your room key _back_ , after I handed it off without thinking to Kyoko, instead of just _firing_ me…”

“All of _that_ is just evidence that _I_ trust _you!_ I’ve not done anything to earn _your_ trust in _me.”_ Togami glowered, “Besides just paying you on time, but that’s basic business sense…”

“But… you trusting me _is_ a reason for me to trust you! It shows you have a good nature and…”

“Tch! That’s the naivest thing I’ve ever heard…” Togami smirked, “I _might_ just trust that you’re a gullible idiot who wouldn’t have the imagination to do anything wrong!”

“…I suppose that’s always a possibility, with my… personality and attitude.” Kiyotaka hesitated as he tried to find the right way to describe himself, “But… I’ve known you a while now, and… well…”

“What!?” Togami glowered as Kiyotaka tried to think of how to say what he meant…

“Well, you represent your family, as I’m trying to do for mine, and that means you have to show a certain… _attitude_ yourself! But whereas _I_ have to give the impression that I’m reputable, selfless and have high moral standards _, you_ need to be seen as professional, determined, cutthtroat… the sort of cold businessman who always come out on top, no matter the consequences!”

“I _am_ the sort of cold businessman who always comes out on top, no matter the consequences!” Togami insisted.

“Yes! You _are!”_ Kiyotaka agreed, “And I hope you think _I’m_ reputable! But… well… there are times that I’m _not_ perfectly selfless, and I’ll lie for the sake of convenience… and _you’re_ not, when push comes to shove, a heartless cutthroat, and _will_ do the right thing.”

“So what you think, is that we both play caricatures of ourselves, and that’s why _you_ can understand that I’m not really _that_ bad, deep down, despite how I act?” Togami scowled.

“Yes.” Kiyotaka nodded.

Togami just stared at him for a while, with the same scowl on his face. He probably thought that was a ridiculous and naïve summary of himself…

“…I’d like you to keep that in mind, in the future.” Togami surprised him by asking, as he reached into his breast pocket for something. “It can be your ‘personal favour’.” He added, holding out a piece of paper with a smirk on his face…

 _The voucher!?_ Why did he still have _that?_ Hadn’t he given it back when Kiyotaka had agreed to work today? He’d definitely offered it… and then he’d put the money _on top_ of it… and Kiyotaka had been so excited about _that,_ that he hadn’t remembered to pick up the voucher before rushing off to pay it into the bank so he’d be able to send it to his overjoyed father…

So much for all that bluster he’d given about money not mattering more than his morals…

“Even _you_ aren’t selfless _all_ the time…” Togami assured him, as Kiyotaka sheepishly took the voucher from him with an embarrassed look. “But really, you shouldn’t have started doubting him just because of _that.”_ He added.

“Well, it wasn’t _just_ that! He also claimed he’d tried to speak to my father, but my father had said two weeks ago that he wished he _would_ talk to him again!”

“Did you consider the possibility your _father_ might have been lying there?” Togami asked, looking like he’d spotted the obvious flaw in Kiyotaka’s thinking.

“Well… I _didn’t_ …” Kiyotaka admitted, although why would his father want to lie to him? “But even if I _had,_ I would have known he was lying for certain when he said you didn’t tell him about Mondo’s birthday!”

“ _How?”_ Togami cried.

“Because… I _heard_ you say it to him, when you tried to rearrange the meeting…” Togami looked confused, “I was still cleaning your room.”

“You were…?” Togami looked surprised.

“Yes… I don’t clean _that_ quickly!” Kiyotaka laughed, “But, seeing as you didn’t defend yourself, I assumed you wanted me to play along with whatever he was up to, and spent the whole afternoon lying to him!”

“I see…” Togami nodded, “Wait… the _whole_ afternoon?” He asked, looking as if he intended to analyse Kiyotaka’s reactions…

“Well… yes?” Kiyotaka agreed, wondering where this was going.

“Including the part where you called his granddaughter _sweetheart?_ ” Togami smirked.

“Err…!” _Ahh!_ When he put it like that, it probably made his homosexuality obvious! How could he have been so careless! Togami was probably going to figure him _out,_ if he hadn’t already!

“Hah!” Togami suddenly shot out a loud, relieved laugh… “I should have known there’s be no chance you’d break up with Oowada as easily as _that!”_

“I beg your pardon?” The way Togami said it, it was as if he thought he and Mondo were…

“Well, you’ve been dating for three and a half months…”

“ _No we haven’t!”_ Kiyotaka hissed, glancing backwards to check that Mondo was still asleep… “We’re _friends! Just_ friends!” He emphasised to Togami…

“Ishimaru, you’re _constantly_ in each other’s arms…”

“Friends can hug each other! It doesn’t mean we’re _dating!_ ”

“That’s the worst attempt at staying closeted I’ve ever _seen!”_ Togami smirked.

“Togami, _really,_ we are _not_ a closeted couple! Mondo isn’t _gay!”_ Kiyotaka told him, still in a hushed voice. “J-just because we have a close bond, it doesn’t mean there’s anything sexual going on!”

“Do you _really_ expect me to believe there’s _nothing_ between the two of you, after you were willing to give up two hundred thousand yen to spend his birthday with him?” Togami asked, “Even _you’re_ not _that_ naïve!”

“I… I _told_ you, that was the principal of the matter…” Kiyotaka started.

“Wait… that’s _it!_ You’re _not_ naïve!” Togami snapped his fingers with a triumphant look, “And you said _Oowada’s_ not gay, you didn’t include _yourself!”_

“That… was just an oversight…” Kiyotaka lied desperately, although Togami wasn’t even listening…

 _"That_ was why you avoided Oowada for those few weeks! You realised you were _attracted_ to him and _panicked,_ because of the effect it would have on your political chances if anyone _else_ found out!” Togami continued seeing right through him… “I’m _right,_ aren’t I!?”

“…Yes.” Kiyotaka admitted, causing Togami’s grin to widen and a manic glint to form behind his glasses… but he didn’t actually _say_ anything… What was he thinking? “W-well…?”

“What? Were you expecting _advice?_ ” Togami smirked, “I know you’re not stupid… You already know the chances of a gay man being elected as _Prime Minister_ is nigh-on insurmountable. You’ll just have to compromise.”

“Ah… thank you.” Kiyotaka nodded. It seemed Togami just… wasn’t bothered by the news. In his eyes it was just Kiyotaka’s problem, and nothing to do with _him…_ “You’re not intending to tell anyone about this, are you?”

“I have better things to do than gossip about your relationship status, Ishimaru.” Togami rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

“Thank you. And good night… Byakuya!”

* * *

 

 _“What_ did you just call me!? _”_ Togami wheeled around on his heels to glare at the hall monitor.

He started yammering something about how he’d ended up being on first name basis with most people who’d used one of his vouchers… apparently he’d _stupidly_ assumed that would be the case with _Togami_ as well!

“I’d have thought _you,_ of all people, would understand…” Togami complained, causing Ishimaru to request an explanation. “When people say ‘Togami’ what do you think of?”

Ishimaru, of course, admitted that _he_ was what he thought of.

“Exactly. As far as everyone _else_ is concerned, _I_ am my family. _I_ am the face they think of when they hear the name. _I_ am Togami. ‘Byakuya’ was just a placeholder they used before they realised that.”

Ishimaru said that he understood, was apologetic for the misunderstanding… and offered to let Togami use _his_ first name instead…

 _“Hah!_ I appreciate the _sentimentality_ , but it would be irritating to have to get used to it, only to have to switch _back_ in a few years…” Togami told him, before leaving.

He was halfway to the dining room before Ishimaru understood his meaning and shouted thanks to him, before closing the door to attend to his...

Well… _not_ his boyfriend! Really, it was difficult to believe, given how stupidly close to each other they always were. Not to mention the way the biker acted so over-protective of him. _He’d_ probably be the first to ask Ishimaru out, the very second he admitted he was homosexual…

 _But,_ now he could go tell Kirigiri he’d figured out the answer! He headed back to the dining room, where his classmates were quietly packing up everything with a sullen air… including putting the spare food into little plastic boxes.

Several of them accosted him as he entered the room, asking how Oowada was.

“He was asleep.” Togami told them. That seemed to cheer them up, slightly, and the discussion amongst them turned to talk of how they’d been surprised he’d had such a dark secret. Enoshima in particular seemed stunned by the news.

But Togami ignored it and headed over to Kirigiri, who was sorting out a pile of presents the biker had left on the floor… “I know why Ishimaru avoided Oowada now.” He smirked, quietly. He didn’t want to give away the answer to _everyone_ after all…

Kirigiri was of a similar frame of mind, quietly asking what _he_ thought was the reason…

“He realised he was attracted to Mondo, and got in a panic at the thought that it might ruin his political career…” Togami answered…

Kirigiri had the _gall_ to announce that he was _incorrect!_

“Don’t try to lie to me! He _told_ me _himself!”_ Togami hissed, at which point Kirigiri smirked at him, and he realised he’d just admitted he’d needed to _talk_ tothe hall monitor to get the answer, whereas _she_ had figured it out herself. “Alright, I admit you’re better at reading people than me.”

She shrugged, as if she didn’t really care whether he admitted it or not, and asked they'd happened to talk about Ishimaru’s sexuality in regards to his life goals.

“Not much. I probably just confirmed his suspicions that he’ll likely need to make a compromise.” Togami answered.

She turned quietly angry, demanding to know why he’d say something like that…

“Because it’s _true!_ There’s too may homophobic people in the electorate for him to become Prime Minister! He’ll be better off taking a _different_ high-profile position…” Togami considered the choices for a moment, before the obvious answer hit him. “The Commissioner General of the NPA would suit him… policing will feel natural after all his work with disciplinary committees and the choice of leader is decided by a group of five men! Far less trouble to convince _them_ of his suitability, regardless of his sexuality, for the role than an _entire_ country _!”_

Kirigiri just slapped her forehead and muttered that Ishimaru wouldn’t have thought that was what Togami meant.

“Well, what _else_ would I mean? There’s nothing else he _could_ compromise on!”

“He’s goal is to _surpass_ his grandfather, he’s not going to settle for anything _less_ than Prime Minister!” Kirigiri explained, in the tone of voice of _Aloysius_ used to explain obvious facts he’d failed to pick up on as a child, “He’ll just compromise on his _feelings…”_

By _closeting_ himself? Was _that_ what she was saying? That he’d find the first woman who’d take him and pretend he was attracted to her? Awkwardly calling her 'sweetheart' but using his upstanding nature to avoid as much romance with her as possible? It was true, that’s what he’d done at dinner… but when given the chance to take it one step further, he’d had second thoughts and checked with _Togami_ before agreeing…

“I think you’re wrong.” Togami disagreed with her.

“It would be nice if you could _prove_ it.”Kirigiri huffed at him.

“Alright then, I will.” Togami assured her.

Now… what would be the fastest way to do that? It would be most likely to happen if Oowada confessed to _him…_ Ishimaru might compromise his _own_ feelings, but he’d _hate_ himself if he tried to deny _Oowada’s!_ But how to get the biker to confess first? Perhaps if he was under the impression that somebody _else_ might be intending to confess?

 _Togami,_ perhaps?

Of course, he wouldn’t actually want to have to _act_ like he was attracted to Ishimaru… but perhaps he could make some big show of organising an event for him…

 _His birthday!_ His _actual_ birthday, they’d been talking about it being over the summer holidays, hadn’t they? But if Togami went to the trouble and expense of transporting the entire class over to wherever it was Ishimaru lived for a day, Oowada was _sure_ to get jealous enough to try and divert attention away from Togami by confessing…

Assuming Oowada didn’t just confess anyway, or Ishimaru decided to be reasonable and lower his sights slightly. Or perhaps even if they _did_ … Togami did still owe the Ishimaru for an enjoyable birthday party…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka shut the door and looked back at Mondo, sleeping on the bed. Thank goodness he’d stayed asleep through _that_ conversation! At least, he still _looked_ asleep…

_What if he was faking it?_

With a surge of panic, Kiyotaka rushed forwards to take a closer look at him… His eyes were shut gently, with his mouths parted just enough to let a small trickle of saliva drop out… Yes, he was definitely asleep, if he was faking it he wouldn’t have put on _that_ goofy expression! Even though it actually was quite charming, the way his mouth looked parted, ready for a _kiss_ …

But, Kiyotaka knew he shouldn’t be having thoughts like _that…_ not while he wasn’t alone at least. Togami had been right, he needed to make a compromise. The idyllic romance his parents shared was _not_ something he was going to attain himself, he needed to come to terms with that. Nor could he entertain thoughts of being anything other than Kyoudais with Mondo, not when he needed to become Prime Minister.

But it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to sacrificing things _now_ in the hope of attaining better versions _later!_ He’d spent his childhood unconcerned with attaining the petty views of his peers, in order to work towards better himself so he could earn _real_ validation when he grew older and surpassed his grandfather! So Kiyotaka could put in a bit of effort _now,_ to supress his _lust_ for Mondo until he was older and had led a successful term as Prime Minister…

Then perhaps the new  _Ishimaru_ would meet a wonderful man, fall in _love,_ adopt children… and then possibly even joke with Mondo and _his_ _wife_ about how the biker had been his very first crush, back when they’d been friends in high school! Because that’s all this was, wasn’t it? Just his first crush? Even if, right _now,_ it felt that there couldn’t possibly be anyone better in the world for him then his kyoudai, and that he was having to give up something precious for his goal, and that this might be too big a compromise to make… it _would_ be worth it, in the end!

That didn’t stop the tears from running down Kiyotaka’s cheeks right _now,_ though, as he thought about how his imaginations of a warm, caring, gentle Mondo touching and kissing him would likely be the closest thing he had to a loving relationship for a several years… or _decades,_ possibly…

“… _Taka?”_

“ _Ah!_ Mondo!” Kiyotaka quickly wiped the tears away at the sound of his nickname. “Did I disturb you?”

“…Why’re you on the floor?” Mondo muttered, confused. “Thought we were hugging…”

“You fell asleep and Togami needed to talk with me…” Kiyotaka explained.

“Oh… can I havva 'nother hug?” Mondo pleaded, quietly.

“Ah… of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, and sat on the edge of the bed. Mondo needed his support, for now…

“Thanks…” Mondo put his arms around him and Kiyotaka let himself sink close to his friend’s chest, where he could feel his heart beating through his chest… “…Can we be friends forever…?” Mondo suddenly asked.

“Yes… If that’s what you want!” Kiyotaka assured him.

“Thansagin…” Mondo murmured and drifted off to sleep again.

 _Friends_ forever… It wasn’t much of a compromise after all, if that’s all _Mondo_ wanted…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you like it! And don't worry, Mondo's birthday party will be covered in more detail in Mondo's chapter!  
> Which isn't next. Next up will be Sayaka!  
> I don't know if it was obvious, but I was going for the idea that as a despair, Teruteru can make food that's so good you feel too unworthy/guilty to eat it and kinda starve yourself, with the effects being more prominent the more worthless/guilty you feel in general.  
> Also sorry for the downer ending? If it makes you feel better, my intention is that Togami signs the contract and uses the stuff from it to convince his brother's company to lower the interest rates on those credit cards (But I couldn't fit that into the chapter)


	13. Making Amends (Sayaka Maizono)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm... I recommend you don't start reading this one unless you've got a lot of free time... it's 59000 words.  
> Don't ask me how, I don't know.  
> Other notes:  
> I wasn't sure exactly how to characterise Ayaka, as she'd described as 'luring men in' in her 'demon report' in DR:AE, but I'm guessing the Warriors of Hope aren't the most reliable of narrators...  
> Also, apologies for pretty much ignoring the existence of the two unnamed members of Sayaka's band (which I also don't know the name of) but them having no characterisation in canon makes it really hard to write them.  
> Also just a warning for some (very lightly) implied past sexual coercion from Sayaka's past.  
> Also reminded that Class 77 have been slowly slipping into despair and are therefore way worse than the in-game versions.  
> I've also made reference to the fact that a lot of official art shows Mondo looking at Ishimaru, as seen here: www.drpepperpepsi.tumblr.com/post/48459282914/mondo-staring-at-ishimaru-the-photoset Thanks to Cheerrier for the link!  
> I also have a reference to Sayaka's photobook from DR3, information here: http://danganronpa.wikia.com/wiki/Sayaka_Maizono  
> Also, remember waaaaay back in chapter one when Ishimaru was having flashbacks? That's going to be relevant here.  
> Also thanks to Wimallidge for pointing out a dumb mistake I made.

(Wednesday July 4th 2012)

Kiyotaka and Mondo were hugging again…

They’d been doing a lot of it recently, and that really was saying something, given their usual penchant for it! But it seemed that ever since Mondo had confessed about the circumstances of his brother’s death, the biker had wanted to be holding him almost _constantly,_ and usually more closely than he would have _before_ his birthday.

It was just because Mondo needed the moral support, though! Just little reminders that they were still friends, that Kiyotaka wasn’t going anywhere, didn’t inexplicably hate Mondo for what he’d done, etcetera, etcetera…

Or, that’s what Kiyotaka had _thought_ it was about… but as Mondo’s hand idly traced its way over his chest, hesitantly twitching at the buttons, Kiyotaka was starting to wonder if his friend perhaps wanted something _mo…_

_Wait… was there someone in the room!? He needed to turn to check, but he couldn’t move! But he could feel them coming closer and they were about to grab him…_

“AAHHH!” Kiyotaka awoke with a start… only to see in the dim light coming from the doorway that there really _was_ someone standing _right next_ to his bed… _“AH! Who…!?”_

“Sh…shit! Taka, it’s just me! I used your spare key! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean ta wake ya!”

“ _Mondo!?_ ” Ah… Mondo hadn’t been with him, he’d just been _dreaming…_ and then the _real_ Mondo had come in and woken him up… “What are you…?”

“S-sorry… Uhh… It’s kinda stupid…” Mondo mumbled, but then he always said that before admitting something that was bothering him. “I’mma just go back to my room and…”

“Now, now... You _know_ I’ve here to talk to about _anything!”_ Kiyotaka assured him, “You just startled me, that’s all…”

“Al-alright… I’m sorry, it’s just… I had a dream that ya didn’t come ta class, so I came in ta check on ya. But… when I opened up your door it… it just opened up into the street where Daiya died… but instead of him it was… _you_ were there… you were just… lying there in a… a hospital bed, but ya weren’t moving and you were dressed like Daiya when we buried him… and then they put a sheet over ya…”

“Ah… Mondo…” He’d dreamt Kiyotaka had _died?_

“And I _know_ it was just a stupid dream but it… it felt so _real…_ just like when _Daiya_ … and… and I just wanted ta make sure you were alright!” Mondo chocked out, “But then you were asleep in the exact same position as in the dream and for a moment I thought that, y’know, maybe… y-you might actually be…”

“But I’m _not!”_ Kiyotaka reached out to grab his arm, “I’m _fine!”_

“Hah… y-yeah… course ya are…” Mondo laughed weakly… _Kiyotaka_ might be fine, but _he_ obviously wasn’t!

“Do you… do you want a hug?” Kiyotaka offered, trying to ignore his embarrassment at making the offer.

Mondo didn’t even bother with a reply, instead Kiyotaka just barely noticed him nodding in the low light, before he sat on the edge of the bed and enclosed Kiyotaka in a vice-tight grip around his arms and back.

Kiyotaka flinched slightly at the pressure, which caused Mondo to apologetically loosen his grip, enough for Kiyotaka to wiggle an arm free and use it to try and pat Mondo’s back comfortingly. They stayed like that for a while, with Mondo nervously drawing circles into the back of Kiyotaka’s arms with his thumbs…

Giving Kiyotaka ample time to feel guilty for suggesting this.

 _Yes,_ the hug _would_ help Mondo, he’d learnt over the last few weeks that this was the quickest way to calm Mondo down when he was upset about something, which he’d been admitting far more readily since Kiyotaka had started telling him he didn’t need to feel guilty about Daiya’s death, and had encouraged him to go and actually _talk_ to Gekkogahara in person, instead of just secretly leaving her notes so she didn’t find out who he was…

But the truth of the matter was that all this extra time being close to Mondo was… it was _nice._ Nice enough that it was starting weaken his resolve to keep his crush hidden… and with how _frequently_ Mondo kept wanting to hug him, he’d occasionally caught himself wondering if there was so much as a _chance_ that Mondo might feel the same way as him?

Obviously, there _wasn’t_. (And that was a _good_ thing, because he was aiming to be Prime Minister and wouldn’t be able to return Mondo’s affections.) As he kept having to remind himself, Mondo just needed _moral support_ right now! But that hadn’t stopped his subconscious from rebelling again. While he was still managing to stop the more… explicit imagery, the past two weeks his dreams had been full of various scenarios that all resulted in Mondo confessing an attraction for him, or kissing him…

And he hated to admit it to himself, but… he’d _liked_ these last few weeks. He’d _liked_ the fact that Mondo kept coming to him whenever something reminded him of the accident, or made him feel guilty about the lack of his brother in the world, or just upset him at all! He’d _liked_ the fact that Mondo had needed comforting so often, and that it usually resulted in the pair of them hugging yet again. And he’d even liked the dreams, minus the part where he woke up and realised they weren’t _real_ and felt guilty about enjoying his time with the fake Mondo in his head more than the real one _…_

But, _of course_ , he hadn’t like the fact that Daiya was dead and Mondo had spent years supressing his feelings about it! He’d _much_ rather see Daiya alive and Mondo happy, or at least to have known about this sooner, so Mondo could have started sharing his feelings _months_ ago, and likely wouldn’t have needed _quite_ so many hugs all at once! Hugs that he would, of course, have been offering these hugs even if he _wasn’t_ attracted to his best friend!

Or, at least, he liked to think so… But when it came down to it... He’d _liked_ the fact that Mondo’s tragic past had given him the perfect opportunity to indulge in his desires a little, while still being to hide behind the guise of friendship. He’d even let himself procrastinate on his _schoolwork_ in favour of appeasing Mondo’s every request for comfort! Of course, he’d _told_ himself it was just because he was being a good, supportive friend, and that it was perfectly reasonable to have a slightly more relaxed schedule after all his hard work throughout the rest of the year. But as it got closer to the end of the year, and the final deadline for his last few unfinished assignments, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he’d just been wanting to take as much advantage of Mondo’s current vulnerable state as possible, before it inevitably ended…

But, as Hina kept telling him when he confided in her about how guilty he was feeling about all of this, Mondo _did_ need his help right _now…_ So did it really matter if he took a little bit of secret joy at being held in the arms of his crush while he was at it? After all, what was the harm in suggesting they hug, when hugging always helped him?

…Or at least… it _usually_ helped…

“…You still seem scared.” He muttered, without really stopping to think that Mondo might take offence at the implication that there was _anything_ he was afraid of.

“’M sorry… it’s just… that dreams got me thinking… what if ya _did_ die and… and it was just me by myself again…” Mondo admitted, tightening his hold over him.

“Mondo, it… it’s _highly_ improbably that I’m going to die anytime soon!” Kiyotaka assured him, “After all, I’m always careful about where I’m going, I live a healthy lifestyle, I have a clean bill of health…”

 _“Do_ ya though?” Mondo interrupted him.

“… _Yes._ I had a medical two weeks ago.” Kiyotaka told him, _“Everyone_ is supposed to have had one, or have booked one by now, at least...”

“Yeah, but… You still ain’t talking to Nurse Tsumiki…”

“Well… that’s _true…”_ Much to his shame, he’d long since accustomed himself to the idea that Tsumiki probably wouldn’t be willing to talk to him for a long time, and given up on attempting to contact her about it. “But there _is_ another nurse at the school! _She_ did my assessment and…”

“I know but… Tsumiki did some tests the other woman _didn’t…”_

Kiyotaka had heard about that… Kuwata and Togami had been _particularly_ annoyed at being forced to submit to an unusual stress test that, from the sound of it, had been both painful _and_ physically exhausting, especially as neither of them had ever had any such test in their own, private health exams. “Ah… I know, but… The nurse I spoke to thinks those tests weren’t really all that necessary!”

“But… Tsumiki’s an _Ultimate…_ she _ain’t!”_ Mondo grumbled.

“That doesn’t mean she’s always perfect!” Kiyotaka insisted, “And it wasn’t just the school nurse! Both Togami and Kuwata say they’ve never had that test…”

“Well, what if it’s some brand new thing that might’ve picked up a problem ya didn’t know ya had!?” Mondo snapped, “And ‘cause ya ain’t had it ya don’t know about it and it didn’t get treated and… and…”

Mondo was worried that there was a remote possibility that he had some rare, potentially fatal problem that only the Ultimate Nurse could detect? That was why he’d had this dream, that had frightened him into coming into Kiyotaka’s room in the early hours of the morning? So Mondo would probably feel happier if Kiyotaka had an examination from Nurse Tsumiki? He’d have gladly done that! Except…

“But… I can’t force Tsumiki to examine me… not after I upset her so badly on Valentine’s…” Kiyotaka sighed, “Her highness says she still gets worked up about it…”

“Really? I mean… can it really be that bad?” Mondo asked. “Have ya _tried_ talking to her? In person I mean, not just notes?”

“No! I mean… what if I scare her again?”

 _“Would_ ya though? She seemed pretty confident ta me…” Mondo argued, “I didn’t scare her at all!”

“Were you trying to?” Kiyotaka asked.

“No… but… I mean, I _usually_ freak out cute nurses…”

“That might just be because you’ve got better at interacting with women!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“Uhh… maybe? But… I still feel like maybe you should actually try and _talk_ ta her!” Mondo insisted, “If only so you’re getting _proper_ medical treatment!”

“Ngghh…” Mondo was right… but what was he supposed to do, just walk right up to her with no warning whatsoever? What if she _was_ as frightened of him as the princess said she was?

“…What if I helped break the ice?” Mondo suddenly offered, “Ya know… like if I book an appointment with her, but then when I get in there, I ask her if she’d mind talking to ya and maybe even having a look over ya instead?”

“Well… I suppose it _could_ work…” Kiyotaka conceded, “But it still feels as if we’d be bullying her into it!”

“Well… would ya do it as my _favour?”_ Mondo asked.

“What!?”

“Ya know… the favour ya gave me for my birthday! Just… at least _try_ my plan… please?”

The voucher? The one he’d tried to use to make Kiyotaka keep being friends with him? Was he really so desperate to have Kiyotaka have this extra health test that he’d use it for that?

“Ah… well, if you’re _that_ concerned about it… I accept!” Kiyotaka agreed, after all, at least that way he could honestly say he’d _tried_ to apologise for his behaviour! “…I should be able to get my school work finished by the weekend, even with Sayaka’s early birthday party, so you could book a slot over the weekend…”

“You’ve still got work ta do?” Mondo sounded surprised, “I got all mine done already!”

Oh no… was Mondo going to figure out that _he_ was the reason Kiyotaka had let himself slip and fall… well, not _behind_ in his schoolwork, (he’d still get it done by the final deadline on Monday) but certainly not as _ahead_ as he could easily have been, otherwise…?

“Seriously, Kyoudai, I dunno how you cope with all that extra shit ya do!” Mondo carried on with a laugh, “Just make sure ya relax sometimes, alright? I don’t want ya to work yourself to… to…” Mondo trailed off, as his joking tone cracked and revealed his worries once again…

“I won’t!” Kiyotaka rushed to assure him, “I’ve… learnt to take the time to… appreciate little things, here and there!”

“…Thanks…” Mondo muttered, finally relaxing a little, as his breathing steadied and his heartrate slowed and his head drooped enough for the ends of his undone hair to brush against Kiyotaka shoulders…

…Now, if only these ‘little things’ he was ‘taking the time to appreciate’ weren’t all to do with his crush on _Mondo!_

* * *

 

Sayaka smiled as she finished the penultimate piece of school work she had to do! One more piece of work and she’d be done with school work for the entire year, and if she could get it done in the next two days (which she would be able to, easily), she’d even be able to enjoy her early birthday party on Friday!

She could certainly use the break… managing both her pop career _and_ her school life at the same time was pushing her to her limit, even _with_ all the help from her classmates. Especially Taka! She was lucky to have such a great guy as her class rep… from what Leon said, none of the other class reps would _ever_ have spent that much time running around picking up her notes for her! Without him to keep falling back on, she’d have been doomed from the start!

But now, she’d be able to complete her first year of school, with no missed work or disasters, _and_ she’d even managed to spend some time with her friends, and _boy_ friend, like a normal girl would have! And now it was almost the end of the year, and she was going to be able to relax and have a nice, normal ‘surprise’ (Taka, Hina and Makoto weren’t exactly the most subtle people) birthday party after classes on Friday!

_*Whoops now, sorry I can’t go…*_

“Urg… What’s that asshole want you to do _now…”_ Leon groaned from the bed, which they’d been sharing last night, as her phone played the song she’d allocated as a ringtone for her band's producer...

 _“Shh!”_ She hushed him… She could hardly let the producer find out she had a _guy_ in her room! Even if she _did_ share Leon’s sentiment... “Hi, boss!” She greeted him as cheerfully as ever.

“Sayaka, _sweetie!”_ He replied in his usual cheerful bluster. “Looking forward to your birthday party?”

“Yep! It’s going to be _great_ performing with Tornado on my birthday!” She told him, the exact same way she’d been every magazine that for the last month…

“Glad to hear it!” He laughed, “But I meant this _other_ birthday party I’ve heard about… on Friday, at your school?”

“Oh… _that!”_ How the _heck_ had he found out about _that?_ She’d only mentioned it to the other girls in the band, and _they_ wouldn’t have blabbed! Not on purpose, anyway! “Umm… I mean… I don’t know for _sure_ if it’ll happen, it’s just _usually_ my classmates all get together to organise some food and drinks as a surprise and hand over presents… nothing particularly fancy or anything…”

“Perfect! That’ll help that ‘innocent, ordinary girl’ image you’ve got!” He announced, “I’ve had some good offers from magazines to come in and record the event! You’ll just have to meet them in the morning and show them were to set up…”

“Ahh…” Her party was going to be _recorded?_ So everyone would see all her friends? And she wouldn’t be able to relax? The headmaster wouldn’t have let that happen, would he? “…are you sure the school will allow that?”

“Well, that annoying headmaster of yours tried to block it!” The producer griped, “But I looked into it all and it turns out he’s answerable to this group of people called the ‘steering committee’ and several of _their_ granddaughters are big fans of yours!” _Urg…_ so he managed to bribe the _steering committee?_ “So, I told them they could go to your party as well, get a tour of the school from you when everyone else is in classes, see your room… Sound good?”

 _What!?_ So on top of having a load of cameras at her party, she had to show some group of fans she’d never met around the school, including her _room,_ and _then_ get ready for to leave the school for her concert, all in the same evening? “Well… What time will all of this be finishing? I’m leaving at half nine, aren’t I?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everything’s done by half eight, so you get some time to relax!” He told her, “Enjoy your party!” He hung up.

 _Half eight?_ She’d barely have time to pack her bags, let alone relax! So much for her nice birthday normal party… she was going to have to spend the entire afternoon and evening putting on a show for the cameras, not to mention that _before_ then she’d have to make sure there was nothing ‘off image’ in her room, which would mean moving half her stuff out and then cleaning top to bottom to get rid of any trace of Leon, and she still had homework left to do and…

“Woah, Sayaka!” Leon cried, probably noticing how panicked she was getting and quickly got out of bed to give her a hug as she cried into his shoulder… “Okay, okay… what’s he done _now?”_

“He’s getting a camera crew in to record my surprise party…” She sobbed, “And I’ve also got to show some fans my bedroom and I’ve not got time to organise all that _and_ get my homework done and handed in and I’m hardly going to have any time to pack and I was really looking forward to having a normal party with everyone and now it’s _ruined_ and…”

“And you can’t just say _no…”_ Leon sighed.

“No I _CAN’T ‘just say no!’”_ Sayaka cried. They’d been _over_ this!

“Okay… okay… I just… forget I said it…” Leon backed off from that topic, “Just… calm down… _deep_ breaths babe… It can’t be all _that_ bad… we can work ‘round this!” Leon patted her back comfortingly. “Okay, the cameras at your party _suck,_ but everyone in class is sensible enough to be chill and not blab any of your secrets in front of ‘em, and we'll make sure to be extra careful that nothing that could make Fukawa sneeze gets near her…” Leon started.

…She hadn’t even _thought_ of that! Oh gods, this was going to be a _disaster!_ “B-but… I’m still going to have to move a ton of my stuff out of here, and I don’t even know _where_ I’ll put it all, and then I’ll _still_ have to clean it as well…”

“We can help you with that!” Leon exclaimed, “I’ll stash everything in Makoto’s room…”

“Why _Makoto’s_ room?”

“It’s next door and he’ll wanna help.” Leon said, simply. “And you can probably ask Taka to give you the ‘cleaning’ part of your present in advance… he does a crazy thorough job! There wasn’t a single _hair_ left in my room when I got him to do it!”

“Well… that might work…” Sayaka admitted, her tears starting to dry up. “But I’m still going to have a rush to pack up between the party and when I leave.” She sighed.

“Can’t you pack your stuff _before_ the party?” Leon asked.

“I could, but then I’d have a suitcase in the room and it’d look weird…” Sayaka explained.

“Then stash it in _my_ room and I’ll bring it over once they leave!” Leon sighed, “You wanted to see me to ‘practise’ before you left anyway, right?”

“Ah… yeah… I guess that’d work…” She admitted.

“See? Crisis solved!” Leon laughed slightly as he said it. He’d long since stopped bothering to tell her she needed to be less freaked out when her plans got changed and had apparently got used to the fact that she was never going to be as good at ‘winging it’ as he was.

“Yeah… thanks, Leon.” She smiled, “I just wish I could have had a _normal_ party with everyone…”

“Well… would you be able to spare one evening… today?” Leon asked, looking on his phone…

 _Could_ she? She could probably manage to get her homework _done_ with only one evening free, but… “No, I need my homework done by Thursday… I’m not going to get to class on Friday because I’ve got to help set up cameras…”

“So, leave it in Taka’s pigeon hole and get _him_ to take it, like he usually does!” Leon suggested.

“I’m already asking him to clean my room though…”

“So? He won’t care, especially if it means I pay for him to go do LaserQuest!” Leon smirked, tapping at his phone.

“What? _LaserQuest?”_ Sayaka asked.

“Yep! One birthday party for 16 people at Quazar-Shots, this evening!” Leon grinned, “Just booked it now on my phone.”

 _“What?_ Leon, I can’t just tell everyone I’m having a _second_ birthday party at half a day’s notice!” Sayaka cried, “I’d seem like a total diva!”

“Ah, come on! They’ll understand!” Leon laughed, “And besides, I’ve already paid for it, so no backing out now!”

“Well, if you’ve done _that…”_ Sayaka sighed. It probably would have better to at least check with everyone else _first_ though.. _._

“Great! Now let’s get dressed!” Leon exclaimed, despite being the only one who wasn’t dressed yet…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka stared at the sheet of math problems in front of him irritably… he should be getting on much better at this than he was… he hoped Mondo waking him up in the middle of the night wasn’t going to have made him lose his focus for the entire day! Or if it _did,_ hopefully Mondo wouldn’t notice. He wouldn’t want his Kyoudai to feel bad about wanting to come to him for help…

He _finally_ figured out how to solve problem five, and then went to look at number six…

“Uhh… Taka? I got something different for question two.” Mondo’s voice suddenly came from above him.

“Ah! Good morning, Kyoudai!” Kiyotaka jumped slightly, “How long have you been there?”

“Oh… just a minute…” Mondo shrugged, “Thought I might as well wait for ya to finish a question before interrupting ya…”

“Ah! Thank you for that!” He had enough trouble focusing today without mid-question interruptions, “But… let me run through how I solved question two… See, what you have do is start by expanding out the brackets, like _this_ , to make… err…” Kiyotaka blinked at what he’d just written out, which was different from what he’d written before. “I seemed to have made a mistake last time.” He admitted.

“Well… did ya really think the answer was gonna be forty two point six eight five nine?” Mondo asked. “When none of the others have any decimal points?”

“I… I’d have noticed that when I checked my working!” Kiyotaka tried to justify his cringe-worthy mistake, “But thank you for pointing it out… it’ll be easier to solve when it’s fresher in my head.”

“No problem!” Mondo took advantage of their current height difference in order to ruffle Kiyotaka’s hair. “Ya need to be all done by Saturday at 10am!”

“Ah! That’s… early!” Kiyotaka panicked slightly… he’d been hoping Mondo would pick a later time, and he’d have more time to finish his homework… but he _should_ still be able to finish all of this, so long as nothing else took _too_ much of his time over the next two days…

“Well… I figured I’d get an early slot so you have more time to recover before classes on Monday.” Mondo explained.

“Is this test really that bad!?” He asked, “I don’t remember _you_ needing time to recover…”

“Well, _I_ didn’t, but lots of other people were…” Mondo explained, “A lot of ‘em couldn’t even get outta bed for a coupla of days…”

“I’m surprised I didn’t notice the med centre being full of them, then…” Kiyotaka mused.

“That’s ‘cause they stayed in their rooms.” Mondo pointed out.

“But… then how did they get food? Or water?” Kiyotaka asked. If it was true they couldn’t get out of bed, they certaintly wouldn’t manage a trip to the kitchen!

“They probably had friends to bring it to them…” Mondo suggested, “I mean, that’s what I’d do if you couldn’t get outta bed!”

“You would!?” Kiyotaka exclaimed.

“Of course I would! We’re _Kyoudais,_ right!?” Mondo rolled his eyes, “Don’t you remember me making you stuff during the practical exams?”

“Err… no, I don’t…” Kiyotaka admitted. All he could remember from that time were vague feverish visions… “But thank you for doing it!”

“You’re welcome… and I’ll do it anytime ya need, alright!” Mondo added, “’Cause you’d do the same for me, right?”

“Indeed!” Kiyotaka insisted. He’d do anything to help Mondo… and would have done even if he _didn’t_ currently have a ridiculous fantasy of himself being gently spoon-fed by Mondo for a day… Maybe a day to rest in bed would be quite nice…

But if he wanted to do _that_ , he’d best hurry up with these maths questions!

“Excuse me, everyone! I wanted to talk to you all about something!” Sayaka suddenly announced to the class, just as he’d been about to understand what he was supposed to be doing for question eight, which was just typical… But it couldn’t be helped, if Sayaka needed to discuss something…

“Eh heh heh… This is all going to sound kinda crazy…” She started off sheepishly, once she had everyone’s attention, “But… I had a call from my producer this morning saying he’s organised for a magazine to come and cover my birthday party on Friday…”

“Err… you’re having a party on _Friday!?”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed… that was when the three of them were organising her _surprise_ party! Why was she organising her _own_ party? Couldn’t she have guessed that they’d do one _for_ her? Or had she decided she wanted a _better_ one and just gone ahead and…

“Uhh… Taka, I think she’s talking about the one _we’re_ organising…” Makoto admitted.

“Ahh…” That _would_ make more sense…

“Yes… that’s right.” Sayaka smiled patiently. “I mentioned that I thought that was what you’d all probably do, after Togami’s party, and he just assumed it was a definite thing…”

“Ah, I see…” He’d been too predictable to surprise anyone, yet again…

“But, what’re they gonna cover it _with?_ ” Hiro asked, to a resounding silence.

“Umm… what?” Sayaka asked him.

“You said they’re gonna cover the party? With _what!?”_

“Like, oh my _god_ Hagakure, you _dumbass!”_ Junko exclaimed, “It doesn’t _literally_ mean _cover!_ It just means some girly mag wants to run an _article_ on it!”

“But… there shouldn’t be anything particularly newsworthy happening, should there?” Kiyotaka asked, “It’s just us saying happy birthday and having drinks… unless they want a list of what presents you get?”

“Ah… it’s not like a newspaper article, Taka… It’ll mostly be photographs.” Sayaka explained, “And maybe a few videos as well…”

“…Video’s in a magazine!?” Hina asked.

“Most publications have an online version these days.” Togami sighed. “I assume that’s where any video footage will end up?” Sayaka nodded, “Alright. I consent to being filmed, so long as you don’t mind me engaging in some marketing while I’m at it…”

“W-well, if Byakuya’s doing _that,_ then I have a new book coming out…” Toko added.

“Perhaps I can mention my new original volume!” Hifumi said, excitedly.

“Eh… I’m probably already gonna be _in_ that magazine, but always good to remind people you exist!” Junko shrugged.

“Err… what are you all talking about?” Kiyotaka asked.

“The types of magazine that would bother to publish this sort of activity will likely have readers that Togami Inc. wouldn’t usually bother to advertise to.” Togami started with a sneer, “So them having cameras on me all evening is a good opportunity for me to casually mention some products of ours, to be discovered by new people.”

“It’s, like, a chance to make a good impression on people!” Junko added, _“Thousands_ of people!”

 _Thousands_ of people? So… this could be a chance to start showing people that there was an Ishimaru who was willing to work hard… and maybe they’d remember him when he started his first steps into politics…?

“As long as you don’t screw up, anyway!” She giggled, “Otherwise, they just shove you on the ‘celebrity disasters’ section… like Mukuro always end up in!”

 _‘Disasters?’_ That would be _terrible!_ What sort of first impression to the nation would _that_ be!? And what constituted a ‘screw up’ exactly? What if he faltered over words, or made some gaff, or something went wrong with the party itself? Would _that_ leave him branded a ‘disaster’ in the eyes of _thousands_ of potential voters forever!?

“Well… if that’s not a problem with anyone…” Sayaka continued, before he had the chance to figure out exactly how big a problem it _could_ be for him, “Leon and I were thinking, now the party won’t really be much of a party anymore, that we could all go to Quazar-Shots tonight, for a laser quest party instead!”

Another party? _Tonight?_ It sounded like fun, and everyone else around him seemed to think it was a great idea… but… he hadn’t even managed to get this sheet of 10 maths problems done in the time before class like he’d intended… there was no chance of him being able to finish all his remaining work before the weekend _and_ make sure Friday’s party didn’t have any unexpected problems, if he spent the entirety of _this_ evening playing outside of school…

“Err…” He tried to draw attention to himself over the cheerful atmosphere… everyone was going to be so disappointed with him…

* * *

 

Huh… it seemed like everyone really _was_ able to come to this short notice party…

“Err…” Or, _almost_ everyone… there was just one lone voice of hesitation cutting through the crowd of eager agreements.

“What is it, Taka?”

“Well… err… I’m incredibly sorry about this… but… I’ve fallen behind with my school work and I have… important plans for the weekend so… I really _can’t_ spare this evening and still get everything done…” Taka admitted, miserably, “I do hope you all enjoy yourselves! And I’ll be there for your _other_ party, of course!”

Wait… _Taka_ of all people had fallen behind with his school work?

“ _HAH!_ Ahahaa! That’s a good one, Taka!” Leon laughed.

“I… I’m not joking…” Taka cringed.

“Wait, _seriously?”_ Leon scowled, probably annoyed that Taka’s unusual disorganisation had meant his plan wouldn’t go as well as he’d hoped. “How the _fuck_ did _you_ fall behind on _school!?”_

“Err… it’s just… Well…” Taka squirmed under the attention.

Oh, she could just _guess_ what had caused him to fall behind… or rather _who…_

She looked over at Mondo, who only briefly looked back at her before turning to scowl at Leon… Of _course_ Taka was behind on his work! Ever since Mondo’s confession a month ago, he’d been pestering Taka for hugs and help with school work _all the time!_ And Taka had probably gone along with it far more than he usually would, partly because he felt bad about what Mondo had gone through, and partly because he was crushing _hard_ on the biker…

“Oh, come on! He’s got a lot of shit ta do!” Mondo snapped, “And… I’m sorry, but he’s not the only one! I… I ain’t gonna be free tonight either…” Because of course _he_ was behind on _his_ work as well…

“Well… that’s shame, but we’ll all have more time _next_ week, after the deadline!” Makoto tried to cheer everyone up, “Why don’t we do it then?”

“Monday evening’s free!” Chihiro exclaimed, after a moment of tapping at his laptop.

“That _would_ be closer to your birthday than today, technically…” Kyoko pointed out.

“Oh! Yeah, I guess…” Sayaka admitted.

“Great! I’ll book it then!” Chihiro announced, “And… umm… I wasn’t sure what to get for your birthday, so this’ll be my treat for everyone!”

“Ahh… Thank you! But… are you sure it’s not too much?” Taka asked him.

 _“Yes,_ Taka…” Chihiro sighed.

“Cool, so it’s all sorted then!” Mondo grinned.

“Yeah… I guess.” Leon frowned, “But I already booked tonight, so if the _organised_ peeps wanna have a practise round…”

“W-well… if it’s j-just the practise round, I-I’d rather go to my th-therapy session…” Fukawa muttered.

“Oh… yeah, that’s alright!” Leon grimaced. Well, if nothing else, _that_ probably made him realise he really _should_ have asked everyone when they were available, and not just picked the earliest available slot.

But at least it was sorted. Now she had to start the awkward task of asking Makoto and Taka to put even _more_ effort into her birthday than they already were… and Taka was behind his schedule as it was… would he even have the time to help clean her room?

She didn’t get a chance to ask though, because their teacher came into the room and she had to sit and take notes for a few hours. Although Leon spent that time _passing_ notes to Makoto, which apparently ended with him agreeing to help move her things into his own room for a day, so that was _that_ sorted.

They didn’t try passing any notes to Taka though, not even _Leon_ would have had the gall to try _that…_

Meanwhile, she got passed one note herself… _Junko_ wanted to talk after class? Urg… this had better be something serious and not just her gossiping about people…

To be honest, she didn’t really like Junko… There was just something about her that always felt a bit… _off._ And there were a lot of times when she did things that caused trouble, which could either be because she had a tendency to not think things through, but it could also be because she just liked stirring up trouble…

But when she’d mentioned it to Leon, he’d said she was just being paranoid, even if Junko _had b_ een selling ridiculous stories about her to the tabloids! And while Makoto agreed that she often seemed to cause trouble, he thought it was probably just her not being very good at judging people, but that she _was_ trying to be helpful to her friends and getting better at it. So maybe Sayaka shouldn’t be dismissing her so quickly… She might be good at picking up things, but it didn’t make her perfect…

“So, Junko? What did you want to talk about?” Sayaka asked her quietly, once most of the rest of the class had filtered out of the room for lunch.

“Weelll… There’s this itsy-bitsy little thing I’ve been thinking about...” Junko started, in that irritatingly cutesy voice she sometimes put on, “And I figured _you’d_ be able to tell be if I’m right or just being a big rude meanie…”

 _Junko?_ Admitting she might be being rude? Maybe she was growing better at figuring out people… “What is it?”

“Well… this whole thing about Mondo’s poor big brother…” She started, before leaning in close to whisper, even though it was just the two of them and her sister in the room, “Is it just me, or is he totally _milking_ it now?”

“Ah… well…” Sayaka was at a loss to respond…

Junko was right, it _was_ a mean thing to say about Mondo… but, on the other hand…

It had been almost a _month_ since he’d told them all about it, and he was still being all clingy with Taka? To the point where he’d made _him_ fall behind with his _schoolwork!?_

“Umm… maybe? I mean… It’s not like Taka to fall behind on schoolwork… so I guess Mondo must be taking up a _lot_ of his time, even now…” She admitted, “He might not realise he’s doing it though…”

“Hah! You _said_ it, sister!” Junko laughed, “He’s so dumb and clueless, I don’t get how Taka can stand being friends with the guy!”

She couldn’t either… Having the guy you fancy constantly wanting to hug and touch you, but also completely oblivious as to how you feel? It must be driving him crazy! But, no one else had mentioned anything about it, and she wasn’t about to tell _Junko_ Taka’s secret…

“Well… everyone says he’s good at drawing Taka out of his shell, and…”

“Yeah, everyone _says_ that…” Junko pouted, “But do _you_ actually _believe_ it?”

Did she? Well, if she had to be honest with herself…

No.

Mondo had got into Hope’s Peak by leading the country’s most disreputable gang of thugs, and as soon as they’d met, he’d lived up to every expectation you’d get from hearing that. Violent, rude, loud… In the first week of school he’d punched Makoto unconscious, just for trying to break up a stupid argument he’d been having with Togami, then he’d only _barely_ apologised for it! And although he refused to hit girls, that didn’t stop him from terrifying them by yelling at anyone he thought was ‘hot’.

And he never even _tried_ to apologise to any of _them_. Not even _her,_ when they were in the same class! Leon had said it would probably be a month before Mondo tried, but it had been almost _three_ now, and he’d still never tried to actually _say_ anything to her. The only time they were ever in each other’s company was when the whole class got together.

So she _really_ couldn’t understand how Taka could stand to be friends with him, let alone why it made him so _happy!_ Taka was a great guy! You’d think he’d have _better_ people he could spend time with than a _gang leader_ who’d spent most of the year getting into fights, sneaking off to smoke and yelling at girls… And, alright, Mondo had learnt to control his temper a little, and he’d quit smoking… but that was only Taka was such a good influence on him!

And everyone else _said_ Mondo was a good influence on him in return, encouraging Taka to talk to people and take care of his emotional needs… but was that really _Mondo’s_ doing? Because she’d noticed that Makoto and Chihiro seemed to be the ones talking to him about that sort of thing most of the time, and if he really cared about Taka’s emotions, he might have noticed the huge crush Taka had on him…

“You _don’t,_ do you?” Junko guessed… and Sayaka couldn’t bring herself to deny it. “Ohmigod! I’m _so_ relieved it’s not just me! I thought I was being a total bitch, thinking corn-cob head just made that stuff up to get his hands on the hall-booty!”

“Wait… _what?”_ Did she think _Mondo_ was the one with the crush?

“Huh!? You haven’t noticed? Aren’t you supposed to be psychic?” Junko rolled her eyes. “He’s been staring at it, you know! There’s evidence and everything!”

But Chihiro had told her that being called gay was something that set off Mondo’s screaming fits… “You might want to keep that to yourself…” Sayaka tried to warn her.

“Yeah… I guess so…” Junko sighed. “But pay attention to him when you’re talking to Taka! You’ll get what I mean!”

Ahh, sure thing, Junko.” Sayaka murmured, that reminded her, she still had to go and ask him if he could clean her room and hand her work in…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka cheerfully wrote ‘X = 13’ on the final question and started putting all his work away in his bag… “Ahh… apologies for taking so long!” He told Mondo, who’d been staring at him while he was working, “What did you want to say?”

“Uhh… Nothing? Why’d ya think I wanted to say something?” Mondo asked in confusion.

“Oh! My mistake! You just seemed to be staring at me while I was working, so I assumed you were waiting for me to finish so we could talk!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Oh… that’s just ‘cause there wasn’t anything else to look at, I guess…” Mondo shrugged.

“Ah… well, in that case, there was something I wanted to ask about…” Kiyotaka started, “Last night you said you’d finished all your work… so why did you say that I wasn’t the only person not to be finished when Sayaka invited us to Laser Quest?”

“’Cause Leon was being a dick about it!” Mondo scowled, “And everyone else was starin’ at you like it was _your_ fault we can’t all just drop everything and do what Maizono wants at the drop of a hat!”

“But that’s true! If I’d kept up with my work, then…”

“…and I’ve got an appointment with Miaya this evening.” Mondo muttered quietly.

“Well… why didn’t you just say _that_ then?” Kiyotaka asked.

“’Cause I don’t want everyone knowing I’m seeing a shrink.” Mondo frowned.

“But… Toko used the same reason to not go tonight, and nobody thinks any less of _her_ for it!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“Yeah, but Toko’s got _actual_ problems!” Mondo insisted, “I just… I mean… It’s not like I... actually _need_ therapy or anything… I’m just…” He trailed off, looking down at his food.

“You’re just, _what?”_

“I’m just kinda bein’ a wimp about the whole thing, all of a sudden…”

“No you are _not!”_ Kiyotaka snapped.

“You’ve not gotta pretend I ain’t… I mean, Daiya died almost two years ago! I shouldn’t still need ta go and cry at a shrink about it!” Mondo growled.

“Mondo, there’s nothing ‘wimpy’ about having therapy to help you deal with a tragic event, _regardless_ of how long ago it happened!” Kiyotaka sighed, “Especially as I suspect you never tried ‘crying at a shrink’ about it when it first happened, did you?”

“Of course not… I wouldn’t last five minutes leading the gang if they knew I was seeing a shrink…”

“And did you… cry about it… _at all?”_

“No, ‘cause men ain’t _supposed_ ta…” Mondo hesitated as Kiyotaka failed to hide his irritation at what Mondo was about to imply… “I mean, _the gang think_ men ain’t supposed ta cry…”

“So… you never really grieved his death, then?” Kiyotaka summarised, “You’re only letting yourself do it now, because you’ve told us what really happened... and you know we’re not judging you for it.”

“Well… I guess?” Mondo admitted.

“Well, then It’s perfectly normal for you to cry about it!” Kiyotaka assured him.

“…Thanks.” Mondo blushed… Hmm… Maybe it was just Kiyotaka’s crush speaking, but Mondo looked quite _cute_ when he blushed… _“What!?”_ Mondo suddenly asked looking at him.

“Err… pardon?” Kiyotaka jumped… _Ahh!_ Did Mondo somehow know what he’d been thinking just then?

“You just started grinning at me… what, did I do something funny?” Mondo scowled.

“N-no… I… err…” Kiyotaka glanced around the room as he tried to think of something to use as an excuse as to why he’d had what had probably been a dopey grin on his face, when to his relief, he spotted Sayaka approaching the table… “Oh! Hello, Sayaka!” Kiyotaka greeted her, hoping it would drop the conversation…

“Hi Taka!” She smiled, “Umm… I know you said you’re busy but… I was wondering if you’d be able to do me a couple of favours?” She asked, looking even more embarrassed to be asking for help than usual…

“Err… well… it depends what they are…” He… _really_ wasn’t sure how much time he could spare, what with the early appointment on Saturday. But he’d already let her down over one thing…

“Well, I was hoping you’d be able to give me an advance on my birthday present and clean my room Thursday evening, to start with…” She started, “Leon said you did a really good job with his, and… and I need to make sure there’s no sign of him ever being in there…” She whispered.

“So I’ll need to use the floor roller all over, on top of dusting everything…” Kiyotaka considered it.

“But, I’ll have less stuff in my room than usual!” She added, looking at him pleadingly.

 _Urgghh…_ He really didn’t want to have to say no to her… and he could probably skip going to the reserve students Eco club for a week with no major consequences, as Hirayama seemed to have recruited a surplus of people to help her with that these days… “I can spare an hour to get that done, once I’ve finished my last assignments….”

“You wiil? Ahh! Thanks _so_ much, Taka!” Sayaka smiled.

“Ah! It’s not a problem!” Kiyotaka couldn’t help but smile along with her… “Was there anything else you needed?”

“Oh… I’ll have one last piece of homework for my music class, to be handed in on Friday morning…” She started, “…I’ll have to show around some fans in the morning, so I’ll end up missing classes that day.” She added, probably because he’d been wondering why she couldn’t have done that herself.

“Ah… well, _that_ shouldn’t be any problem whatsoever!” Kiyotaka smiled with relief… he needed to be done with all _his_ homework by that point, regardless!

“Thanks again!” Sayaka smiled even more, “I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“Oh… it’s just part of my duties as class rep…” Kiyotaka tried, and probably failed, to remain modest in the face of the Idol’s glowing praise, before suddenly realising that she’d been standing while he and Mondo were sitting down the whole time she’d been there… “Ah… but would you like to sit down? We’ve got a spare chair…”

“Oh… Thanks, but I’ve got to get on with some other things now…” She answered, apologetically, “But thanks again for your help!” She added, before heading away from the table.

It was a shame she was always so busy, it would be nice to spend more time with her, having his work appreciated like that… But at least he had Mondo to talk… to...

Mondo had turned around in his chair to watch her walk away. Why was he staring at her like that!? Did he still have a crush on her, even though he knew she was already dating Leon? Why did he never talk about it with Kiyotaka? Didn’t they speak about _everything?_ Or was that not true? And why did that thought, that Mondo might _still_ have secret parts of his life that he didn’t share with Kiyotaka, and that they involved _her_ make him feel so incredibly _jealous_ of his pop idol friend…?

“Urg. Can you _believe_ her!?” Mondo griped, turning back to look at Kiyotaka with a scowl of irritation on his face.

“Err… what…?”

“Oh, come on! I know it’s your whole class rep thing, and you like her an’ all, but that was just taking the piss!” Mondo snapped, “I don’t care _how_ good at cleaning you are, you only just _told_ her you were behind with all your work, couldn’t she ask someone else?”

Oh… he’d been staring at her because he was _annoyed_ at her, not because he… _liked_ her or anything! That… that was _fantastic!_

Although, on second thoughts, it _was_ a little unfair on Sayaka…

“Well… I guess she just _trusts_ me to do a good job, more than anyone else!” Kiyotaka suggested, “And besides, it’s rather obvious by now that I _am_ about to offer to clean her room for her, so why not ask to do it a little early, as it’s more convenient for her that way!”

“Yeah but… still, she shouldn’t be making _you_ go out of your way so _she_ can have… what is it now, _four_ birthday parties!?”

“One of those is a concert that _she_ will be working at! It won’t be much fun for _her!_ And from the sounds of it the surprise one will turn into a chance for everyone to advertise themselves, not pay attention to _her…”_

“That still leaves her with _two_ parties… If she’s so worried about her room being cleaned, she could not go tonight and do it herself!” Mondo snapped, “She’s just being a diva about all this…”

“What? She isn’t… she’s not ‘being a diva’!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, “She just… she’s worked hard all year and wants people to make a bit of fuss for her on her birthday! Is that really so bad?”

After all, there was a growing part of him that was rather hoping everyone would treat _him_ the same way, when it came to _his_ birthday… it might make up for all the other birthdays that had been completely ignored by his previous classmates…

“Well… I guess not. I’m just… are you really gonna have time to be done by the weekend if you do this for her as well?”

“Oh, is _that_ what you’re worried about? Don’t worry, I’ll just send my apologies to the Eco club on Thursday! Hirayama won’t mind if I miss a week…” Mondo looked sceptical at that last statement… “Ah… to be honest, I’ve not really contributed anything to the discussion there for the last… _month_ at least!” He admitted.

“Why not? You usually have loads of good ideas!” Mondo asked.

“Ah… well…” He started awkwardly, it wasn’t really his _fault,_ but it was still embarrassing to talk about “It’s just… there are a lot more students who joined the club recently… and they talk quite loudly, and there’s usually several conversations going on at once, and the acoustics in the meeting room are a bit on the echoic side…”

“It’s setting off that problem ya have with noisy places…” Mondo realised.

“Yes… I keep having to take breaks, and it feels like everything of any importance gets decided during my absence.” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Can’t you just ask them to keep a lid on it? I mean, you never let us all talk over each other when _we_ have meetings…”

“But it’s not _my_ meeting to run, and it does seem that Hirayama’s style of chairing _does_ result in decisions being made more quickly…” Kiyotaka explained, “I’m starting to think they no longer really need me at all, other than to occasionally ask for details on administrative processes, and they could do that via email…”

“You’re not just saying that ‘cause Sayaka’s suddenly asked ya to do shit for her, are you?” Mondo asked sceptically, “’Cause if you don’t have time to help her, you shoulda just _said_ so!”

“No! I’m not just saying that! I mean, I admit my plan _was_ going to be that I’d talk to Hirayama about it, suggest I leave the group starting _next_ year and see what _she_ thinks, but this week off might give her the chance to see how things go without me there, and also means I’m able to help Sayaka!”

“Well… yeah, I guess…” Mondo seemed mollified by that logic, at least.

“Heh… you know, Ishimaru, you shouldn’t be asking ‘ _can_ I help this chick?’…” Kiyotaka was surprised to hear that the mechanic in class 77 had been nearby and apparently listening to him and Mondo talk! “The question you need to ask is _‘should_ I help this chick’?”

“Ah… why _wouldn’t_ I help someone?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Urg… Souda, don’t start this bullshit again…” Mondo interrupted him with a weary sigh.

“Hey! It’s not bullshit! I’m just giving him friendly advice!” Souda snapped at Mondo, “To save him from wasting his time, like I did!”

“Helping Sayaka isn’t a waste of time!” Kiyotaka insisted.

“Look buddy, I get it!” Souda sat down next to Kiyotaka and leant in conspiratorially, “You have a thing for the pop princess, and you reckon if you run around doing enough favours for her, she’ll eventually realise what a ‘great guy’ you are and she’ll wanna _date_ you…”

“That is _not_ my intention at all!” Kiyotaka cried, “I’m merely doing my duties as class rep…”

 _“Suuure,_ buddy! Those duties that _no other_ class rep does…” Souda smirked, “And that you _only_ do for the second hottest chick in school…”

“But… that’s just because I take my role more seriously than other class reps, and Sayaka’s busy schedule requires her to be out of the school more often than others… I’d do the same for any classmate, _regardless_ of how attractive they are!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Oh, come on! Everyone in school knows that’s just a load of crap you keep telling yourself!” Souda scowled, “Quit being a dumbass and admit the bitch is friend-zoning you!”

“Sayaka is _not_ a bi…”

“Taka’s not ‘being a dumbass’!” Mondo interrupted him, “You’re just pissed off ‘cause that princess chick doesn’t want to fuck you, and…”

“Well, she _should_ do!” Souda snapped back at him, “I mean, I’m a nice guy! I did _tons_ of stuff for her! I’m even sharing a room with _Tanaka_ for her! She should be thankful, right?”

Had he only agreed to do that in the hope of starting a relationship with the princess? Surely that would never have worked, if her highness wasn’t attracted to him in the first place… But how to explain that to him? “Err… I’m sure her highness _is_ thankful for your help…”

“So, she should _show_ it? Right!?” Souda asked, “I mean, I gave up half my room for her, she ought to be willing to let me stay in _hers_ now it turns out Tanaka’s impossible to live with, right!?”

Shouldn’t they have determined if that was the case _before_ letting her highness demolish the adjoining wall!?

“You dumbass…” Mondo sighed, “I kept telling you, she was never gonna let you stay in _her_ room, especially not when it’s so goddamn obvious you only agreed to it in the first place ‘cause you were hoping it’d all go south and you’d end up sleeping with her!”

“Well, if it was so obvious that’s what I wanted, she shouldn’t have let me go ahead with it then!” Souda complained, ridiculously, “I mean, I’m a _nice guy!_ I shouldn’t have to be camping out in the school workshops!”

“No, Souda, you _ain’t_ a nice guy… A _nice_ guy is someone like _Taka,_ who’s willing ta help _everyone_ regardless of how much he’d like ta make out with ‘em!” Mondo insisted, “And _he_ isn’t doing it ‘cause he expects ta get anythin’ from it, he’s just a great guy who gives a shit and wants ta help everyone he meets! And _that’s_ why he’s helping Maizono!”

Kiyotaka’s face flushed, and he was struggling to suppress that same dopey grin he’d had earlier. Sayaka called him a ‘great guy’ all the time! So why did it feel a million times _better_ hearing it from _Mondo?_

“Oh, come on! No one’s _that_ nice!” Souda exclaimed.

“Well, _he_ is!” Mondo insisted, “He puts up with everyone giving him crap, even though he’s just trying to make sure we take advantage of being here and don’t do anything that’ll fuck our lives up later! And regardless of what shit people ask him to do, or how much effort he makes for _them,_ he never expects anything _back!_ Why’d the hell _else_ do you think they named him ‘Ultimate Moral Compass’!? He’s probably the nicest guy on the _planet!_ ”

Kiyotaka could feel his face flushing even more as his ego swelled from all the compliments… he knew Mondo respected him, but he’d not realised he thought things like _‘nicest guy on the planet’!_ Maybe, if he thought Kiyotaka was _that_ nice, then there was a chance he…

Argh… all these compliments were making Kiyotaka think like _that_ again… and Mondo was _literally_ in the middle of explaining that being _nice_ didn’t mean someone was obligated to be attracted to you! Of _course_ he wasn’t attracted to Kiyotaka! (And that was a _good_ thing!)

But he was liable to forget again, if Mondo said things like _that_ again… “Ah… I’m not _that_ nice…” Kiyotaka told him, coughing awkwardly to hide his red face…

“Wait… _what!?”_ Mondo stared at him in shock.

“Hah! I _knew it!_ So you _are_ just trying to get with her!” Souda exclaimed, triumphantly.

“Wha…?” Why did he think _that?_

“But, pro-tip dude, it’s not gonna work…” Souda stood up, patting Kiyotaka’s head patronisingly. “You’re better off finding a less high-maintenance chick…”

 _Ah!_ He’d thought Kiyotaka meant he wasn’t nice enough to do favours, just for the sake of it! “Wait… _No!_ That’s not what I meant!” He tried to explain… but it was too late, Souda had gone. “Urg… now he’s going to tell people I think Sayaka owes me sexual favours, isn’t he?” Kiyotaka groaned.

“Uhh… well… what _did_ you mean, that you’re not that nice?” Mondo asked, anxiously. “You’re not… _really_ hoping Sayaka’ll date you if you do enough stuff for her, are ya!?”

“Of course not! I just meant I’m not ‘the nicest guy on the planet’!” Kiyotaka explained. “There’s lots of people who do others favours, just for the sake of it. I’m not special in that regard.”

“Hah! The hell ya aren’t!” Mondo laughed, looking relieved. “You’re too modest…”

“I’m not! There’s plenty of people who do good things because it’s the right thing _to_ do!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Meet me in the library later and I’ll show you some examples!” It would be fun, finding books about some of his idols and showing the pictures to Mondo and…

“Taka, you ain’t got _time,_ remember!” Mondo reminded him…

“Ah… right.” Kiyotaka sighed. Not being ahead of work was incredibly inconvenient… “Well… _next_ week, I’ll show you them!”

“Alright, if ya insist.” Mondo rolled his eyes, as he stood up to throw his litter away, “But you’ll still be the nicest guy I’ve ever _met.”_

It was a good thing Mondo had stood up… he didn’t see the ridiculous grin that split across Kiyotaka's face…

* * *

 

(Thursday July 5th 2012)

“You’re really not allowed _any_ of this stuff in your room!?” Makoto gaped at the messy pile of her stuff they’d spent an hour before class transferring to his bedroom.

“Nope! It’s either things I’m not supposed to use, or it’s from a competing brand to one that sponsors me, or it doesn’t fit my image…” Sayaka started to explain to him.

“But… your _toothbrush?”_ Makoto asked, “Is that because it’s the wrong _brand_ of toothbrush, or because it’s blue, or…?”

“No, that’s because it’s _mine_.” Leon shrugged.

 _“Oh…_ Half this stuff makes a _lot_ more sense now…” Makoto admitted, looking _ever_ so slightly jealous of Leon. Kyoko still wasn’t even admitting she had a thing for him yet, even though she’d spent the entirety of last night's game of Laser Quest dragging him around by the hand to secluded sniping points.

“Hah… yeah. Guess I owe you for covering for me…” Leon admitted, “You _and_ Taka…” He added.

“Wait… Taka’s doing something for you?” Makoto asked, “I thought he’s behind on schoolwork?”

“Umm… he’s just going to spend an hour cleaning, to make sure there’s none of Leon’s hairs around…” Sayaka admitted, sheepishly, “He said he’d have time for that!”

“Oh yeah, that to… _I_ was talking about him accidentally adding to the rumour that he’s crushing on you, yesterday!” Leon laughed.

“What!?” Sayaka exclaimed, since when was there a rumour that _Taka_ liked her? He was one of the few guys in school who _didn’t_ find her attractive…

“Aww, man… Is that still going?” Makoto laughed, “I thought it died a death after Valentine’s…”

“Nope!” Leon smirked, “It comes and goes, but there’s always _some_ group of dumbasses who can’t get their heads around the idea of a guy who does shit for a chick he _isn’t_ trying to get into bed…” Leon sighed, “But at least it means everyone going to be watching your reactions to _him,_ not _me!”_ He grinned at her.

“Maybe… but we still need to be careful. Some people are going to realise he’s obviously not into me…” Sayaka warned him.

“Uhh… When you say he’s not into you…” Makoto started, looking slightly embarrassed, “…Do you mean because he… _might be gay?”_

 _“Wait, really!?”_ Leon cried.

“Uhh… you don’t think so?” Makoto looked anxious.

"I dunno... I can't imagine him wanting to fuck  _anyone..."_ Leon shrugged.

“Well… he’s not into any of the girls at school.” Sayaka told him, “That’s all _I_ know for sure... but…”

She’d wondered about it, a little, pretty early on in the school year. He never talked about girls, or even looked at them the way a lot of other guys did. At first she’d thought perhaps he was just _that_ dedicated to school, or a late bloomer… but then he _had_ bloomed, and all doubt had gone out of the window when he’d started avoiding Mondo, thinking he might stop being gay if he stopped being close to the object of his now-obvious attraction for long enough.

Someone, probably Hina, had stopped him believing that though. So now he seemed to have settled for just being ‘just friends’ with Mondo while trying to suppress his real feelings, in order to keep his dream of being Prime Minister alive.

“You think he _is…”_ Leon guessed.

“Yeah…” She nodded.

“Huh… that’d be pretty sweet.” Leon muttered.

“Uhh… It _would!?”_ Makoto asked.

“Yep!” Leon nodded.

 _“Why?”_ Sayaka asked. It wasn’t good for Taka at all!

“Well… seeing as we’ve got some time before class, lemme show you something…” Leon suggested…

He led the pair of them to their homeroom classroom, glancing around surreptitiously as he entered to make sure it was empty, before heading over to the bookshelf and pulling out the class photo album.

“I heard Enoshima and Syo laughing about this a few days ago…” He started, “Have a look through the more recent photos of Mondo, and see what he’s looking at…”

They did, quickly flipping through a couple of months’ worth of pictures, and soon a pattern started emerging…

“He’s staring at Taka a lot.” Makoto summarised.

“Well… they are pretty close friends…” Sayaka added, not really wanting to believe what Leon was suggesting... Even if it  _was_ the same think Junko had suggested she look out for when she spoke to him...

“Okay, but pay extra attention to the ones where Taka’s facing the _opposite_ way to him…” Leon smirked.

…Urg… please no… _please_ don’t let Junko be right about this…

“Heheh… it kinda looks like he’d staring at Taka’s butt in _this_ one!” Makoto laughed, “…and _this_ one… and if you could see under the water in _this_ one as well, and…” He trailed off… “He’s been… _checking_ _Taka_ _out?”_

“For the last few months, yeah. Since the end of May, at least… I don’t think he realises he’s doing it though.” Leon shrugged, “He even told Taka he had a nice _chest_ at one point, but I don’t think either of them picked up on it!”

“He was probably too busy worrying about what Mondo would do if he found out _he’s_ gay, to consider the possibility that Mondo might be as well…” Makoto sighed.

“Yeah… but that won’t be a problem now!” Leon smiled. “It’s _great!_ We can just tell one or other of ‘em and then they’ll start dating and…”

 _“What!?_ Taka can’t date _Mondo!”_ Sayaka cried.

“…Why the hell _not?”_ Leon asked, “You’re not _still_ pissed off with him about the yelling are you?”

She was, but that wasn’t the point… “It’s not that! Taka wants to be _Prime Minister!_ No one’s going to vote for him if he’s dating _Mondo!”_

“I would!” Leon insisted, “What’s it matter who the fuck he’s _dating?_ He’d still do a good job!”

“He would… but I think Sayaka means there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t want a gay Prime Minister… Even if he _would_ be a good one…” Makoto sighed.

“Are you serious?” Leon asked.

“Yeah… Chihiro mentioned he’d brought up statistics on it one time, so he’s looked it up at least.” Makoto told him.

“There are stats on that?” Leon asked, surprised. “Well, whatever… maybe if people are _that_ dumb, he’s better off _not_ being PM…”

“How can you _say_ that!? It’s his _dream!_ He’s worked towards it his whole _life!”_ Sayaka snapped at him, “How can you just say it’d be alright for him to _throw that all away!?”_

“No one’s saying that!” Makoto cried, “But… well… if anyone we know could be the first openly gay Prime Minister, then it’d be _him!”_

Oh geez… Makoto _really_ believed that, and Leon was nodding along vehemently as well… “You really think it’s that easy? Being in the public eye is a nightmare! Everyone’s constantly watching you, and one little slip-up can cost you _everything!”_ She told them, “It’s not just as simple as saying ‘he can do it anyway’!”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s _impossible,_ does it?” Makoto asked.

“And even if he _doesn’t_ make it all the way to Prime Minister, he’ll still be a politician!” Leon added, “He’d get close enough to make a difference, right?”

“You really think _Taka_ will settle for being ‘close enough’?” Sayaka asked them.

“…He’d probably be happier if he _did_ …” Makoto muttered.

“You guys _really_ don’t get it…” Sayaka sighed, “But trust me, he isn’t going to jump into Mondo’s arms, even if he _does_ know they _both_ like each other. If you tell him Mondo likes him as well, he’ll just get depressed about it.”

The pair of them exchanged a worried glance at each other, before Leon put the album back. Hopefully that’d convince them not to meddle with Taka…

Taka was like her… he had a _dream_ , and he wasn’t going to be happy unless he _got_ it, regardless of what he had to do _to_ get it!

It was nice, in a way, knowing that there was someone else like her in her class… someone with enough drive and determination to get what they wanted, regardless of what he had to sacrifice or who he had to beat along the way… but who wasn't a complete jerk about it like Togami. And it was nice to meet someone else who understood that time wasn’t something you could _waste…_ He wanted everything he did to have a purpose to it, whether it was studying, helping other people or even just ‘improving his ability to socialise’…

So he wasn’t about to start letting _Mondo_ ruin all that for him, was he?

* * *

 

Kiyotaka shut his book with a pleasant _snap…_ That was _that_ finished! Now all he had to do was start thinking of an answer to the essay question… Which he _could_ do now, but Mondo had been sat patiently waiting for him to finish, so…

“I’m done now, did you want to talk?” Kiyotaka turned to the large man sat to his side… who… _wasn’t_ Mondo…

“What!? What was that?” _Coach_ _Nidai_ bellowed in confusion, “ _Gahahaha!_ Didn’t you notice Oowada moving away ten minutes ago!?”

“Obviously not… Ahahaha…” Kiyotaka laughed weakly.

 _“Really?”_ Owari, who was sat opposite Nidai asked, through a mouthful of food, “You didn’t really think he was going to sit and watch you _read_ for all that time, did you?”

“Err… N-no… of course not! I just… didn’t hear him saying goodbye!” Kiyotaka tried to explain, as he scanned the room and saw that Mondo was now sitting opposite Chihiro… “I’ll just go over and talk to him now I’m finished!” He quickly picked up his tray and started to walk over to Mondo’s _new_ table…

Well… _that_ was embarrassing! Urg… what if he did something like that _tomorrow,_ when the cameras were rolling? He’d be labelled as a dunce for _sure…_ and why _had_ he assumed Mondo would have stayed and watch him do schoolwork while he ate? Admittedly that was what Mondo had done _yesterday,_ but he’d only had a couple of questions to finish, not reading an entire chapter of a book…

“Good morning Fujisaki! And hello again, Kyoudai!” He greeted them both.

“Morning, Taka!” Chihiro replied, “What was that coach Nidai was laughing about, just now?”

“Ahh… nothing important… I just mistook him for Mondo…” Kiyotaka admitted, as he sat down next to Mondo, “I didn’t hear you saying you were switching tables!” He added, as an explanation.

“Uhh… sorry. Didn’t wanna interrupt your reading…” Mondo muttered, staring off into the distance, “And it woulda been weird if I’d just sat there watching you, right?”

“Err… yes, I suppose it _would_ have been a long time for me to keep you waiting…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“But you’re finished now?” Chihiro asked, “So you’re all done with your homework then?”

“Err… not quite. I still need to write and essay on it…” He admitted.

“Well… you ain’t gotta talk to us if you wanna get started on that…” Mondo told him… _still_ looking off at something away from him.

“Err… it’ll be easier for me to do it after classes…” Kiyotaka told him, even though Mondo had a point that he _could_ be using this time before class to think of points... “So I’ve got time to talk now!”

“Alright then…” Mondo muttered, “Chi was just telling me how he kicked everyone’s asses at Laserquest…”

“Oh! Congratulations!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Heh… thanks. I guess it’s one advantage of being small…” Chihiro shrugged, “It’s a shame you guys couldn’t make it… Sayaka seemed to be having a really good time.”

“My apologies… I hope I didn’t ruin things for her _too_ much…” Kiyotaka cringed.

“Umm… no! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant it would have been nice if you’d been able to join in and have fun yourself…” Chihiro assured him, “And besides, I’m sure she’ll have even more fun on Monday when it’s all of us!”

 _“Hopefully,_ yeah…” Mondo murmured, anxiously.

“What do you mean, Kyoudai?” Kiyotaka asked, “Why _wouldn’t_ she?”

“Uhh… I dunno… I just get the feeling she doesn’t like me much…” Mondo admitted.

Sayaka? Not liking Mondo? Surely that couldn’t be it! “Why wouldn’t she like you, you’re a _wonderful_ friend!” Kiyotaka assured him. “I’m sure she’s very glad to know you!”

“Yeah, but we hardly ever talk…” Mondo pointed out.

 _“Don’t_ you?” Kiyotaka asked. He hadn’t really paid the pair of them that much attention when they were together… but then again, the two of them were so rarely together in the first place… But he’d assumed that was just because she was busy with her career...

“Umm… Mondo?” Chihiro started, with a slight air of foreboding about what he was going to say, “Did you ever apologise for shouting at her?”

“Uhh, well, ya see…”

“Wait… when did you shout at _Sayaka?”_ Kiyotaka asked. He knew Mondo had shouted at some of the girls in school, but he thought Syo was the only one _in_ their class he’d done it to…

“When I was trying ta tell Leon he flunked.” Mondo admitted

“But that was over _two_ months ago!” Kiyotaka cried, “And you haven’t apologised to her yet!?”

“Well… I didn’t know _how!”_ Mondo exclaimed, “And then by the time you two taught me to stop being a dumbass about chicks… it kinda seemed too late to do any good…”

“Umm… I don’t think it would have been.” Chihiro told him, “I think she’s just getting more and more annoyed that you’ve never apologised…”

 _Really?_ Why had she never mentioned it? It seemed rather petty to Kiyotaka, to hold a grudge against Mondo for that long…

“Oh… right, okay.” Mondo muttered, guiltily. “I’ll apologise next time I get a chance to talk to her… or maybe when I give her her present.”

“Yeah, it might help…” Chihiro agreed.

“Well, why don’t we go see if we can find her now!” Kiyotaka suggested.

“’Cause I don’t need a fuckin' _gang_  to apologise to her?” Mondo answered, “And besides, you’ve still got homework to do, haven’t you? You could at least be thinking of your answers now, like you usually do…”

“Err… That’s true.” Kiyotaka admitted, and began to try and focus on the essay questions… And that was what he _tried_ to do for the rest of the day…

It was very slow going, though. Despite knowing that he had a time limit, his brain kept going off onto tangents, wondering less about the relevance of historical occurrences at the time to the contents of the book he’d just read, and more about _why Mondo barely seemed to be looking at him all of a sudden?_

Him leaving at breakfast had been fair enough, although it still stung a little that Mondo had just up and ‘ditched’ him without a word, but throughout the rest of the day, it seemed that he barely even _wanted_ to talk to Kiyotaka! And even when he _did_ talk to Mondo, to let him know what time he would be finishing cleaning for Sayaka so Mondo could apologise to her, his friend barely held eye contact with him for a few seconds before he suddenly started staring off into the distance…

Had Kiyotaka done something wrong? Mondo had woken him up for a hug in the early hours of the morning _yesterday!_ But now he barely wanted to talk? So _something_ must have happened! But when he’d asked Makoto and Chihiro if Mondo had said anything to either of them, neither of them had any idea what the problem was... or that there even _had_ been a problem!

So was Kiyotaka being over-sensitive? He’d have just asked Mondo, but he hardly wanted to admit that he’d become so clingy that a single day with Mondo paying him less attention than usual had got him worked up into such a state…

He finally got the essay all finished at… _8:15pm!?_ Curses! He was running fifteen minutes late for when he was supposed to start cleaning for Sayaka! He’d have to hurry up and start working quickly, and apologise if he was still working when she turned back up to her room…

* * *

 

Sayaka finished her final composition piece and checked the time… It was only 8:30! Taka had said he wouldn’t be done cleaning her room until 9pm, so that gave her another 30 minutes in the library… She might as well start doing that piece of work that wasn’t due until August…

She even almost got it finished before 9pm! She didn’t really get why _this_ piece of work had been given such a long deadline, but she wasn’t going to complain about being able to get her schoolwork done quickly!

She packed up her things and headed back downstairs to the dormitories, so she could check the state of her bedroom before the hectic day that tomorrow was going to be…

She almost groaned as she got to the corridor they were in though… Mondo was stood in the hallway, looking inside one of the rooms… She really didn’t want to talk to him by herself… But he didn’t look like he was going anywhere either, he was just stood there, looking into…

Wait, that was _her_ room! Why was he staring in _there?_ What would he even be looking _at?_ Whatever it was, it was holding Mondo’s attention enough to stop him from noticing her as she walked down the corridor and peeked around the side of him to see what he was staring at…

 _Oh for pity’s sake…_ Taka was still in there, cleaning under the bed with the floor roller, which meant he was on all fours and Mondo was taking the opportunity get a good eyeful of his _backside…_

Did Taka even _realise_ Mondo was doing this? He _was_ the one who sorted the photographs into that album… but then again, he was always so concerned with how _he_ looked in them, he might not have noticed what _Mondo_ was doing. Maybe she ought to draw his attention to it…

“Hi, Mondo!” She greeting the biker, loudly, who flinched as he realised he’d been caught staring.

“AH! _Saya…AAGH!”_ Taka cried out briefly before a loud thud rang through the air… Had he tried to stand up while he was still _under_ the bed?

“Ah, shit… That’s why I didn’t say anything to him…” Mondo muttered as an aside to her. “You alright, Taka?”

Oops… But he _still_ shouldn’t have been staring…

“Nngh… I’m fine… just made myself dizzy.” Taka sounded as if he was grimacing as he shuffled backwards out from under the bed. “Sorry, I haven’t quite finished yet. My homework took me longer than I expected!” He started to stand up, flinching as he did so. “If you could just give me another… 5 to 10 minute to finish cleaning under the… _ngh_ … bed, then I’ll be out of your… _arg…_ way…”

Oh geez… he must have hit his head pretty badly, looking at the way he was clutching at it…

“Do you _really_ have to clean under the bed?” Mondo asked with concern. “Who’s gonna look under _there?_ ”

“That’s not the point!” Kiyotaka snapped, “I promised Sayaka a though cleaning, so I’ll… err…” His eyes unfocused for a moment, and he leant on the headrest of the bed.

 _“Taka?_ Are you alright?” Sayaka asked him.

“I’m fine! I just… stood up a little too fast!” Taka insisted, trying to blink the dizziness out of his eyes.

“Are ya _sure?”_ Mondo didn’t believe him, “Lemme take you to the nurse, just in case…”

“I told you, I’m _fine!”_ Taka insisted again, even though he didn’t look it at all… “Just… give me a few extra minutes and I’ll finish cleaning and then…”

Sayaka looked around the inside of the room… the rest of it all looked clean enough, and it was _her_ who’d accidentally made Taka hurt himself… “I think Mondo’s right… you ought to go see the nurse. I can clean under the bed myself!”

“But… _I’m_ supposed to be…” Taka continued to be stubborn.

“Well, you can do _that_ part of it for me some other time!” Sayaka insisted.

“But…”

“C’mon, Taka… I’m gonna be _worried_ about you if ya don’t come and see the nurse…” Mondo admitted.

 _That_ convinced Taka, who sighed in agreement and slowly stepped out of the room, letting Mondo put his arm around him to steady him and lead him out of the room…

Huh… Taka really _did_ look happier around Mondo! He’d relaxed into a great looking smile the second Mondo’s arm was around him, and with Mondo looking down at him in concern, they almost looked like a respectable couple…

At least until Mondo suddenly blinked, shook his head and turned away from Taka with a scowl on his face that reminded her of the whole ‘disreputable gang leader’ thing. It was a shame that Taka probably couldn’t have his dream _and_ be happy with Mondo, but that was how it was…

She headed into the room herself, to pick up the floor roller and finish the job… geez, it’s really was kinda gross under here, she probably ought to do this more often, if only to stop the build up of blue and red hair…

 _*bing bong*_ Sayaka almost whacked her _own_ head on the underside of the bed as the doorbell chimed. That wouldn’t be Leon, would it? She’d told him not to come in tonight…

 _“Hiya Saya!”_ It was Junko, grinning away with a jug of some cocktail or other in her hand, “Muku and I are gonna have a few girly drinks! You want in?”

“Oh… Thanks, Junko. But I’ve got to finish cleaning…” Not that she especially wanted to spend time with Junko and Mukuro anyway…

“Oops! Sorry, hun! I thought you were getting Taka to do that, so when I saw Mondo drag him into his room, I thought you’d be all done!”

Wait… _what?_

“Taka and Mondo went into… _his room?”_ As in, _Mondo’s room?_

“Yeah… Why, did they tell you they were going someplace else?” Junko asked.

“Well… yeah. Mondo said he was taking Taka to see the nurse, because he hit his head…”

“Huh… well, that’s not where _I_ saw them going…” Junko shrugged, “Maybe Mondo wanted more ‘comforting’?”

 _Could_ that be it? It might be the sort of thing Mondo would do, but _Taka_ wouldn’t have ditched her like that, would he? But then again, Junko didn’t _seem_ like she was lying about it either…

“Oh well, who knows? Good luck with the cleaning!” Junko casually waved and left.

Sayaka sighed and started cleaning under the bed again… Taka had definitely hurt himself, right? Did it really matter if he went to the nurses office or Mondo’s room to rest? She’d have still been stuck cleaning this stupid hair off the floor by herself either way…

She irritably pulled off yet another piece of the sticky material that was now looking more like a blue and red carpet… only to find that there was no more of the sticky stuff left… _Oh great!_ It had run out just as she was almost finished, now she’d have to go all the way over to the stores just to finish this last little bit at one of the corners of the bed…

…Urg… Maybe Mondo was right, no one would be crazy enough to be looking under her _bed,_ right? Especially not right next to the bedside cabinets, anyway! And she needed a shower and sleep…

* * *

 

“Kyoudai… I _really_ don’t think an overnight bag is going to be necessary…” Kiyotaka tried to tell Mondo for the third time, as he sat on the bed watching his Kyoudai scurry around his room trying to find his things…

“Well, better to be prepared, in case it _is_ right?” Mondo insisted, “Where’d you keep your underwear?”

“Err… Top drawer of the cabinet on the right…” Kiyotaka answered instinctively, “But I’m already feeling better! I could probably even go back and help Saya…”

“Ya _said_ you were gonna get checked…”  Mondo cut him short with a worried-looking scowl.

“Alright, alright… I just think you’re worrying too much about this…” Kiyotaka sighed. Mondo really _was_ worrying about him at the moment… how could he manage to be so patronising and yet so wonderful at the exact same time?

“Well, better to be safe than sorry, right?” Mondo said, gruffly. “There anything else you can think of that ya might need?”

“Well… I have my earplugs with me, as always…” Kiyotaka checked his pocket, “And I’ll probably want my alarm clock…” Makoto and Hina had both agreed with his suggestion that they get up early to set up Sayaka’s party _before_ the camera crews arrived… But what _else_ did he need to do for tomorrow? Why did he have a nagging feeling that there was something he’d missed doing…? He’d had a _lot_ to do the last few days… had he really managed to get it _all_ done?

“Anything else?” Mondo asked, placing the alar clock in the bag.

“I feel like there was _something…”_ Kiyotaka admitted, still coming up blank. What else did he have to do tomorrow? There was Sayaka’s homework, but he’d be able to pick that up once he set up the party… Then it was just classes and the party itself… nothing he’d need _tonight,_ right…?

“Well, if it’s important, you’ll remember it!” Mondo shrugged, holding a hand out for him, “Now c’mon!”

“…I can walk by myself…” Kiyotaka insisted, standing up _without_ Mondo help and heading out towards the door… only to almost trip over _absolutely nothing_ partway there…

“See! I _told_ you ya need ta get checked out!” Mondo snapped, rushing forward to steady him…

“I’m fine! I just… must have caught a snag in the carpet!” Kiyotaka exclaimed.

Mondo was having none of it though, and insisted on supporting him all the way to the med centre, just as he had done to the room… Which would have been nice… if it hadn’t been quite so _galling!_ Why was Kiyotaka being such a _klutz_ today!? He really hoped this didn’t keep up tomorrow, when the cameras were running… No one would want to vote for someone who couldn’t walk ten feet without causing himself bodily damage...

* * *

 

(Friday, July 6th 2012)

“…And _that’s_ my homeroom classroom, of course, it’s empty at this time of the morning!” Sayaka was ‘cheerfully’ guiding a group of photographers, cameramen and steering committee relatives through the school… “And _this_ is… well, it’s _usually_ where we set up surprise birthday parties for each other!” She stopped with a twirl and opened up the door to show the guys from the magazine…

“…same banner we always put up, though!” Makoto’s voice came out from the door as it started to open, “And we had Byakuya’s party in here…”

“I know… it just looks a bit… _lacking_ today…” Taka’s voice followed it as the door continued to open.

“Oh! Maybe we can get some _glitter!”_ The door opened fully to reveal Hina bouncing around excitedly… “And some party poppers and… umm…” She trailed off as she and the other two noticed Sayaka stood at the door, along with about 15 people, all watching them discuss the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner that they were holding out between them…

“Sayaka! Hi!” “Fancy meeting _you_ in here!” Makoto and Hina both tried to hide the banner, and the table of food behind it, but…

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Taka ruined their attempt by stretching his side of the banner out further so it would look better…

“Uhh…” “Umm…”, “Err…” There was a short moment where they all looked at each other and then…

“…I mean… what are you doing working so soon after curfew! You should be having break…” Taka switched to hiding his half of the banner just as…

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Hina and Makoto followed _Taka’s_ lead and stretched out the banner themselves, grinning wildly in embarrassment as the group behind her started tittering at the three of them.

“Ah… w-we weren’t expecting you so early…” Taka mumbled, stretching out his part of the banner with a shameful look on his face.

“Oops! Sorry! I never thought you’d all bother to get up early just for _me!”_ Sayaka acted overly-surprised at the, in retrospect, completely predictable behaviour from her early-bird friends.

“What!? Of _course_ we’re willing to get up early for you!” Taka panicked as he fell for her act big-time… “Why would you think we’re _not!?_ Have we given some indication that we don’t…?”

“Ah, Taka, she just means she wouldn’t take it for granted, that’s all…” Makoto stopped him.

“And we usually do this in the afternoon, so…” Hina added.

“Err… r-right…” Taka started turning red as he realised he’d over-reacted.

“But, it’s really nice of you all to go to this trouble for me! It looks great in here! And I’m sure it’ll be a _great_ party once it’s all set up!” Sayaka smiled, “We’ll just get out of your way and let you finish up, and _then_ I can bring the cameras back once you’ve all finished!”

“Sure, see you later, Sayaka!” Makoto waved her off as she shut the door…

“That guy in white seemed _way_ too nervous about your party…” One of her fans commented.

“Oh… you mean Taka?” Sayaka checked, “He’s… just a little nervous about cameras…”

She should really have seen that coming. Taka had got over his old awkwardness in photographs, but _video_ cameras were another thing altogether, and Junko had probably made him nervous with that comment about ‘celebrity disasters’… Hopefully someone would notice how nervous he was and calm him down before the party, because she wasn’t going to get a chance to slip away and remind him of her previous advice before then…

* * *

 

The door closed and Sayaka was gone…

 _“URGHH!”_ Kiyotaka groaned in embarrassment, “I looked like a complete idiot, didn’t I?”

“Umm… not really?” Hina blinked in surprise at him, “I mean, not more than we _all_ did…”

“But… _I’m_ the one who kept doing the wrong thing and I misunderstood her completely and now it’s on _camera_ and I’m not wearing clean clothes and…”

“Wha…? Taka, those cameras weren’t filming anything!” Makoto told him, “They had the lens caps on!”

“Oh… they did?” Kiyotaka felt slightly more able to _breathe_ at that knowledge.

“And you can’t tell your clothes aren’t clean either!” Hina giggled.

“Err… you _can’t?_ But I slept in them last night…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“You mean you _always_ sleep in your uniform?” Hina exclaimed, “I thought you only did that before because you didn’t want to get changed in front of me!”

“Err… no… I don’t usually sleep in my uniform! It was just that I spent the night in the med centre and I didn’t want to get changed _there_ either, so I came straight here, thinking I could get the party ready and _then_ get cleaned up for school…”

“Wait… you spent the night in the _med centre!?”_ Makoto interrupted.

“Are you alright? What happened!?” Hina asked, checking him all over for signs of damage.

“Oh! Err… it wasn’t _really_ anything to worry about at all!” Kiyotaka assured them, “I just bumped my head and Mondo overreacted, insisted on taking me there, and made such a _fuss_ about it that the nurse on duty said she’d keep me in overnight observation just so _he’d_ stop worrying about it so much!”

It had been embarrassing really, how much Mondo had been acting like he was some fragile thing who couldn’t take a little bump to the head! He’d even asked if Nurse Tsumiki was around to get a second opinion from, despite Kiyotaka’s attempts not to pester her… but luckily she’d been away at a training course so Mondo had reluctantly trusted the other nurses.

“Hehhehheh… oh _come on!_ You _know_ you’re glad he gets worried about you…” Hina chuckled.

Kiyotaka tried to hide his urge to flinch… it was a perfectly innocent comment, but given she knew exactly _why_ he liked it when Mondo paid attention to him, it still worried him when she said things like that!

“Yeah… he really _cares_ for you, doesn’t he?” Makoto added.

“Ah…” Mondo? _Care_ for him? Yes, he probably did… just not the way Kiyotaka cared for _him…_ (Which was just as well _, remember!?)_ “Yes! We have a true bond of brotherly friendship!” Kiyotaka forced himself to laugh…

“…Yep.” Makoto said.

“You sure do…” Hina agreed.

Why did he get the feeling they were _both_ mocking him? “Anyway! We don’t have all day! Let’s get the rest of these decorations up!” He insisted, in order to change the subject…

It only took a few more minutes to sort out the last of the decorations, which he _still_ wished looked… _better!_ This was going to be in a _magazine…_ what if everyone who read it thought he’d been too lazy to put on a better party for the _Ultimate Pop Idol!?_ She must have high standards for celebrations after all…

“So… the decorations are up, the food’s ready…” Makoto checked the room one last time.

“There’s some music ready in the player as well, if she wants…” Hina added.

“I believe that’s everything!” Kiyotaka confirmed. “Everything’s all properly organised…” He repeated, more to ease his nerves than anything else. Everything was organised, so why did he _still_ have this nagging feeling he’d forgot something…

“Haha! Yes! Even _I’m_ organised, for once!” Makoto laughed, “I got her present ready and wrapped this morning and everything!”

… _Present…? Oh no… Oh nonono… How!? How had he completely forgotten THAT!?_

“Umm… Okay, I know it _sounds_ like that’s a bit late, but at least I…” Makoto assumed the look of horror on Kiyotaka’s face was _his_ fault.

“…I haven’t made Sayaka’s vouchers.” Kiyotaka realised _, “_ I’m not going to have time… It takes me fifteen minutes to write each one, and there’s four _and_ the cover! Even if I skip lunch I won’t have _time!”_

 _“_ You mean they aren’t just photocopies!?” Hina asked, “They always look exactly the same!”

 _“No!_ I write them out every time! Except _this_ one!” Kiyotaka smacked himself in the forehead… This party was going to be read about by _thousands_ of people and he was going to be the _jackass_ who turned up without a present! “What is _wrong_ with me!? How could I have been so _stupid…!?”_

“Woah, whoa, Taka! Calm down!” Hina cried as the pair of them grabbed his arms to stop him hitting himself again, “You’ve been busy, everyone knows that! Sayaka would probably understand if the vouchers weren’t as neat as normal…”

“But… but it’d be obvious I spent less time on _hers_ than anyone else’s! And what if someone takes a picture of them and it ends up in the magazine and…”

“Oh! I know! How about this? You _say_ there’s four vouchers, but you already _did_ Sayaka’s cleaning for her, right!? So you don’t owe her that one anymore!” Makoto pointed out, “So, you can just make three and the cover during lunchtime!”

Well… it was true he’d have time if he did that, but… “Won’t she be disappointed though? That I apparently couldn’t be bothered to write them all out…”

“Sayaka knows better than anyone what it’s like to be busy… she’ll understand!” Makoto assured him.

“Ah… alright then… thank you..” Kiyotaka sighed. The rate this day was going, he was still well and truly in the same klutzy state from yesterday… He was going to end up being a total _disaster,_ wasn’t he…?

* * *

 

“Well, welcome ‘backstage’!” Sayaka smiled, gesturing for the group of girls related to the steering committee to enter her practically empty bedroom, having to wait a while, yet again, for one girl who’d been excitedly tapping at her phone for most of the tour…

They all ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ appreciatively at the carefully constructed image of herself that she’d left in there… A mostly empty desk, with only a few sheets of music in a neat pile on top of it. A scarce few pictures, mostly official images of her band, but she had been encouraged to put up _one_ picture of her classmates as well, above the bedside cabinet. She’d picked one she’d sneakily taken just after finishing a set of songs for them all, so everyone’s faces were lit up with joy and smiles…

“Wow… you’re so _tidy!”_ One of the girls commented.

If only she could see the pile of stuff strewn haphazardly on poor Makoto’s floor…

“Well, being organised is important, when you have a lot of work to balance!” She said with a practised smile.

“Ooh! Is this going to be one of your songs!?” Another of the girls was looking at the work on her desk…

“Oh, that? Well, I’m _trying_ to write some of my own songs, but I’m not sure how well they’re working at the moment…” She rattled off the official line on the matter…

“…Are these all your classmates?” Yet another of the girls had noticed the class photograph.

“Yes! I took that photo myself!” Sayaka told her, “I’m really pleased with how it came out!”

“What are they all like?” The girl who’d been playing with her phone asked.

“Oh… they’re a nice bunch!” She answered, similarly to how she had done in interviews on the subject, “Some of them can get a bit rowdy at times, but it makes things more interesting!”

The rest of the girls all crowded around to look at the picture… “So… all of them have a talent, right?” One of them asked, “What’s _his?”_ She pointed at Makoto. “He just looks pretty ordinary…”

“Oh! That’s Makoto! He’s this year’s lucky student, so his name got pulled out from a lottery.” Sayaka explained, “It’s funny though, I actually knew him before we came here! We both went to the same junior high…”

“Is that why he was helping set up your party?”

“Ah… well, I think those three set up a _lot_ of the parties, but it probably helped…” Sayaka admitted.

“Why _those_ three? Did they lose some sort of bet or something?” One of them asked.

“No… They just happened to be the ones who first started organising them…” Sayaka tried to remember… it had been the three of them that first did Celestia’s party, right? “Makoto wanted to do something as a class event, Hina loves parties in general and Taka…”

…Why _did_ Taka care so much about organising all their birthday celebrations? It had been _him_ who’d first started it off by reminding them all of Sakura’s one, hadn’t it…?

“…Taka’s just a great guy, I guess!” She finished, realising she didn’t actually _know_ why he cared about birthdays so much. “He _is_ the ‘Ultimate Moral Compass’!” She giggled, “He’s always doing that sort of nice thing for us all…”

“Hey… so what’s _that_ guy’s talent?” Another girl asked, pointing at Hifumi… “Oh, and _her!”_ Another asked about Ikusaba, “What about _that_ guy with the weird hair? What’s _he_ like?” Another asked…

“Ah… why don’t I just tell you what they’re _all_ like?” Sayaka suggested, to which they all smiled and nodded eagerly.

“Okay, well… This is Hifumi, the Ultimate fan-artist… He’s… kinda obsessive about his work, but he’s pretty nice once you get to know him! And this is Celestia Ludenberg, the gambler… she used to be pretty demanding, but she’s growing out of that these days…” Sayaka started, pointing at each photo in turn. “Yasuhiro’s a fortune teller, and he likes to use that to cheer people up, even though he’s not always reliable… You might know Junko from magazines, but _this_ is her twin sister Mukuro, who’s a soldier… although she’s surprisingly sensitive for one!”

Urg… sat next to _them_ was Leon… she’d have to be careful about this…

“This is Leon Kuwata… He’s _supposed_ to be a baseball player, but he spends most of his time pestering me because he wants to get into the music business… I already told you about Hina, the swimmer… and next to _her_ is Sakura, the ultimate fighter. Don’t be scared by how she looks, she’s actually really sweet and patient with people! And next to her is Mondo, who leads a gang… and…”

… She didn’t really have anything nice to say about Mondo… honestly the best thing about him was probably that…

“He’s best friends with Taka here, who’s been helping me organise all my schoolwork since we started here! I’m so lucky he’s here! I don’t know what I’d do without him!” She glossed over Mondo, “And next to him is Chihiro, who makes all sorts of useful computer software, and Makoto, who I… _ahh!”_

Sayaka jumped slightly as she pointed slightly too hard on the picture, and it fell off of its mounting and shattered over the bedside cabinet…

“Ohmigosh! Is everyone okay!?” Sayaka asked, looking around to make sure none of the girls were hurt, which luckily they weren’t… that would have been a PR nightmare! “I’m _so_ sorry! Let me just call the maintenance team to clean up the mess, and then I’ll… do some acoustic performances to make up for it!”

The girls all told her that it was fine, and not her fault, but the singing would be great, thanks… which led to her do some impromptu performances over the sound of glass being cleaned up…

“ _Ahem_ …” One of the maintenance guys coughed for her attention after her fifth song, “That’s all the glass cleaned up… also we found your earring on the floor.”

“Ahh…” An _earring!?_

“…I thought you didn’t have any piercings?” One of the girls pointed out.

 _That was true!_ She didn’t _wear_ earrings! This was one of _Leon’s!_ This was evidence he’d been in her _room! And close to her bed, even!_

“Umm… I don’t know _how_ that got in here…” She lied.

“It kinda looks like that Leon guy’s?” One of the girls noticed… darn it! Why did her fans have to be so observant about this sort of thing!?

“Umm… maybe? I _have_ let him try to practise his guitar with me sometimes…” She tried to vaguely laugh it off.

They nodded, as if they were satisfied… but they might just be _acting_ like they were while planning on telling everyone they knew about this later… Or possibly even telling everyone right _now,_ given the way that girl had got her phone out again!

Darn it! If only she hadn’t startled Taka yesterday… or Mondo hadn’t been around to drag him off afterwards… or Mondo hadn’t been there _at all…_ then she wouldn’t have startled Taka in the first place…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka checked his pockets for the fifth time as he nervously looked around at the party. He needn’t have worried, there were still two envelopes in there, just like there had been two minutes ago when he’d checked for the fourth time that he still had them. So everything was going to be fine! He’d give them both to Sayaka, and tell her that she could open the one with the vouchers _now,_ but leave the one with the message from her music teacher, that she still had one assignment (which was apparently _already_ overdue, that was so unlike her! She must be planning to do it over the weekend, but still best to remind her about it...) left to hand in, until she was somewhere _private._ After all, it wouldn’t do her image much good if it got out that she’d missed a deadline _on camera._

Urg… the cameras… it felt like they were _everywhere!_ Obviously they weren’t, but there were enough of them that he couldn’t tell when he was and wasn’t being filmed. He really ought to go out and socialise in front of them… after all, it would look weird if he just _stood_ here for the whole party… but he also didn’t want to make himself look like an awkward mess, either, and he was getting so worked up that that would likely be what he _did_ do unless he calmed down…

Ah! Mondo was talking with _Leon!_ Those two together ought to be the perfect way to stop him from panicking! He started to walk over, giving Mondo a quick wave once his kyoudai spotted locked eyes with him… at which point Mondo quickly looked away from Kiyotaka and back to Leon…

Oh… was Mondo back to not wanting to talk to him? After last night, he’d thought Mondo had started… _caring_ again, as Makoto had put it. Or at the very least, being willing to pay attention to him! But maybe he was still just being over-sensitive…

“Hello, Kyoudai! Leon!” He greeted them both…

“Yo, Taka!” Leon smiled and raised a glass at him, “Great job with the party, as always!”

“Uhh… yeah.” Mondo agreed, gruffly and without even _looking_ at him, “Food seems ta have gone quick today…”

“Urg… that’s because it was so unimpressive that the camera crew thought we put it out for _them,_ not Sayaka…” Kiyotaka’s stomach churned as he remembered the absolutely _awful_ start to the party… why hadn’t he realised Sayaka would be used to better food than that and made more of an effort to…?

“Oooh… So _that’s_ why Toges was bitching at them all!” Leon exclaimed, “I heard him telling them all off for insinuating that Sayaka had better taste than _him…”_ He added, after Kiyotaka must have let his confusion show.

Togami had _liked_ the food at his party? That was nice to know, but… Togami’s party hadn’t been in front of _cameras,_ where people could _judge_ it and… _him…_

“Well, I’m gonna get some more food before it’s _all_ gone…” Mondo muttered and left, all while barely glancing in Kiyotaka’s direction…

_Oh gods this party was a mess and Kyoudai barely wanted to see him and everything was going to be a total **disaster** …_

“Dude… you okay?” Leon asked him, “You grip that glass any harder, you’re gonna break it…”

“Urg…” _That was a thing that could happen!?_ He _tried_ to loosen his grip on it, but all that happened was that his arm started trembling instead…

“Woah… seriously, Taka, _chill!”_ Leon grabbed his arm and took the glass off of him. “Is… is the noise thing happening?”

“No… just… _everyone’s watching…”_ He managed to shakily say.

“Eh? You mean you’re freaked out by the cameras!?” Leon asked, “Dude, seriously… they’re all focused on Sayaka… You’re just some random dude at her party, no one gives a shit. ”

“B-but I _organised_ it and they _saw_ me so they’re going to know _I’m_ responsible if the party isn’t good enough for Sayaka and it’s _not_ good enough so that means _…”_

“What? No, dude, it’s _plenty_ good enough!” Leon interrupted, “This is what you did for all the other parties, right?”

“But… those weren’t _on camera_ or for a _pop star…_ I should have _known_ it needed to be better than the others… _”_

“No… Taka, no! It didn’t, alright!?” Leon snapped, “Sayaka’s our _friend,_ remember? She didn’t want us to organise some big fancy event, she just wanted us all to hang out and give her some prezzies… the only reason this shit’s ended up on camera is ‘cause her boss strong-armed her into it!”

“But… once she announced it _would_ be on camera… I should have made it better _then!”_ Kiyotaka realised, “But because I… I haven’t been organising myself the last few weeks…”

“No… look, the reason her manager wants this on camera is to promote her whole ‘normal chick’ appeal thing…” Leon sighed, “So the magazine’s gonna all be like ‘her friends put on a small, simple, close-knit party and she loved it! Isn’t she the _sweetest!?’”_ He mimicked an over-excited falsetto voice. “So… don’t fucking _beat yourself up_ ‘cause you wanted to spend some more time with Mondo for a while…”

“Err…” _How did he know that!?_

“…That _is_ why you fell behind right? ‘Cause Mondo’s been hurting over his brother and worrying about _you,_ and you made time to help him through it all? _”_ Leon asked.

“Ah… y-yes! I… I wanted to be… a supportive _friend!”_ Kiyotaka… well, it was only _half_ a lie…

“So? No need to feel guilty for _that!”_ Leon shrugged.

“I… I guess…” Kiyotaka sighed. Regardless, he still wished he’d had time to make the party nicer, but he _was_ feeling calmer about the whole thing now.

“Umm… excuse me?” One of the female guests Sayaka had been showing around timidly approached the pair of them, “You’re _Taka_ -san _,_ right?”

“Err… well, that’s my nickname at least…” Kiyotaka admitted, “My full name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, how may I help you?”

“Oh, sorry!” She apologised, “I was just wondering if you’d mind taking a selfie with me?” She asked, holding her mobile phone up.

“…I beg your pardon?” Kiyotaka asked her. What was a ‘selfie’!? Something to do with her phone presumably, which would explain why he didn’t know about it…

“Uhh… I mean… I just thought it’d be nice to prove I’ve met some Hope’s Peak students!” She admitted, rushing the words out in embarrassment, “But if you’d rather not, it’s fine and…”

“No, babe, it’s cool!” Leon stopped her running off, “He’s not mad, he just doesn’t know what a selfie actually _is_ …”

“Oh… y-you _don’t?”_ She asked, sceptically.

“Err… no, I don’t…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Could you explain it please?”

“Here, lemme _show_ you instead…” Leon insisted, holding one hand out and taking the girls phone, while using the other to manoeuvre them all so he and Kiyotaka were stood either side of her. “Look up at the phone…” He instructed, holding it up above their heads.

Kiyotaka did as he was told, only to be greeted by a small video of the three of them, looking up from the screen, with Leon smiling effortlessly, the girl looking pleasantly surprised, and _himself_... his mouth set as a thin, angry line as his eyebrows furrowed and eyes glared up from the screen.

“Err… is that recording?” He asked, watching with concern as his own face took on a look of wild panic.

“No… but if you wouldn’t mind smiling, we’re gonna take a picture!” Leon explained.

“Err… right!” Kiyotaka replied, trying to think of something _pleasant_ while he pulled a smile… _oh gods… that looked terrible…_ And now the poor girl was looking worried at the mess he was making of her picture and Leon was rolling his eyes at his poor performance and why was he reaching his arm around the back of the girl and…?

His question was answered as he felt Leon’s fingers brushing against his _sides…_ “Ah… _ahahahaha_! _AHAHAHA!”_ He burst into laughter as Leon mercilessly took advantage of his family’s sensitive sides…

 _“There_ we go!” Leon exclaimed triumphantly, as a sound akin to a camera shutter rang out while his eyes were shut. “Let’s see how it looks…” He brought the phone down and tapped on it a bit… “Heh… that’s a pretty good shot! Except we got photobombed by Mondo…”

“Err… _‘photobombed’!?”_ Kiyotaka asked.

“It’s when you go tot ake a picture, and then someone else ends up in the shot and makes it look silly… see?” Leon turned the phone around to show them…

It was as Leon had said, the three of them in the foreground were all looking quite good with pleasant smiles, however Mondo was visible behind the girl in the middle and…

“…He looks very angry.” Kiyotaka noticed, “Did we upset him?”

“Ehhh… it’s probably just bad timing!” Leon shrugged as he handed the girl her phone back and she thanked them both and scurried away… “Unless you think there’s a reason he’s pissed with us?”

“Ahh… well… I have been wondering…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Has Mondo… mentioned anything about me in the last few days?”

“Uhh... what sort of thing?” Leon asked.

“W-well… I noticed he hasn’t really seemed to… _look_ at me much, since yesterday, and I was wondering if he’d mentioned being irritated with me at all…?”

“Huh…?” Leon considered it, “Oh yeeeeah! He _did_ seem pretty _flustered_ with you just now!” Leon grinned.

 _Flustered?_ Like he had some sort of _crush_ on _Kiyotaka?_ Hah! Leon must have confused the word with something else! “What exactly do you mean?”

Leon smirked at the question, “Well, you know… he keeps on…”

“Hey, you guys…” Leon scowled as he was interrupted by one of the members of staff from the magazine. “We’re going to be filming Maizono getting her presents soon, so if you wouldn’t mind getting them ready…”

“Err… right…” Kiyotaka hesitantly agreed, noticing that most of the other members of the class were already lining up in a queue leading to Sayaka, who was sat at a table, read to receive and unwrap the gifts.

“We gotta _queue_ to _give_ her stuff?” Leon groaned, “Man, Maizono’s being such a _diva_ about her birthday!”

“She is _not!”_ Kiyotaka insisted. How could he be so rude about his own _girlfriend!?_ “You know full she’d rather this have been a private event!”

“Whatever, Mr Chivalry… Let’s go form an orderly line like you always want us to…” Leon smirked, pushing him to towards the end of the queue, and leaning forward to whisper in his ear… “You _do_ remember I’ve gotta act like I’m _not_ dating her, right?”

“Ah… of course…” Kiyotaka fought to keep himself from cringing… how could he forget _that?_ It was why she’d wanted him to clean for her…

The pair of them were the last two to get in line, which would have annoyed Kiyotaka more if it hadn’t meant he was right behind Mondo, who was now carrying a heavy looking box that he hadn’t had on him before.

“Ah, Mondo!” Kiyotaka smiled, tapping him on the arm to get his attention. “Did the new technique you wanted to try work well?”

“Oh, hey, Taka…” Mondo briefly glanced backwards at Kiyotaka before turning his head back to the front again. “It was alright… probably looks a bit stupid though…”

“Nonsense! You put a lot of effort into it, so I’m sure it looks fantastic!” Mondo’s woodworks were getting more and more impressive each time he made one.

“Well, we’ll see…” Mondo muttered, looking further up the line, to where Togami was talking about the different varieties of cocoa beans used in the chocolates he’d got her… and after that was Hifumi, who’d drawn her something, and Celestia had given her a heart-shaped ring that Sayaka was putting on the little finger of her right hand…

…Everyone was giving her such nice gifts… and all _he_ had to give her were a pair of cheap envelopes, one of which wasn’t even part of her present! And even the other one was just a hastily constructed set of vouchers! He was going to get up there and hand these over and everyone was going to think he was a complete cheapskate compared to all of his classmates… What sort of impression would _that_ leave on the readers?

Why, oh _why_ hadn’t he done… _something_ a little better with the vouchers this time!? Something that would have looked more impressive? He hadn’t even thought to get a nice, coloured envelope for the them, and he hadn’t had time to try and write her name out nicely either… honestly, the actual _present_ look completely identical to the message from her teacher!

…Ah…

Kiyotaka looked at the two envelopes… oh, no… they really _were_ identical! They even _weighed_ the same! And he hadn’t paid any attention to the order he’d put them in his pocket! He had no idea which was her actual present and which was the _note!_ He was going to have to ask her not to open _either_ of them… and then it would likely look even more pathetic and, and…

_Disastrous…_

* * *

 

Sayaka smiled patiently though Hiro’s speech about… something to do with why these shiny little bits of wood would bring her luck or something? She had to admit, she didn’t really buy into any of the fortune teller's stuff… she just hoped no one watching this video online would either.

She wondered if he’d have given such a long explanation if it _weren’t_ for the camera behind her? She _knew_ Togami wouldn’t have bothered talking about the different cocoas his company used, Hifumi wouldn’t have mentioned that he’d drawn her in his new original work (Out tomorrow), Toko wouldn’t have given her _poems_ (like the ones in her upcoming book) ‘in case you need some song lyrics’ and Junko _certainly_ wouldn’t have bothered making her stand up and show the camera how the new dress the fashionista had designed looked on her…

But, at least that was all the self-marketers done with, and now she was getting into the group who were just hoping she liked their presents, even if they _weren’t_ the most useful things to her… Mukuro awkwardly gave her what Sayaka _thought_ was a baseball bat, but was apparently a ‘tactical self-defence _torch’(!?)._ Hina had admitted she hadn’t know what to get, and had given her money and some self-made chocolates (she hadn’t been around to try the ones the swimmer had made for Valentine’s) and Sakura had bought her some protein bars, probably because she’d mentioned she didn’t always get sensible food breaks during busy concerts…

Makoto was next, he’d sheepishly given her a porcelain figurine of a crane, which made Kyoko’s present of a figurine of a pair of swans from the same designer make much more sense that it would have if she’d gone _ahead_ of him. Then Chihiro showed her a vocaloid version of herself that he’d managed to program (he told her he couldn’t let her distribute it at all, due to various copyright and trademarking reason…but she suspected her producer

 was probably going to be sorting those out and marketing this himself before long…) and then up next was…

_Oh no…_

“Mondo! Hi!” She forced herself to smile as the biker stepped up and put down a box which clunked heavily on the desk in front of her… he was giving her one of his carvings, wasn’t he? Which meant he was going to get ridiculously loud and emotional about how she reacted to it, just like when he’d yelled at Makoto on _his_ birthday and had to be dragged away by Kiyotaka and Leon…

Well… at least _they_ were stood behind Mondo… they’d be able to push him out of the way if needs be…

“Happy Birthday! Sorry about the wrapping…” Mondo said, gruffly, and she started to pick apart the mess of tape he’d used. “It, uhh… it’s not the best thing in the world…” _Oh boy…_ He was already starting to get embarrassed as she went to open the cardboard box inside… “I was trying a new technique and it didn’t exactly work the way I was hoping it would…”

Oh boy… what on Earth was _this_ going to look like then? She opened up the box and…

Oh _wow!_ Did Mondo really _make_ this? It… it was _really good!_

“It’s supposed ta be your band…” Mondo supplied.

“Yeah, I can tell…” Sayaka told him… she really _could_ tell it was the five of them carved into the top of the paperweight, the sides of which spelt out her name, like the one he’d given Makoto did. She could even tell from the faces who was who and… “This was from our 2010 tour, right?”

“Uhh… maybe?” Mondo shrugged, “Ta be honest I just googled pics of your band and choose one that looked easy to carve out…”

“Oh, well… it works really well! Thank you!”

“Yer welcome…” He muttered, “Umm… also… I know it ain’t worth much and I’m way too late, but… Sorry ‘bout that time I shouted at ya…” He added, scratching the back of his head and staring at the floor.

Huh… he’d finally apologised… and without making a big fuss of it, or it turning into nervous shouting, and he was actually turning to leave, as if he thought he didn’t actually deserve a response…

Maybe everyone was right, and she _had_ been too harsh on him?

“That’s alright! I mean… you’ve changed a lot since then!”

“Heh… thanks!” Mondo grinned at her, before heading off to join Chihiro, who was giving him a thumbs up.

Wow… she’d thought that was going to involve a lot more shouting than it actually did! It seemed like having these cameras here wasn’t such a bad thing after all, if even _Mondo_ could manage to stay calm in front of them! And the only people left to give her presents were Leon, who’d just planned to give her some random thing from the school shop and Kiyotaka who…

…who was stood in front of Leon, clutching a pair of white envelopes and staring over her shoulder with dilated eyes, as if there was a loaded gun pointing at him instead than just a camera.

“Hey! Taka! Good to see you!” She waved at him, trying to direct his attention onto _her,_ and not the camera.

“Err… Good Evening, Sayaka!” He exclaimed, eyes shifting wildly back and forth between her and the camera, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be performing to it or not, geez, it was like watching his early photographs in real time…

“…You… have _two_ envelopes for me…?” She prompted him, as he seemed to have forgot what he was doing.

He stared at them, long enough that it seemed to remind him as to what he was supposed to be doing, “Ahh... Yes! And… AH! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” He practically threw the envelopes at her. “PLEASE DON’T OPEN THEM!” He yelled, afterwards.

“Umm…” Sayaka blinked at him, “You’re not embarrassed about your present, are you?” She asked as gently as possible… he still worried about his presents seeming cheap compared to everyone else’s, even though he put so much effort into them! She should have guessed he wouldn’t want them shown on camera.

“Err… no… Unless you think they _are_ embarrassing!?” Her question had the opposite effect to what she’d wanted.

“No! Of course not! Your presents are great, like _you!_ ” She assured him, giving him the compliment that usually cheered him up. “I just wondered why I can’t open them...”

“Err… it’s just… one of them is a, err, a _private_ message… and I was too _stupid_ to think to get a better envelope for the… for your _present_ and I can’t remember which is which!” He admitted, far more loudly and apologetically than he needed to for such a simple mistake…

“Hehe! Oops! That’s not like you!” Sayaka giggled, “It’s a shame, I was planning to give you back the voucher for cleaning, as you did it for me in advance…” She told him, more for the benefit of the magazine staff, so they’d know what sort of thing Taka had given her…

“Oh! Well… there’s no need to worry about that!” He tried to sound jovial, but ended up shrieking slightly instead… “I thought I’d just save us _both_ time by not bothering to write that one out!”

“Oh! Okay…” Sayaka blinked again… to be honest, that _didn’t_ seem like the sort of thing he’d usually do… Even if she’d already _had_ that part of the present, she’d have thought he’d make the effort to write it out for her still…

“Err… b-but! I… I can write it out! If you want! In fact, I’ll remake the whole booklet, and put it in a nice envelope! Like I should have done in the first place!” One slightly disappointed look from her was all it took for Taka to completely panic…

“No! Taka, you don’t have to do anything like that!” Sayaka told him.

“No! I insist! I mean… this just isn’t _good enough_ , is it!?” He scowled at the envelopes, “In fact! This… this whole party isn’t up to your standards either, _is it!?”_ Oh boy… he looked like he was about to start _crying…_

“Yes it is! It’s been a great evening!” Sayaka tried to assure him… while also looking around to see if anyone could help him calm down.

“But everyone was just staring at him in awkward shock as he started to berate all his own work…

“You knew _weeks_ in advance about the so-called ‘surprise’, the decorations are cheap and tawdry…”

“Taka… will you just…”

“The food was barely to the standards of your _staff,_ let alone _you…”_

Oh geez, he wasn’t listening, was he? How was she going to stop _this!?_

“Hey… Taka!” Leon was the first person to snap out of the shared state of shock, grabbing Kiyotaka by the arm and shaking him lightly… “Calm down… the party’s fine!”

_“You’re just saying that!”_

“No he’s not!” Makoto, Hina and Chihiro all joined in…

“But…” Kiyotaka’s eyes moved over the room… he wasn’t looking at his _friends,_ he was looking at the cameras and the freaked out expressions of the people _behind_ said cameras. “I…”

“Hey… Taka! It’s eight to eight!” Mondo suddenly announced… what good was _that_ going to do?

“Err… W-what?” Taka blinked in confusion at the non-sequitur.

“It’s eight… well, _seven_ to eight, now… and it’s Friday, remember!” Mondo repeated, “Ya gotta ring your Dad soon…”

“Ah! R-right!” Taka gasped, “Err… I’ll continue discussing this at a later time! But be assured I promise to make amends for the lacklustre performance I’ve given!” He bowed and power-walked out of the room, followed by Mondo…

Huh… She guessed it made sense that Mondo knew him well enough to be able to get him to stop digging himself into a deeper hole like that. But she was probably still going to have to convince him that she _didn’t_ need a second party though, wasn’t she…?

“I’m going to go talk to him…” Sayaka stood to get up… But was stopped by a chorus of disappointed noises from the steering committee relatives, and an annoyed look from the main reporter from the magazine, who she was scheduled to have an interview with now…

“Ehh… _I’ll_ go after him!” Leon shrugged, casually throwing _his_ present on top of the two envelopes. “Happy Birthday, Maizono!” He added, walking away with barely a glance…

Oh boy… hopefully between the two of them, Taka would calm back down again…

* * *

 

AAARRGGHH! What a total _mess!_ His first chance to make a good impression on the public and he’d turned it into a complete… _disaster! Why_ hadn’t he prepared better? Why had he thought he could spare the time to take advantage of Mondo? He should have _known_ there was no such thing as ‘free time’ for _him!_

But he’d let his stupid crush get the better of him and now he’d absolutely _ruined_ a great chance to appeal to thousands of people… What was he going to tell his _father…?_

“Hey! Taka, wait up!” A shout from behind him slowed his pace somewhat…

“M-mondo!? W-what is it?”

“What d’ya mean, ‘what is it?’” Mondo exclaimed as he fell into step alongside Kiyotaka, “What the heck was all _that_ about? Since when can’t ya talk ta _Maizono_ without panicking?”

“It… it wasn’t Maizono it... It was the cameras…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“The cameras? What the fuck does it matter if you’re on _camera?”_ Mondo asked, sceptically, “You’re probably never gonna meet anyone who watches that stuff!”

“But… that’s _exactly_ the problem! Those people will never meet me in person! But they’ll still be _voting_ for me! That was my one chance to show them that I’m… trustworthy, organised… someone worth voting _for!”_ Kiyotaka cried, “But instead I was ill-prepared and disappointed Sayaka in front of _thousands_ … My one chance and I completely _ruined it!”_

“Uhh…Sorry. I didn’t realise you were thinking of it like that…” Mondo admitted, shamefully. “But… it’s not like that was your _only_ chance! Politicians are on TV all the time, right?”

“Yes… but I doubt Sayaka’s fans are the type to watch that sort of programming very often, if at all…” Kiyotaka sighed. _“They’ll_ still remember me as the _jackass_ who made a complete _idiot_ of himself just now!”

“Aww, c’mon! It wasn’t that bad! Ya just panicked a bit, is all!” Mondo put his arm around Kiyotaka’s shoulder as the rounded the corner to the phone booths. “And Sayaka _likes_ you! She’s not gonna let her fans think you’re a dumbass!”

“Ah… she isn’t?”

“Of course she isn’t! Hell, you help her out all the fucking time! The least she can do is say a few nice words about you here and there!” Mondo insisted.

“Ah… I suppose that would be nice?” Kiyotaka agreed, “But I wouldn’t want Sayaka to feel as though I only help her because I want a celebrity endorsement…”

“She’s not gonna think that! She wouldn’t call ya a great guy all the time if she did!” Mondo ruffled his hair, “You probably won’t even have ta _ask_ her to do it!”

“Ah… yes, that’s probably true…” She _was_ the type to speak up for others… “I didn’t ever have to worry about the cameras at _all,_ did I?” What a stupid thing to do… What was he going to tell his father? Thinking of which… _Ah! It was already a minute past eight!_

“Probably not, no…” Mondo sighed, “I shoulda…”

“Sorry, Kyoudai! I’m late for my phone call!” Kiyotaka apologised as he raced to type the number in and listened to the dial tone…

“Is he not pickin’ up?” Mondo whispered.

“No… this isn’t like him…” Kiyotaka confirmed, “But then, I _was_ late…”

“It was _one minute!_ ” Mondo hissed, just before the click signifying his father had picked up the phone…

“Good Evening, Father! I hope you had a good week!”

“Ah! Kiyotaka! Sorry I’m late…” His father sighed, and Kiyotaka could hear the sound of him moving his chair to sit down. “Whatever you’ve done with this pop star girl has made me the talk of the department…”

“Ngh! That video’s out _already!?_ ” It had only been 9 minutes!

“Video? No… they’ve mostly been talking about some… internet... _posts_ or something?” His father sounded even more confused about social media then _he_ often was! “And then for the last half hour it’s been about a picture of you…”

“Err… I don’t know what any of _that’s_ about…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’ve been too busy to pay attention to the internet!”

“Hmm… maybe I’ll try and talk to them then…” His father mused, “But what’s this about a video?”

“Oh! Errr…” Kiyotaka gulped and gripped the phone tightly. He still hadn’t worked out what he was actually going to say… “Well… ah… Sayaka was being, well, _filmed_ as she was receiving our presents…”

 _“And…?”_ His father asked.

“Urgh…” Kiyotaka _froze…_ How was he supposed to tell his father what a mess he’d just made!? Especially as his coworkers were apparently paying attention to it all!? Would they start mocking his father for _his_ poor performance, his father didn’t deserve _that!_

But then Mondo’s right hand was back on his shoulder, and his left was stroking his arm… and suddenly an old memory of the boy who’d stroked his girlfriends arm on Valentine’s resurfaced in his mind, and he _un_ froze and grabbed Mondo’s hand like it was a lifeline...

 _“Kiyotaka?”_ His father called into the phone.

“I… I got overly nervous about being on camera and… well, I probably made a complete _fool_ of myself…” He admitted, quickly.

His father was silent for a long while, during which he squeezed Mondo’s hand tight out of sheer nervousness…

“… Ah, I see! Well, I suppose that’s to be expected… and it’s probably not as bad as you think!” His father laughed, and Kiyotaka relaxed enough to let out the breath he’d been holding. “The first time I had to go on television with your grandfather, I was _convinced_ I’d looked completely ridiculous, but you could barely see it on the show itself!”

“Ah? Really?” Kiyotaka sighed in relief and loosened his grip on Mondo’s slightly, “I didn’t know you’ve been on television yourself!”

“Have I never told you that? He often paraded us around, as his happy family…” His father explained…

His father filled the rest of the conversation with stories about his old television appearances and his grandfather’s political campaigns, until he announced it was time for him to leave and hung up.

“…You don’t talk all that much…” Mondo commented.

“Err… Have I not told you this? We don’t have a phone at my house, so…”

“Not, I don’t mean you and _him_ don’t talk much, I mean… _you_ didn’t seem to get ta say much to him _…”_

“Oh, err… Really?” He hadn’t really noticed that… What an odd thing for Mondo to have picked up on! “Well, I didn’t have all that much to talk about, and he was telling me about my grandfather’s campaigning, which is always useful information!”

“Whaddaya mean ya didn’t have anything to talk about? Wasn’t he interested in the party at all?” Mondo cried, “I mean, the bit _before_ ya had ta give Sayaka her present, anyway!”

“Oh… well, I… I guess the conversation ended up going in a different direction…” Kiyotaka shrugged, “But it’ll be easier to tell him about it once I got photographs from it, anyway!”

“But… you don’t _have_ any pics of us, do you?” Mondo asked.

“Oh… ah, well…” Kiyotaka realised that he’d never confessed his ulterior motives for assembling the album, “I was thinking that no one would miss the class album, while we’re all on summer holiday, if I took it home to show my father!”

“So… you’re gonna take that album... and show it to your _Dad?”_ Mondo asked anxiously.

“Err… yes? At least I hope so?” Kiyotaka hesitantly confirmed… why did Mondo look like he thought that might be a terrible idea? “Is there a problem with that?”

“Nope! No problem at all!” Mondo cried, suspiciously loudly.

“Are you _sure?”_ Kiyotaka asked, “Because you sound…”

“Oh! HEY LEON!” Mondo shouted over him down the corridor, where the baseball player was indeed coming towards them.

“Hey! Uhh… hey guys…?” Leon started off walking towards them and waving cheerfully enough, but faltered partway down the hallway as his gaze dropped to their waists… What was he looking at…?

 _Ah!_ Kiyotaka was still holding Mondo’s hand! How had he forgot _that!?_ Why had he even done it in the first place, it wasn’t like they were on a Valentine’s date, Mondo had just been patting him to give him some moral support, bit then _he’d_ gone and made it awkward by clasping at his hand like a _girl_ ought to!

 _“Err…!”_ He looked up at Mondo, who was staring down at their joined hands anxiously, at which point Kiyotaka realised _he_ was the one holding them together and pulled his hand away sharply. _“Ahahaha…_ Sorry! I forgot I’d done that!” He apologised awkwardly.

“Ah.. it’s alright…” Mondo muttered as he flexed the now-released hand momentarily and then scratched his hair with it, “Ya just got nervous, right? It’s not like it meant anything…”

“Ah, yes!” Kiyotaka agreed readily… on the outside, at least. Inside, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that he no longer had it there to hold…

“Uhh… Am I interrupting something?” Leon asked them, as he closed the final bit of distance between them.

“No, not at all! I’d just finished my phone call!” Kiyotaka assured him, “Can we help you at all?”

“Eh? Nah… I just came to check you were alright, ‘cause Sayaka was worried…” Leon shrugged.

“Ah… Did I seem that bad?” Kiyotaka cringed, “I’m fine now! I’ll go back and tell her, even!” He added, although that would mean going back in front of the cameras…

“Eh, it’s probably not worth it. She’s gotta have an interview with some dude from the magazine, and then get ready to leave… and everyone else has packed up all the party stuff already!” Leon told him, “You might as well go chill out or something!”

“Ah… are you sure? There’s nothing I can help with…?” Kiyotaka asked… he knew the food was sparse, but had everyone really tidied everything up in just twenty minutes?

“I’m sure! There’s nothing else you need to worry about getting done until the start of next term! So go chill with your bro!” Leon grinned.

“Well… that’s not _quite_ true… we still have a week of classes, and Hiro’s birthday is near the beginning of the summer holidays, so we ought to organise something in advance for him before we all leave, and we also have to pack our belongings up before we depart the school for summer…” Kiyotaka pointed out, causing both the other boys to sighed dramatically, “But, I suppose I can go rest for tonight…” He conceded.

“Cool! See you guys tomorrow, maybe!” Leon did a daft salute before turning back down the corridor.

“See ya, Leon!” Mondo replied.

“…I hope no one’s annoyed with me for leaving them to pack up though…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“Why _would_ they be? You’re one of the guys who set it up in the first place!” Mondo pointed out, “If they’re gonna be pissed with anyone, it’ll be _me!”_

“Oh… of course…” Kiyotaka stammered. “I suppose I ought to let you go back and make sure there really _isn’t_ anything you could help with, then…” He added, with disappointment. Mondo had finally started paying attention to him again, he didn’t want him to leave…

“Yeah… I guess I oughta go check Leon wasn’t just lying to make _you_ get some rest…” Mondo frowned.

“What? Why would he do that? If I needed rest, I’d rest!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “I take my health seriously, and a sensible sleep cycle is part of that!”

“Yeah, I know!” Mondo ruffled his hair, “But I told him about your appointment tomorrow, so he probably thinks you ought ta rest up even more!”

“Oh… yes… _that._ ” Kiyotaka suddenly felt sick. He’d been so worried about dealing with Sayaka’s party he’d almost completely forgot about his promise to try and talk to nurse Tsumiki. But now Mondo had reminded him he could feel anxiety starting to claw its way up from his stomach… What if Tsumiki was still angry with him, or she let him talk to her but he screwed up again or…

“Uhh… _Taka!?”_ Mondo reached out to grab his shoulder again, “What’s the matter?”

“Ah… S-sorry, I just… I’d forgot about that!” Kiyotaka admitted, “I guess I’m just a bit nervous about talking to her after all of this time! I mean… what if she’s still angry and decides to refuse to treat _you_ because you’re friends with me, or I go in there and trip on her again, or…”

“Wha…? No, Taka! None of that shit’s gonna happen, alright!?” Mondo shook him gently, “Just calm down… you’ll do _great,_ okay…”

“I… if you say so…” Kiyotaka gulped. Mondo might _say_ that, but he could still think of a hundred different ways that this could go wrong, but he’d promised Mondo, so he couldn’t back out of it, regardless of how much he wanted to… And besides, he really _did_ need to make an effort to apologise to her, so he shouldn’t be such a coward about it… but still the thought of actually _speaking_ to her again was filling him with dread…

“Ya don’t _look_ like you’re calming down…” Mondo sighed.

“S-sorry…” Kiytoaka shivered, “I… I don’t know why I’m over-reacting to this… I… I should probably take Leon’s advice and go sleep…”

“Well, umm…D’yawannahugfirst?” Mondo mumbled.

“I beg your pardon?” Did… did Mondo really just say what he _thought_ he’d said?

“I… I said d’ya wanna _hug_ first!?” Mondo spat out, “I mean… th-that’s what you always ask _me_ when I’m panicking, and it makes me feel sleepy, s-so…!”

“Oh! Ah, yes, please!” Kiyotaka agreed, holding his arms out… “That would be wonderful!”

“What… _out_ _here!?”_ Mondo looked around the corridor anxiously.

“Oh… you’re right. Technically it’s PDA, isn’t it?” Kiyotaka realised. “Perhaps we could go back to my room, then?” He suggested.

“Uhh… y-yeah. Sure!” Mondo nodded quickly and started striding down the corridor towards the dormitories. He seemed oddly jumpy about this, given it was _his_ suggestion…

* * *

 

Sayaka shook hands with the man who’d been interviewing her and breathed a sigh of relief as he left and the the camera crew all started to pack up. At least _that_ was all over and done with, and all she had to worry about now was the concert over the weekend.

At least, just so long as no-one _had_ twigged that Leon was her boyfriend, anyway… She grimaced slightly at the thought… sometimes she wondered if she should really be dating him… after all, it was a _huge_ risk! If she got caught it’d ruin not just _her,_ but the rest of her band as well!

But… he was the main thing keeping her sane at the moment! She honestly didn’t know what she’d do if she had to choose between _him_ and her _band…_

“Hiya, Saya… You worrying about him?” Junko must have seen her expression and was frowning at her (Because of course she wasn’t helping everyone else pack up!).

“Worry about _who?”_ Sayaka glared at her… even if the cameras werne’t packed up yet, there were still her other guests around!

 _“Taka! Duh!”_ Junko cried, “Guy had a total _meltdown_ there!” She laughed.

“Oh… that!” Sayaka laughed a little awkwardly, glad that Junko wasn’t being stupid enough to mention her secret… “You probably didn’t help by talking about him being labelled a disaster, you know!”

 _“Aww…_ I didn’t think he’d take that seriously!” Junko pouted, “I mean, with all his hard work and effort stuff he talks about, I thought he’d see you as more than just a celebrity endorsement!”

“What… what do you mean?” Taka _liked_ her! He wasn’t just helping her out to further his career later, was he?

“Urg, well, isn’t that why he _acted_ all guilty about his crappy party and presents?” Junko smirked, “Like, if he _actually_ gave a damn, he’d have made them better in the first place!”

“But… he didn’t have _time,_ remember?”

“Well, he _said_ that… but do you really think he’s gonna be busy doing _important_ stuff _all_ weekend?” Junko asked, “I mean, if you were _that_ important to him, he’d have _made_ time for your first party, right?”

“I’m sure he would have done that if he _could_ have! He usualy does!” Sayaka told her, “It’s just because he got put behind by Mondo that he couldn’t…”

“Huh… so you think that whole freak-out really _was_ just ‘cause he feels guilty ‘bout _wasting_ all that time with corn-cob head?”

“Umm… well, yes…” Sayaka agreed, although maybe she wouldn’t have put it that harshly…

“Alright then! I guess you know him better than me!” Junko laughed, “Anyway, I think your fan clubs wants a word…” She pointed at one of the steering committee relatives and scooted away.

“Hi there, I didn’t keep you waiting, did I?” Sayaka asked her, “You have to be leaving soon, don’t you? I wouldn’t want to make you late!”

“No! It’s okay! I wasn’t waiting for long!” She blushed, “Umm… it’s just… I realised I left my coat in your bedroom…”

Probably because she’d _still_ been playing with her phone when they all left… “Oops! That’s no problem! We’ll head back there now, alright? I need to go take some of my presents there anyway!” She picked up a few… The food, Makoto’s crane and the two envelopes Taka had given her.

The girl nodded excitedly and they headed towards the dorms. At least they hadn’t run into Leon waiting outside the room with her suitcases, that would have looked suspicious.

“Haha… there it is!” The girl laughed nervously. “Sorry about that!”

“It’s no proble…” Sayaka started.

_*Bing-bong.*_

Uh-oh… that was probably Leon, meeting up to practise like they’d agreed… _now_ it was a problem! She was going to have to act like a cold-hearted witch to him now… just the _opposite_ of what she’d wanted to do before not seeing him all weekend!

“Hey! Ready for some ‘practise’!?” Leon asked, leaning on her two suitcases flirtatiously

“Kuwata, I didn’t say _anything_ about practising with you!” Sayaka lied. “I just needed someone to watch my suitcases…”

His eyes flicked briefly past her and into the room, and he caught on pretty quickly what was going on… “Oh, c’mon! You _totally_ implied it!” He pretended to snap at her.

“I did _not!”_ She ‘retorted’, “You’re just delusional, like this nonsense about you getting into the music business just because you passed grade _three_ last week!”

…She mouthed ‘sorry’ at him after that bit. He winked back,

“Tch! I’ll show you! And you’ll look like an idiot for blowing me off when I _do!”_ He flipped the bird at her and walked off to his own room.

“Sorry you had to hear that!” She spun around to face the girl… who was excitedly tapping out stuff on her phone… Oh no… Had she seen through their act? “Ah… what are you typing away about, there?”

“Oh! Uhh… just saying how _rude_ that guy is to you!” She jumped slightly at the attention, “But, you’re right… I ought to do this on the way home, right?”

“Well, we can’t have you getting home late, can we?” Plus it would be nice to ge ther to leave so she could go talk to Leon… “I’ll show you the way out, if you want!”

“Oh… no, that’s alright! I remember where the entrance is!” She insisted, “Although… are there… umm…” She started blushing even harder…

“…You can use my toilet before you go, if you need it.” Sayaka told her.

“Th-thank you!” The girl dashed inside the bathroom.

Well, now she had a few minutes to wait… Hmm… maybe she could see what that ‘private message’ Taka had given her was?

She quickly opened both envelopes, and figured out which one _wasn’t_ perforated down one side and opened the sheet of paper inside…

_‘Sayaka. Your music teacher mentioned that you had an assignment that’s currently overdue! Regards, Kiyotaka.’_

…

 _WHAT!?_ What did he _mean,_ she had an _overdue assignment!?_ She’d _never_ missed any of her due dates, especially not for _music!_ She was basing half of her image on being a good girl who got all of her schoolwork done! She couldn’t afford to miss a piece of work _in her specialist subject!_

Why hadn’t he just _told_ her about this! Why had he hidden it in this stupid letter and then told her not to read it!? And how was she supposed to get this assignment _done_ when he didn’t even tell her _what_ it even was!?

…Well, she was going to have to go and _ask_ him, wasn’t she? She couldn’t just _leave_ this!

_Alright, deep breath, relax, go out into the corridor and ring Taka’s doorbell… Keep breathing while you wait for him to answer, smile when he does, tell him you need to speak to him, walk in the room happily while he shuts the door behind you…_

“Ah… I hope the rest of your party went…”

“WHAT THE HELL IS _THIS!?”_ Sayaka demanded, waving the note at him.

“ _Aahhh!”_ He actually stepped back at the shock of her breaking character so dramatically. “Err… that? It’s… it’s what your teacher said? When I handed in your assignments, she said she was surprised you hadn’t included one?” He stammered.

“So why didn’t you just _tell_ me this earlier!?” She asked.

“Err… well… with the cameras there…” He started.

The _cameras?_ So was Junko _right? “That’s_ your reason!? Taka, I thought you were my _friend!”_ She cried.

“What do mean? I _am_ your friend!” He insisted.

“But you still cared more about making _yourself_ look good then letting me you messed up and made me miss an assignment!?”

“No! That wasn’t my reasoning at all! I was thinking you’d rather not have the press know you’d failed to turn in your work on time!” He scowled, “What makes you think it was a mistake on _my_ part?”

“Because I _know_ I’ve done all the work that was due, that was given to us in the classes _I_ went to!” She answered, “Which means it must have been given to us on a day when I wasn’t there and _you_ were supposed to be picking up my notes!”

“I haven’t failed to pick up your notes _once!”_ He retorted, “Who’s to say you didn’t forget to _ask!?”_

“Do you really think I’d last two seconds at my job if I was _that_ disorganised!?” Sayaka snapped at him, _“You’re_ the one who keeps _wasting his time_ with _Mondo!_ You probably…”

 _“Ngh!”_ His body froze and his eyes shifted over, behind her shoulder… to his bathroom door!? “That…! Th-this has _nothing_ to do with _Mondo!”_

Wait… _Was Mondo hiding in his bathroom!?_ Why would he be _hiding there_ , unless… _Were they secretly dating!?_ Was _that_ his ‘important plans’ for the weekend!? _That_ was why he’d not bothered to write out that last voucher, or gone to her party? And here he was, trying to deny it…

“Do you _really_ think I’m stupid enough to believe that!? Everyone’s noticed how much time you’re spending with him!” She told him, “It’s making your standards slip!”

 _“Ah!?”_ Well, at least he still cared about _that!_ “That’s… I admit, I… underestimated how much time I’d need to… take care of my responsibilities!” He hesitantly explained, his brain working in overdrive to spin it. “But that’s not because of Mondo!”

“But if he hadn’t _wanted_ to spend with you, you would have got on with the things you were _supposed_ to, wouldn’t you!?”

“Well… yes… but that’s not _his_ fault! It’s mine!” He insisted, “And… I apologise for not just telling you! But… your teacher said she’d given you an extension, so I thought she must have discussed it with you in person, and you were planning to finish it this weekend!”

Oh… that made sense, but… “She hasn’t mentioned _anything_ to me!” Sayaka cried, “What assignment _is_ it even?”

“Err… I don’t know! She didn’t say!”

“And you didn’t think to even _ask!?_ You know, just in case!?” Sayaka snapped.

“No! I… _There was no time!”_ He cried.

“…In other words you were too busy worrying about your upcoming ‘performance’ at my _party,_ right?” She said, bitterly. “Which you only needed to worry about because you’ve been _wasting_ all your time anyway…”

“Urgh…” He groaned, “You’re right… I’m sorry! But… maybe there’s a way to find to out? Would Leon know?”

“If Leon knew he’d have _told_ me!” She pointed out, “Just go back and ask the _teacher!”_

“Ah… I _can’t!_ She told me she was leaving for the weekend at lunchtime!” He cried…

“Well, then what the _hell_ am I supposed to _do!?”_

“Ah… maybe… you have all your notes, right?” Taka asked, “Perhaps you could borrow a classmate’s notes, and compare them to yours, and then when you find the set you’re missing, you’ll know what the assignment is!” He said, brightly.

Well, that _would_ work except, “I’m going travelling to perform at a _concert_ in _30 minutes!”_ She shrieked. “I’ll have an _hour_ of free time if I’m lucky! How do you think I’m supposed to find time to trawl through two sets of notes _and_ actually _do_ this assignment!?”

“Ah... I… I don’t know…” He admitted.

 _Urg!_ That was all he had to offer! She’d _trusted_ him and he’d made her mess up and he didn’t even have a solution! What the hell could she do _now!?_ She didn’t have _time_ to fix _his_ mistake!

…But _he_ should have, right!? Or he could _make_ some…

“You’ll have to come with me and do it.” She told him.

“What!? _Me!?_ Why me!?”

“Because it’s _your_ mistake that caused this!” She reminded him, “And you _said_ you’d ‘make amends for your _lacklustre performance’_ didn’t you!?”

“Ahh… but I… I promised Mondo I’d…”

“Well, you’re going to have to choose whether you care more about your _morals_ or _him_ then!” She insisted, “Because you don’t have time for _both!”_

“Err… I… gah…” He hesitated… and she didn’t have _time_ to watch him flounder around.

“I don’t have time for this… I’m going to pick up notes for music class. If you _do_ decide to help me, then meet me at the school entrance in… twenty-eight minutes!” She told him, before leaving the room…

Only to get caught leaving by that girl she’d left in _her_ room! “Oh! Hi!” She quickly switched back into character, “Was everything alright in there?”

“Ah… yep!” She grinned wildly, “Everything was fine! Thanks for everything! I’ll let you enjoy your evening!” She blurted out before dashing off down the corridor to the entrance, giving one last gleeful smile at Taka’s door…

What did _she_ think was so great about her having had to yell at one of her friends!?

* * *

 

Oh gods… what was he going to _do!?_ She was _right,_ he must have messed up somewhere and missed picking up some notes for her, while he was preoccupied with Mondo! So he really _ought_ to help her! But he’d _promised_ Mondo… and he’d been so worried about him… he couldn’t just up and leave either, could he!?

“Uhh… Taka…” Mondo’s voice came quietly from the bathroom door, “She’s gone, right?”

“Ah! Mondo!” Kiyotaka jumped… He’d almost forgot that Mondo had happened to need to go in there just before she arrived, “Yes, Sayaka just left…”

“…Why didn’t you say anything?” Mondo asked.

“Err… a-about what!?” Oh no… had something Sayaka said made him realised how he felt about him?

“…’Bout me wasting so much of your time.” Mondo muttered.

“What!?” Kiyotaka looked over at him… He looked _guilty!?_ Why… why did he look as if he thought _he_ was the one responsible for this!?

“I mean… _fuck,_ I should have realised it _myself_ , right!?” Mondo scowled, “I mean, _of course_ you were gonna fall behind, with me pestering ya, and waking ya up in the middle of the night and all the other stupid bullshit I…”

“Don’t call it that! _”_ Kiyotaka told him, “It was _important_ to you, wasn’t it!?”

“I… I guess?” Mondo gulped, “But I wasted all _your_ time and…”

“NO! You _weren’t_ wasting my time! I… I _liked_ spending that time with you!” Kiyotaka blurted out, without thinking.

“But I still made ya fall behind…” Mondo sighed, “I shoulda known…”

“No… _I_ made me fall behind, not you! I… I like the fact that you were coming to _me_ for… support, and I wanted to be able to _give_ you that support! So I decided to put off responsibilities I _could_ have been doing _then_ until later…” Kiyotaka admitted. “I thought I’d still have the time to get everything done… That it was alright to relax and spend a little of my free time in advance, while you’d appreciate it more! I should have _known_ that wasn’t the case, but I was enjoying myself so much I deluded myself into thinking everything was perfectly fine and now I’ve _messed up_ and Sayaka’s upset with me and it’s all _my_ fault because I was being _stupid and…!_ ”

“Uhh… hey! C’mon, Taka!” Mondo rushed over to him as he started shaking and tears formed in his eyes. “You’ll be able ta fix Maizono’s thing this weekend, right? So it’ll be fine!” Mondo assured him as he bundled Kiyotaka into his arms for a hug.

“Ah…” Kiyotaka’s breath hitched as gripped Mondo’s waist in his arms. “But… what about _you…_ I promised you I’d try to talk to Tsumiki…”

“Well, we can do that whenever! Maizono needs your help _now!”_ Mondo pointed out.

“But… what about the appointment you made?” Kiyotaka asked.

“I’ll just go myself! Hell, maybe I can try and talk to her and convince her to talk to you _without_ you there!” He suggested, “Then it’ll give her some time to think about it!”

“I… I suppose that makes sense…” Kiyotaka admitted, starting to let himself relax against Mondo’s chest, this wasn’t half as bad as it had seemed a minute ago… Thank goodness Mondo was so reasonable! Now he’d still be able to help Sayaka without disappointing Mondo, and he was even getting the hug he’d wanted! This had ended up going _great,_ even! It was amazing how so little time with Mondo could make him go from feeling outright despair at his situation to _joy…_ Could make him forget every worry he had as he focused on the firm wall of muscles he was leant against and the warm, musky scent surrounding him and the bolts of excitement travelling through him and coalescing down in his…

 _Oh gods no! Not NOW!_ There was no way Mondo wouldn’t notice if _that_ happened while they were _hugging_ like this!

“Ahh… I need to go shower!” He instinctively announced as he pushed himself away from Mondo.

“Uhh…. Are ya gonna have time?” Mondo asked, “You’ll be gone for two days, won’t ya need to pack stuff as well?”

“ _Errgh_ …” _Aaaahhh…_ He’d forgot about that! He had less than twenty-five minutes to get ready to leave with Sayaka! There’s no way he’d manage to pack his things _and_ privately fantasise about Mondo!

“How about I do it, then?” Mondo asked.

“Errr… _what!?”_ Mondo wasn’t talking about replacing… his need to _shower,_ was he!?

“I know where all ya stuff is!” Mondo announced, heading over to the same bag he’d taken to the medical centre yesterday, “And you’ve still got half the stuff in your bag from last night! So I just gotta get a uniform from your wardrobe! I can do all that while you shower!”

… _Of course he meant he could pack the bag, Kiyotaka_ _you deluded_ _idiot! _ But at least it meant he could sort himself out before Mondo noticed the problem…

“Thank you very much, Mondo!” Kiyotaka bowed, hoping that might help hide it… “I’ll make sure I return the favour at some point!”

“Ah… sure, no proble…” Mondo barely managed to start a reply before Kiyotaka had scampered into the bathroom…

* * *

 

Sayaka looked down at the large pair of files currently balanced on top of her suitcases… On second thought, expecting Taka to drop his plans with Mondo to sort through all of _this_ was kind of crazy, wasn’t it? Even if it _was_ Taka’s fault she’d missed an assignment, _she_ still could have been told about this herself, if she’d got her homework done a day early instead of letting Leon convince her to go do Laser Quest and let Taka hand it all in…

Wait… maybe _Leon_ would be willing to go through all this stuff or her? He’d probably like the chance to go backstage at a concert with her, right? She’d just give him a quick text and... why had Junko messaged her a picture?

…It looked like a selfie taken by Leon, with Taka and that last girl with the phone… it would have been a really nice picture, if Mondo wasn’t in shot scowling at them all… But why was _Junko_ sending her this?

_‘Hiya Saya! FYI this bitch put this pic up on Twitter during the party saying it’s got your boyfriend in it! Your fans sure suck don’t they? @_@ @_@ Hope you have a great bday! Junko @u@ @u@’_

That lying little…! Telling her she was tweeting about how ‘ _rude’_ Leon was, right after outing him as her _boyfriend!?_ Urg… there was no way she could take Leon with her now, it’d all but confirm the truth! Her only choice know was to hope that Taka actually _did_ decide to help her… It was getting pretty close to the bus arriving, what if he _didn’t_ come and help…?

“See! She’s still there! I told you we had time!”

“I still think it was unnecessary to pack quite so much, especially not the items that aren’t _mine!”_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Taka and Mondo bickering like an old married couple… He really _had_ come to help! And from the sounds of it, Mondo had helped him get ready!

…She’d probably made _both_ of them feel really guilty, hadn’t she?

“Umm… Hi guys!” She greeted them sheepishly…

“Hello, Sayaka! I apologise for almost being late!” Taka had the oddest sense of punctuality she knew of… “How much space will we have for personal belongings? I imagine with an extra person it might be rather cramped, so if you need me to leave any of this here…” He gestured to two carrier bags being carried by Mondo.

“Umm… there’ll be plenty of room for that…” Sayaka blinked. He was hardly bringing _anything…_ And most of that stuff looked like food… Did he think they wouldn’t have catering for staff at the concert?

“See… told you’d they have a big car!” Mondo smirked at Taka and ruffled his hair.

“I still say most of this is unnecessary!” Kiyotaka griped back, “Especially taking her torch!”

“Whose torch?” Sayaka asked them.

“Yours! Y’know… the one Mukuro gave you? It got mixed up with the food from the party, but I thought Taka might need it, so I put it in there to!”

So Taka could look through the notes while they were driving? “Oh! That’s good thinking, but there will be plenty of light on the bus!”

“Well, uhh… ya might still want it for… y’know… something _else!”_ Mondo muttered.

What else would Taka need a _torch_ for?

“… Kyoudai… I’m almost _certain_ I won’t need to defend myself while I’m there…” Taka sighed.

“Well… Ya never know!” Mondo cried, “I’ve heard stories of these lunatic fans, one of ‘em might try and jump ya!”

Taka sighed quietly… “Alright, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll keep it with me…”

“…Thanks…” Mondo actually _blushed,_ “And make sure whoever’s driving doesn’t act like an idiot about it!”

“They’re transporting the five most popular girls in the country! Of course they’re going to be sensible!” Taka countered.

“Well… I guess… but make sure the cars in good nick as well!” Mondo insisted, “I mean… I can have a look at it as well… Cars ain’t exactly my thing, but…”

What sort of low-rate band did he think they _were!?_

“The company we rent it from will have made sure that absolutely nothing will be wrong with the bus!” Sayaka told him, “They’d have lost all their business pretty quickly if they _didn’t…”_

“It’s a _rental!?”_ Mondo scowled, “Ya mean, ya don’t _own_ your own your _own_ ride?”

“Well, we don’t go on tour _that_ often! There’s no point us paying security staff to sit around on an unused bus.” Sayaka shrugged.

“But… what about when ya just wanna go out somewhere… ya know, for fun!” Mondo asked.

“Umm… I don’t?” Sayaka pointed out, “And if I _do_ have to go somewhere in a hurry, my manager can arrange a car or limo…”

“But… so you always gotta _ask_ someone to…”

“What is _that!?”_ Taka suddenly interrupted them, staring out of the windows on the front door anxiously…

“Hmm… oh, that’ll be the bus!” Sayaka realised she could hear the sound of the bus coming up the road. “We’d best head outside, it won’t fit through the gate.”

“Ah, very well!” Taka agreed, taking the bags off of Mondo, and also picking up the two sets of notes and one of her cases. “Have a good weekend, Mondo!”

“Yeah… you to!” Mondo frowned, “Umm… and…look after yourself, alright?”

“I will do!” Taka insisted, “And don’t _you_ get into any trouble while I’m gone, either!”

“Alright.” Mondo nodded, watching Taka drag the stuff away with a worried look…

She picked up her second case and followed after Taka, who’d somehow got the door open and was holding it open for her. “Thanks Taka!” She said as she headed through it, “You’d think you’d never gone travelling before, the way he worries about you…” She laughed.

“Ah… well, aside from the trip _here,_ I haven’t, really. And I’ve only done _that_ once!” Taka told her, “How long will the drive to your concert be?”

“Oh… I’m not sure exactly how long it would take to drive… but we’re due to get there tomorrow morning!” She told him.

“Ah… so you have to sleep on the bus? That must be uncomfortable!”

“Well, it’s not the best…” Those beds were never _really_ ‘full-sized’ and the lounges were pretty small, and there was only one shower and toilet between _five_ girls! “But we have to make do in order to get to performances on time!”

“Ah! Of course!” Taka nodded, looking impressed, only to then look completely shocked once they got to the outer gate and he saw the bus… “What…? How many people are you _taking!?”_ He gasped.

“It’s just the five of us and a couple of roadies and… oh, and the driver of course, but he won’t sleep.” Sayaka explained, “It’s got enough beds for eight though, so there’ll be space for you!”

“…It’s got _beds!?”_ He stared at it in awe, as the two members of the road crew came out and, once she’d explained who Taka was, took their things inside and helped them onto the bus, where she was greeted with a cheer…

_“Sayaka!”_

_“Hey!_ Hi, Everyone!” Sayaka laughed and rush over to share a hug with her girls…

“Psst… Sayaka? Do you _know_ that guy who yelled at your party has follow you on the bus?” Satomi whispered in her ear.

“Huh? Oh! I almost forgot!” Sayaka laughed, “Everyone, this is Taka! He’s coming along because we realised we mucked something up and I didn’t _quite_ have all my homework done!”

She gestured over to Taka, who stopped staring around the bus in shock and bowed to them all… “Greetings! I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru! It’s good to meet you all!”

“So, he’s not your boyfriend then?” Ayaka asked her, barely giving him a second glance.

“Of course not! Do you think I’m crazy!?” Sayaka cried.

“Just checking.” She shrugged, “Anyway, we’ve got concert plans to discuss…” She added, as they started to move through the kitchen towards the curved rows of leather seats around a table that constituted the ‘lounge’…

“Ahh… and I can make a start on comparing these notes!” Taka added, starting to follow them all to the table, which all the other girls looked worried about.

“It might be easier for you if you sit in the upstairs lounge.” Sayaka suggested.

“…There’s an _upstairs!?”_ He gaped at her.

“Yep! It’s where all the beds are!” Sayaka told him.

“Kenta can take you up there, get your bunk ready and stay around to look after you!” Jutaro, the more veteran of the two road crew members told him, gesturing to the newer, burlier looking roadie.

Sayaka had to admit, she’d have rather Taka stayed with _them…_ Jutaro had been organising their concert itinerates for a few years, but he was another person who always gave her the feeling that she shouldn’t trust him…

But the other girls seemed to get on well with him, they’d all looked really pleased at his suggestion as well…

“Well… I’m not sure I need ‘looking after’ but a tour of… _everything_ would be useful…” Taka muttered, with equal parts indignation and awe in his voice, as he followed Kenta up the stairs.

“Man, I’m glad he didn’t suggest they go the other way around!” Satomi whispered, “Now we can say what we want…”

“What do you mean?” Sayaka asked her.

“Well… We pretty sure _he’s_ the one passing on stuff we talk about… like your party today!” Satomi explained quietly.

Well, _that_ explained how her manager had known, then! It was good to know she could still trust the five of them, if no one _else_ on this bus! Other than Taka, of course!

“…We don’t have evidence of that though…” Ayaka muttered, giving a sideways glance at Jutaro… Hmm… Maybe Sayaka’s intuition was right about him. But, she needed to work with him like a professional, after all…

* * *

 

Good _lord,_ you could _live_ in this place! And it had more living space than his _house!_ Admittedly, it was meant for eight people, and there was little in the way of privacy for them, but… there was a _shower!_ That you could use while _moving!_ On a _bus!_ And a kitchen area and _two_ separate lounges? With television and videogames!? That you could play while being driven around!?

Even if the kitchen only had a microwave, you could still live in here! Especially if you bought a rice cooker and plugged it in! Assuming there _were_ electrical outlets, and it didn’t shift about if the bus had to brake sharply... It hadn’t happened so far, he’d only experienced a slight swaying motion and a general, minor vibration from the engine, but that might just be because the driver was being careful…

“Do you get pushed about, being on here?” Kiyotaka asked his new guide.

“I’ve not worked here long, but it happens occasionally, mostly ‘cause some idiot pulls out right in front of the bus and the driver has to slam the brakes to make sure we don’t hit them.” Kenta shrugged, “But, anyway, lemme show you your bunk...”

They walk past eight, quite nice if a little small, beds. Each set into its own alcove and equipped with its own lighting and a curtain for privacy… but, _wait_ …

“Where does the driver sleep?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Huh… oh, he’s got a bunk in the front, next to the steering wheel…” His guide explained. “And as for _you, y_ ou’ll go in… hmm…” He went to gestured to one which was unmade, and mostly buried under a random assortment of coats and bags, but then seemed to change his mind… “Actually, _you_ can take the one on the right corner, next to Sayaka, and _I’ll_ go between Haneyama and Jutaro.” He decided, heading over to that bed and picking up a few things and taking them over to the bed on the left he’d originally considered.

“Ahh… thank you!” It would be slightly less awkward being on the bunk next to someone he knew, “Do you need any help with all that?”

“You wouldn’t know where to put any of it.” He shrugged, “And besides, aren’t you _supposed_ to be doing something for Maizono?”

“Ah, that’s true! I guess I can go sit on those seats over there?” He asked, pointing to a luxurious set of leather seating at the far end of the floor. A nod from the other man was all he needed to see before he settles down to get this task done for Sayaka.

Conveniently, both students were in the habit of writing down the date of their class, so all her should have to do was compare the dates and go backwards until he spotted the class that was missing from _Sayaka’s_ set of notes… This wouldn’t take long at all!

…

It took longer than he’d have thought. The man assigned to ‘look after him’ had interrupted him several times to ask if he needed anything from the floor below, such as drinks of snacks, despite Kiyotaka’s assurance after the first time that he’d brought along plenty of his own! It had almost seemed as if the man just wanted an excuse to head downstairs, but after a while he seemed to calm down and relax in one of the chairs.

“Did you find it, yet?” He was interrupted by a tired sounding Sayaka just as he was nearing the start of the notes and starting to curse himself for having missed the missing assignment…

“Err… no, not yet…” He admitted, noticing the man sat nearby jump to attention… had he been dozing off in the chair?

“It’s probably closer to the back.” Sayaka pointed out, “It’s only recently that you’ve been _busy…”_

“That’s… _true._ ” Kiyotaka admitted, a little hurt by the tone she’d used to say ‘busy’. She was good at figuring out what people were thinking… had she noticed he was gay? She’d never said anything about it but… was that because she didn’t mind, or because she was silently judging him for it…?

“Well, I’m going to need to know what it is by lunchtime tomorrow…” Sayaka yawned, “It’s about the only free time I _have…”_

“Understood! I’ll make sure it’s done!” Kiyotaka assured her… That should be fine, right? It was just a simple case of going through them again… This time he’d pay attention to the _pattern_ of the dates as well, so he’d notice if he missed a page… “And have a good night!” He added, noticing that most of the other girls in her band were starting to crawl into their beds, aside from one who was transporting a huge assortment of bottles downstairs to the bathroom.

“Hmm…” She murmured distantly as she headed off to her own bed . Was she just tired, or was she annoyed at him? He knew it was foolish of him to have slipped up and missed it first time, but he was doing the best he could!

Well… hopefully she’d cheer up when he found this missing assignment…

Once the band had gone to bed, he had far fewer interruptions, the other man had joined them at the table, but he seemed preoccupied with his own work, and the larger fellow was well and truly falling asleep, despite his best attempts not to…

Eventually the poor man slumped forward onto the table with a thud, making both himself and the other crew member look up from their work in shock…

“Ah… who’s the first aider here!?” Kiyotaka asked.

“I am… but don’t worry, he’s just not used to the odd sleep schedules we have!” The other man assured him, “You wouldn’t mind helping me get him to his bunk, would you? He’s such a heavy sleeper I don’t think we could get him to wake up…”

“Ah, certainly!” Kiyotaka agreed and they awkwardly lifted the man towards the bunks… although they had a brief moment of confusion as the crew member attempted to take him to the bed at the end… “Ah, sorry! He gave _me_ the bunk next to Sayaka! He’s between you and, err, _Haneyama_ now!” Kiyotaka whispered, so as not to wake up the girls.

It was hard to tell in the low light, but it almost looked like the other man scowled at that… “Hah… should have guessed…” He eventually laughed, lightly.

Perhaps he’d imagined the scowl then… Besides, he’d had more pressing matters to worry about… most notably the fact that he was nearing the beginning of this pair of notes _again,_ and _still_ hadn’t found the class that was missing from Sayaka’s set! He couldn’t possibly have missed it _twice,_ could he!? But now he was back at the beginning and there hadn’t been a single mis-matched date… so where was this assignment!?

…Perhaps it wasn’t a case of the whole lesson having been missed? Maybe he’d dropped a single page? In which case he’d have to go through this in more detail, make sure he read the title of each assignment…

He sighed and flipped both sets of pages over to the back _again…_

“You’re starting _again!?”_ The road crew member exclaimed, “What are you even _doing!?”_

“Ah… I’m trying to find a piece of information that Sayaka’s missing from her notes, by comparing it to her classmates…” Kiyotaka explained. “I thought it was because I’d missed picking up notes for one of her classes, but they both match in that regard, so now I’m going to have to go through page by page…”

“That’ll take you _hours…”_ He frowned.

“But it needs doing before Sayaka’s lunch…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“…You look tired though. If you try and do it in _that_ state, you’ll probably miss it anyway…”

“It’s a possibility...” Kiyotaka admitted, there was a chance he’d end up having to recheck multiple times…

“Why not get to bed, and you can wake up early and do it then?” The man suggested, “It’s easier to work when _all_ the lights are on!”

“Ah… I suppose that true…” Kiyotaka agreed… He hadn’t exactly slept well in the med centre, and the anxiety that came with organising the party had been somewhat tiring… “I’ll take my leave for now, then.” He stood up and bowed politely.

“Oh, and you might want _these_ …” He rummaged in his pocket and held up a box of earplugs.

“Ah, thank you! But I have my own!” Kiyotaka told him, showing him the ones in his pocket.

“Well… _you’re_ prepared! Not your first time on a sleeper bus, then?” He asked.

“Ah… no, this _is_ my first time sleeping somewhere like this…” Kiyotaka corrected him, “I… I just have this issue where being in loud environments for a long period makes me… irritable, unless I can block out the noise and sit quietly with my eyes shut for a while…”

“Really? I’ll keep that in mind then…” He mused on it. “Good night.”

“And Good night to you as well!”

He headed off to his allocated bunk, where his pair of carrier bags had been placed neatly on top of the ready-made bed. (He’d have to make sure to thank Kenta in the morning.) He tried to quietly rummage through them for his toiletries and headed down the stairs to the bathroom to get ready for the night, before heading back up the stairs to his bunk, taking off his shoes, closing the curtain and lying down…

This place really _was_ luxurious… being able to shower and sleep on a bed, while being driven around? And Sayaka had said it ‘wasn’t the best’!? She really did live a different life to him… He wondered if this was the sort of thing he’d end up thinking was perfectly normal if he became Prime Minister… He’d have to watch out for that sort of thinking, keep in mind that normal people and their families couldn’t just rent a giant bus wth beds when they went anywhere…

Or could they? How much _did_ something like this cost? Was it the sort of thing you could take on holiday for a week, if you wanted? It might make for a nice holiday for him, and his eventual family… Of course, they’d still need a driver and that would probably cost extra… unless he asked a friend to do it… Mondo liked driving… right…? And Kiyotaka could take the bed in the driver’s area next to him! Maybe he’d be able to see out the front window as he drifted off to sleep, it might be relaxing, watching the cars driving around them all, as the humming and swaying of the bus lulled him into sleep… Everything peaceful and relaxed…

(Saturday, July 7th 2012)

_...Until the bus suddenly started slowing, rapidly, and Kiyotaka’s eyes shot open to see what was wrong, why was the driver braking… had some idiot pulled out in front of them!?_

_It was worse, it was a motorbike, racing towards them, and going too fast to get out of the way in time… and they weren’t going to stop in time either, all he could was look on in horror at the terrified look in those familiar lilac eyes as the truck continued it’s relentless movement that he knew was going to kill his beloved…_

“ _KYOUDAI!_ ” Kiyotaka woke up with a shout as the force of the bus braking slammed his legs against the bottom of his alcove. “M-Mondo!? W-what happened…?” He took out his earplugs and realised he wasn’t looking out of the window… he needed to see what happened to Mondo!

“Urg… it was just the driver having to brake…” A female voice groaned from a nearby bed… “Go back to sleep…”

“But… what about Mondo!?” Kiyotaka asked, “The… the motorcyclist! We… we were going to hit him!”

“…There’s no motorcyclist… You were just having a dream…” The more veteran road crew member told him, “…See!? We’re moving again! We wouldn’t do that if we’d hit someone…” He added, once the familiar humming and swaying started back up again.

“Ah… al-alright then…” Kiyotaka gulped and got back onto his bed… “G-good night…” He added, before closing the curtains…

It had just been a dream… Mondo wouldn’t even have been anywhere _near_ here! And yet… he couldn’t get the image of Mondo’s terrified face out of his head… He really wished he could talk to Mondo, even if it was just a short while, just to check he was alright…

He should be alright though, shouldn’t he? He said he wasn’t going to get into trouble while Kiyotaka had gone, hadn’t he? Just as Kiyotaka had said he’d keep a hold of the torch…

 _Ah!_ That was right! He’d told Mondo he’d do that! He’d best make sure it was unpacked… it would give him something other than that dream to focus on!

The torch turned out to be quite hefty… it was shaped like a baseball bat and almost the size of one to boot! He could almost use his Kendo styles with it, although it would probably tire him out pretty quickly if he _did…_

But, it would be enough that he wasn’t completely defenceless if some mad fan attempted to attack him, which was what Mondo had wanted… so hopefully, Mondo would be doing what _Kiyotaka_ wanted, which was making sure he was having a nice quiet night indoors, not going out on his bike and getting into an _accident_ and… and…

He tried to put th thought out of him mind, lying down with the torch in his arms as a reminder that Mondo and he had promised each other they’d stay safe… but it was no use, every time he closed his eyes, the image of headlights lighting up Mondo’s panicked expression wormed it’s way into his mind…

This was no use whatsoever… he might as well get up and see if he could find that missing assignment! He sat up and took the plugs out of his ears in resignation…

“You know I’m not allowed a boyfriend…” One of the girls was talking…

“Neither’s _Sayaka,_ but she’s brought hers _with_ her…” That sounded like the thinner of the two road crew members… But wait… was he talking about _Kiyotaka?_

“I’m not Sayaka’s boyfriend.” He stated, opening the curtains and turning towards Hirayama’s bed, at the two voices had come from there.

The popstar was in her bed, while the staff member… well, he _might_ have been sat on the bed itself, but he stood up so fast Kiyotaka couldn’t quite tell where he’d been.

“Ah… sorry, did I startle you?” Kiyotaka apologies, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I’ve just given up on sleeping tonight, and happened to take the earplugs out just as you mentioned me…”

“It’s fine. Jutaro was just going to bed anyway, _right!?”_ The popstar said in a demanding tone.

“…Right.” He nodded curtly before stomping back off to his own bed…

“Err…” He looked over to Haneyama, it seemed like he’d irritated the man, but why?

She didn’t give him any answer though, she just shut the curtains of her alcove.

Perhaps he could ask Sayaka to explain it to him, once he’d found her assignment…

* * *

 

“Rise and shine everyone! It’s go time!” _Urgg…_ Curse Jutaro and his early morning starts! Especially when she’d been having such a deep sleep… she felt like she could barely move… and she still had to shower as well… and that meant fighting the other three who hadn’t showered last night for the bathroom…

 _That_ spurred her into action, and she managed to round up her stuff and take it downstairs before any of the others…

The shower helped, a bit, but she still didn’t feel quite right. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t afford to be off her game right before a concert! Especially not one with another major band playing alongside them!

She got dressed as quickly as she could, ignoring the complaints from the other girls about how long she’d been in the shower (she’d hardly been in there at all!), and then helped herself to a large cup of coffee and some fruit...

“Hey, Maizono… what happening with that guy you brought?” Jutaro asked her, “Are you bringing him into the venue, or is he staying here on the bus…?”

“Ah…” She hadn’t thought about that, but with the bus not being able to stay parked outside the venue, she’d have to decide. It would probably be better for _him_ if he stayed here, where it was quiet and he’d be ignored. But it depended on whether he’d found that assignment yet… “Let me go check with him…”

She headed back upstairs, to find Taka groggily digging some food out of one of his carrier bags. The other was tied around one of his belt loops, with the torch stuck out of it, as if he’d tried to make himself a scabbard for it. He had the notes open about halfway through on the the table in front of him. Hopefully that meant he’d found the missing information…

“Morning, Taka!” She said sounding more up-beat than she felt, “Have you found the assignment?”

“Err… Happ Birthday, Sayaka!” He cringed at the sound of her voice… don’t tell her that meant… “I… I still haven’t managed to find it yet…”

 _Urrrgghh! Really!?_ What was taking him so long!? She knew Leon said he was slow, but she hadn’t realised he was _that_ slow! But he’d barely got started looking through the folders when she went to bed last night, and now he looked like he’d stayed up most of the night and he was _still_ only halfway through! Why was it taking him so long!?

Before she could ask him that though, there was a groan from one of the beds…

“Ah, Good Morning, Kenta!” Taka announced.

What? Why the hadn’t he got up already!? Didn’t he have prep work that needed doing?

“Uhh… How did I get to bed...?” The roadie replied.

“Ah, you fell asleep at the table, so Ju… Jutaro is it? He and I carried you over there…”

He fell asleep at the _table?_ How late had he stayed up for that to happen? Was that why Taka had been so slow? He’d ended up staying up late to chat with the burly road tech…?

…Well, he’d probably make a better boyfriend than Mondo, but Taka was supposed to be helping _her,_ not chatting up roadies!

“Urgh…really?” The roadie scowled, “Did anything happen overnight…?”

“Well, the driver had to brake hard at one point…”

 _“Guys,_ we’re doing a drop and run in an hour!” Sayaka reminded them, forcefully “You don’t have time to be chatting!”

“Oh… _shit!”_ That got Kenta moving at least…

“What’s a drop and run…?” Taka asked.

“It means we can’t park the bus outside the venue, so we have to make sure we bring everything off of it before it drives off outside of town!” She explained, “Which means _you’re_ going to have to get off the bus and come to the venue with me, so make sure you’re ready…”

“Ah… Understood!” Kiyotaka nodded, “Ah, it’s just…”

“Sayaka? Are you still gonna eat this banana?” There was a cry from downstairs…

“What? YES! Yes I am!” She shouted back as she headed back down the stairs to carry on getting herself ready…

Well, they did actually manage to get everything off of the bus, although Taka ended up helping unload several pieces of equipment, and was now chatting with Kenta about the safety measures were in place for the above-stage equipment…

“Equipment needs to be _inside,_ Kenta.” Jutaro sighed at them, “And I know about the secondary ropes, I rang ahead to organise replacements.”

“Right, sir…” Kenta sighed, and started lugging it all inside the back entrance of the venue, while the rest of them went around to the front entrance, where a crowd of fans had arrived early just to see them all and hope for an autograph.

“That’s a… _lot_ of people… with cameras…” Taka commented, anxiously.

“None of them will be interested in _us…_ ” She heard Jutaro tell him, as the five of them arranged themselves in formation, put on their best smiles and began to walk down the aisle, greeting fans and signing autographs as she went… This was the part she liked most, aside from the actual performances… being able to make her fans happy with just a smile and a few words to them…

“Ah, Maizono-chan! Will you sign my photobook!?” _Urg… these_ types of fans, on the other hand…

“Sure! No problem!” She smiled, perfectly hiding her annoyance at having the reminder that this _thing_ even existed shoved straight into her face by some gross pervert who was taking the opportunity to look down the the top of her dress while she signed it…

(“No, that’s not true, at all!”)… (“That’s _CERTAINLY_ not true! Not in a million years”!) … (“That’s _none_ of your business, and even if it _was_ , you’d have to ask one of the _female_ students!”) Behind her, she could hear a commotion as most of the gathered fans seemed to be asking  _Taka_ questions… Maybe they were asking him to confirm some of the stupider rumours about her… Whatever was going on, they held him up long enough that Jutaro ended up angrily dragging him the rest of the way up to the door without letting anyone talk to him.

But why did he seem so annoyed at Taka? It’s not like _he_ would have done anything to encourage the fans on _purpose…_ Maybe she should try and lighten the mood…

“Well, so much for them not being interet…” Sayaka started..

“Why were they all asking if I’m dating you or _Leon!?”_ Taka cried out before she could finish.

“… _WHAT!?”_ They… they were asking _Taka_ if _he_ was dating her!? But that girl had put up a picture of _Leon…_

Wait, no… it was a picture of Leon _AND Taka!_ Did that mean the girl had named _TAKA_ as her boyfriend?

 _Arrgh!_ Darnit! Why hadn’t Junko said _that!?_ She should have _known_ Sayaka would look at that picture and assume she was talking about _Leon!_

“They… they were asking me if I’m your boyfriend, but when I said no and tried to explain that I’m making up for making a mistake with your school work, they all asked if it was true that I’m dating _Leon_ instead!” Taka explained, “Why would anyone think _that!?_ I’ve only barely become _friends_ with the layabout!”

“Well, now I have internet access again…” Jutaro started looking it up on his tablet… “Urg… _here!”_ He turned it around to reveal, as she expected, the picture Junko had sent her, posted in a forum thread with a series of comments about it…

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: I’ve got a picture of myself with Maizono-chan’s boyfriend! He’s the one with black hair!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Like I told you in the other thread, that’s NOT her boyfriend! That’s just you third-wheeling a gay couple!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: Kuwata-san’s not gay! He said so the LAST time that rumour came up!_

“Leon _wasn’t_ trying to… to grab at me!” Why was Taka muttering _tha…_ oh…

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: You’ve just posted a picture of him GRABBING A GUY’S ASS!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: He’s not grabbing Ishimaru-san’s butt, he was tickling him so he’d smile better in the picture!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: That sounds even MORE like they’re a gay couple!_

The timestamps suddenly skipped ahead by thirty minutes…

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: Maizono’s bf just tried to hand her his present and a love letter at the same time but forgot which was which! He’s ADORKABLE!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: That’s not necessarily a love letter! He’s a hall monitor, right? It might be a detention slip or something!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: As if Maizono-chan would get a detention!_

“Why is this person so sure you’re a lesbian?” Taka asked her.

“What!?” Where had he read that…? Oh wait… Here it was… How did he read so quickly!?

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Okay, true. But if it IS a love letter then wouldn’t it make more sense that he’s NOT her boyfriend already and he’s about to get shot down because Maizono’s gay?_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: For the millionth time, Maizono-chan’s not gay!_

The thread developed into a ‘yes she is’, ‘no she isn’t’ kind of thing until…

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: You left your coat in her room!? Dammit, why didn’t I think of that!?_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: I didn’t do it on purpose! Although I have just seen that Leon guy flip her the bird ‘cause she doesn’t want to practise with him…_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: His boyfriends not going to like that!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: You mean Maizono-chan’s boyfr_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: You still there?_

“Your bathroom’s _pink?”_ Taka suddenly asked, just before her own eyes looked far enough down to spot the comment _“I’m using Maizono-chan’s bathroom!”_ Followed by a picture of it…

“Aren’t all the girl’s?” Sayaka asked, skimming over the part where the second girl told the first she was a lucky _witch-with-a-B_ …

“Celestia’s was painted black, and I’ve not seen any others… Urg… so _that’s_ why they think I’m your boyfriend…?”

Wait… what was…? Oh, right, here it was…

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: OMG! I came out the of the bathroom, and Maizono-chan had opened the love letter, and then I saw her coming out of Ishimaru’s red all red in the face! If they weren’t dating they are NOW!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: You don’t know that! She might have been annoyed about the detention!_

_“Oh, you wish!”_

Sayaka decided to skip ahead to the last page…

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: She’s taking him into the venue! Totally dating!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: He said they weren’t! And she was completely ignoring him when they went in!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: She was busy! And he ALSO said he ‘wouldn’t date Kuwata in a million years’!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Can you see what they’re doing now? I’m at the wrong angle!”_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: No, I can’t either :(_

Well, good! Now they’d run out of things to talk about… Hopefully the idea was uncertain enough that if they dropped it there, then her manager wouldn’t hear word of it…

“EXCUSE ME!” Oh for goodness sake, _why_ had Taka gone back outside to shout at the crowd!? “To the pair of you who are posting speculation as to my relationship status on the internet, I am currently _single,_ and would appreciate it if you would both stop now! Thank you!”

He about-faced and strode back towards them all while her band all face-palmed at him…

“Umm… that’s probably just encouraged them…” Satomi pointed out, as the crowd started murmuring excitedly.

“It’s just like every rumour… ignore it and it’ll blow over when they all realise it’s not true…” Ayaka shrugged.

“Urgh… I… I’m sorry…” Taka grimaced, “I just… I lost my temper reading all of that nonsense…”

“Well, just don’t do anything _else_ like that, and we’ll be fine!” At least, Sayaka _hoped_ they would be, and that Taka hadn’t just stupidly made everything go wrong for her…

“Hmm… Anyway, let’s get you all to your dressing rooms…” Jutaro told them, still glaring at Taka, and lead them through the building to the five small rooms they’d been allocated. “Right, you have 10 minutes to sort yourselves out before we head to the stage for the initial practise…”

“Alright! Taka, you can work in my room while we’re practising…” Sayaka told him, and he entered behind her and shut the door.

“Ah… Sayaka? There’s something else I thought you ought to know about…” He suddenly started. “Err… How soundproof is this room?”

“So long as you don’t shout, no one will hear what you’re saying.” Sayaka told him and she started getting her makeup out of the bags that had been brought in my Kenta.

“Okay… well. There was a man out there who had a book that was full of pictures of… err… I’m not sure how to _say_ this, exactly…”

“You mean my photobook…” Sayaka sighed. She’d been hoping that sleaze-ball wouldn’t have had the nerve to show that to her alleged boyfriend…

“…You _know_ about it!?” Taka gasped, “Wait… It’s an _official_ book!?”

“Yes. What did you think it was?”

“Well… I _thought_ someone had either caught you unawares or had faked the pictures somehow!” He scowled, “I didn’t think _you’d_ be the sort to want to produce such… _wanton_ imagery for public consumption!”

“I didn’t _want_ to! It was a contract obligation!” Sayaka snapped in response to his sharp tone.

“What!? But you’re a _singer!_ Why does your contract involve… _that!?_ ”

“I’m not just a ‘singer’ Taka, I’m an _idol…”_ She started to explain, “I have to be someone for people to look up to! That means having the life and body as well as the voice, and the photobook was just to showcase…”

“That sounds like political _spin!”_ Taka scowled, “You’re being _had!_ They just wanted you to pose for those pictures so…”

“So they could make money selling pictures of me nearly naked to horny guys, I know!” Sayaka finished for him, “I’ve been doing this for _years!_ Do you think I haven’t figured it out, yet!”

“But… if you _know_ that, then why…?” He asked, disappointment starting to show on his face.

“Because my contract depended on it.” Sayaka shrugged.

“But… contracts can be negotiated!” Taka insisted, “If you’d refused to pose, then…”

“Then they’d have given the job to another girl who _didn’t!”_ Sayaka stopped him.

“What!? You don’t really believe that, do you!?” Taka gaped at her, “You’re the best singer in the world! Of course they…”

“No, I’m not.” She interrupted him again.

“What do you mean? You wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t the best singer applying, surely!?” Taka asked, naively…

“That’s not true. That’s never been true.” Sayaka admitted.

 _“What!?”_ Taka looked horrified.

“The first paid audition I did, the producer was… let’s say, a bit _handsy_ with us all _…_ Little unnecessary touches, hands on the shoulder a bit too long, that sort of thing. _”_ Taka already looked enraged just from _that… “_ Most of us were nervous about the audition and didn’t say anything. But there was this one older girl, with a _beautiful_ voice, who just calmly pushed him off of her.”

“Thus setting a good example of how to deal with untoward advances!” Taka hadn’t caught on to the point of this story…

“And getting herself kicked out after the very first round of auditions.” Sayaka summed it up.

“But… but you said she was a good singer…”

“That’s the point, we were _all_ good singers. She might have been the best, but any one of use would have done in _that_ regard.” Sayaka shrugged, “That’s when I realised he was looking for… _other_ reasons to pick us out from the others...”

“…Other reasons like _what?”_ Taka asked, glaring at her suspiciously.

“…Reasons like a tendency to get a little handsy _myself_ …” She admitted, shuddering a little as she remembered how _pleased_ she been at the expression on his face when she’d started not-so-innocently putting her hand on his arm, or ‘accidentally’ bumping into him… She’d had no idea exactly what she was getting herself into…

“So... you _weren’t_ the best singer… _”_ Taka’s voice was laced with quiet fury, “But instead of making an effort to practise and _become_ the best you... you _cheated_ your way to the top!”

Urrgghh… Why had she bothered to try to explain it to him!? Of course that’s what _he_ thought of it! “You don’t _get it!_ It’s all well and good _saying_ you’re going to win by effort and getting better, but you have to impress the people in charge to have a chance in the first place, and none of them give a _crap_ about doing the right thing, or picking based on merit! They just want to do what’s best for _them!”_ She snapped at him, “Do you really think you’ll be able to deal with that and reach your goal without doing _anything_ wrong?”

“If I _can’t_ then there’s no point achieving my goal in the first place!” Taka exclaimed, “If I do anything wrong, Ishimaru’ll will _still_ be considered a dirty name!

“But you’d be Prime Minister, right? So you’d be able to help people! And you’d probably be the only one who’d _bother!_ ” She pointed out, “So you _have_ to make sure you can beat everyone else, regardless of what they pull! To help other people!” He was starting to look thoughtful… “You understand, right? It’s better for _you_ to be Prime Minister than anyone else, so what does it matter what you do to get there?

“But, if I resort to those methods, I won’t be _me_ anymore!” Taka cried, “I’d start off thinking it would just be the one time or thing, but then I’d be tempted to use them again once I got away with it, and then after a few times it starts to become more normal and soon enough I’d end up just like my grandfather!”

“But if you  _don’t_ do it, then someone else _will!”_ Sayaka told him, “And all it will have done is made it so that you gave up the chance to be Prime Minister!”

“So, _that’s_ your logic behind _cheating_ in your audition…!?”

 _“IT WASN’T CHEATING!”_ Sayaka yelled, shutting him up into shocked silence… darnit, they probably heard that outside, hadn’t they? “This industry… it’s a dog-eat-dog world, where we’re all competing against each other, and need every advantage we can get! So… sooner or later, everyone learns to do a few… bad things to get what they want!”

“But if _everyone’s_ doing it, then they have to judge you on talent anyway!” Taka cried.

“Well… I guess?” Sayaka agreed.

“So… you’ve not actually gained any advantage by doing it! All you did was force everyone to follow your bad example, and therefore for _yourself_ to go even further to give yourself a _new_ advantage!” Taka waited for her to object, but he was exactly right… “So it _was_ cheating… you cheated _yourself_ out of the chance to have your dream _without_ having to be forced into demeaning tasks and unsatisfactory contractual terms!”

 _Haaaahhh…_ Why had she ended up having this conversation with _him,_ of all people!? He was as bad as Makoto! Thinking she was somehow ‘special’ or ‘good enough’ to get what she wanted _fairly!_ That if she’d just stood up for herself, she’d have managed to get her dream _without_ constantly being pushed into things she didn’t want to do… But they were _wrong!_ She’d have never managed that, _right!?_ If she’d tried, she’d have probably just ended up living a normal, miserable life, right?

…But maybe she _wouldn’t_ have. Maybe if she’d stuck to her guns and pushed that man off of her as well, the two of them would have been enough to convince the rest of them to follow suit, and that would be one less man in the industry who thought he could get away with putting his hands all over girls, just because he had the money to offer them their dream job…

It would have been a long shot, and it _probably_ wouldn’t have happened… But she’d never know for sure. And now the worst thing about it was that she was being lectured by one of her best friends for not even _trying_ to take the harder route, like _he_ was going to! So now she had to go out and pretend that everything in her life was all fine and dandy, when it _wasn’t,_ and it was probably her _own_ fault that it wasn’t!

“Err… maybe I was a bit harsh there…” Taka hesitated in the face of her silence, “But, it’s just…”

“Ten minutes is up, Sayaka!” Jutaro rapped on the door…

“…I’ve not got time for this, Taka.” She sighed. “Just make sure you find that assignment, alright!” She told him as she left and shut the door…

* * *

 

_Oh gods he was such an IDIOT!_

Why had he let himself get side tracked with that argument, instead of trying to bring up the problem with the notes _first!?_

The problem being, of course, that he was starting to think the _other_ set of notes was missing the same thing as Sayaka’s was… After all, he’d gone through the back half page by page, and all the assignment titles so far had matched up perfectly! So either it was _incredibly_ overdue, which was getting increasingly unlikely the further back he went, or it just _wasn’t here!_

But, no, instead of asking her if there was a chance her classmate had missed a lesson recently, he’d seen that horrible book and his stupid mind had started focusing on _that,_ and how _humiliating_ it must have been to be made to dress up so… so intimately, and _vulnerably,_ in front of a cold, unforgiving _camera_ so they could sell the pictures to people like that man outside who’d shown it to him and asked if Sayaka really looked like that, or was it just photoshopped! As if it was any of _his_ business whatsoever what _his friend_ looked like naked!

She didn’t deserve that sort of thing! She worked hard, and had a wonderful voice, and was so kind, when she had the time to be… How could she possibly think she needed to practically _prostitute_ herself in order to achieve the things she wanted to!? Didn’t she realise how… how _good_ she was!? She could easily make a stand for herself, and stop letting herself be pushed into… into doing things like _that!_

But instead of telling her that, he’d got irritable and accused her of _cheating,_ scolding her for a decision she’d made _years_ ago, and not realised how… _judgemental_ he was being until _after_ he’d insulted her so badly she hadn’t known how to reply! Some friend _he_ was!

And to make matters worse, he was gradually getting closer and closer to the beginnings of these class notes, and it was appearing more and more likely that he wasn’t even going to be able to the _one thing_ he’d been brought here for! And after doing so had caused all that extra speculation about them both on the internet as well!

…And now here he was, back at the very first page of both sets of notes, and not a single assignment had been different! _Now_ what was he going to do! Could he really have missed one? But he’d been so careful! So did that mean her classmate was missing the same piece of work? Why hadn’t he had the sense to ask her about this earlier! Now it was getting close to his lunchtime deadline and he had no idea what he was going to tell Sayaka when she arrived and he _still_ hadn’t been able to make up for his mistake…

He flinched at the sound of a knock on the door… That was going to be her, wasn’t it? Well, the least he could do was open it for…

Except it wasn’t Sayaka at all, instead Kenta was stood outside the door, effortlessly carrying two trays of food… “I couldn’t remember if you still had enough of your own food left, so I picked you up some stuff from the staff canteen!”

“Oh! Thank you, but I have plenty!” Kiyotaka bowed in thanks.

“Ah… well… d’you mind if I come in and talk to you?” He asked, anxiously. “I know it’s…”

“That’s no problem at all!” Kiyotaka announced, stepping aside to let him in. After all, he’d completely failed at helping Sayaka, he might as well find out if he could help her indirectly by helping her staff…

“Uhh… alright!” Kenta seemed pleasantly surprised and came through with his food.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Kiyotaka asked him.

“Umm… Well, I… I have pretty good hearing… and I heard some of what you and Maizono were arguing about earlier…” He admitted.

“Oh…” Kiyotaka cringed slightly. Bad enough he’d upset Sayaka so badly, now someone had _heard_ him do it! “Ah… in retrospect I realise I was being… _very_ judgement about her decisions…”

“Oh… I was just gonna say good on you for telling her to stand up for herself…” He muttered.

“Err… really!?” Kiyotaka asked. He hadn’t expected that at all…

“Yeah? I mean… I guess _maybe_ you were a bit harsh about what she did as a _kid…”_ He admitted, “But this industries kinda fucked up and I reckon she’s big enough that maybe she could start changing it a bit, if she tried? Or she could at least stop getting pushed around _herself_ so much…? I mean… not overnight, or anything, but with some encouragement, maybe…?” He trailed off, glancing at Kiyotaka nervously.

“So… you just wanted to say I should keep giving her that encouragement?” Kiyotaka asked, to which he nodded. “Well… I’ll certainly _try!_ Although, I’m not sure she’ll listen to me much after today…” He realised, his eyes flicking over to the two pairs of notes…

“You didn’t manage to do that thing she wanted?” Kenta asked, “What was it even?”

“I was supposed to be looking through her classmates notes to find a missing assignment for her music class that she didn’t submit on time, but all the assignments in both sets of notes match up, so I have no idea which one it _is!”_ Kiyotaka explained, failing to completely hide the frustration from his voice…

“So… it should have been turned in already, but hasn’t been?” Kenta checked, “Any chance it’s something daft, like Maizono’s written down the wrong due date and not thought it needed doing yet?”

“Ah… I suppose that’s a possibility, I didn’t look at the due dates, only the titles! Why didn’t I think of that last night!” He slapped himself and started heading back to the notes again…

“Oh, yeah… speaking of which… other than the driver braking, did anything _else_ happen last night?”

“Err… Jutaro and Haneyama were talking at one point?” Kiyotaka remembered.

 _“Just_ talking?”

“Yes… they stopped and went back to bed after I interrupted them…”

“Right… okay…” He muttered, anxiously.

“Is something wrong?”

“Eh? Oh, nothing you need to worry about!” Kenta assured him, “You sure you don’t want any of the food?”

“No, thank you!”

“Alright, more for me, I guess!” He shrugged, “Good luck with the notes!”

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka replied as he flipped them back to the back… he’d need to be lucky _and_ work fast to find the problem before Sayaka returned for her own lunch…

* * *

 

“Alright… good practise guys and girls!” The choreographer cheered, “Looking forward to seeing you all in concert tonight… Especially _you_ Andy!”

 _“Wait,_ the concert’s _tonight!?”_ Ronan, the blond guy from Tornado shrieked hammily.

“ _Ohemgee!_ I dunno what day it is ‘cause everyone writes the dates _backwards_ here!” Andy, the one she secretly thought of as ‘Leon’s cheap British knockoff’ carried on the joke…

“Oh, come on! I wasn’t _that_ bad!” Satomi cried.

“And anyway, it’s not _our_ fault you guys write the date backwards!” Ayaka agreed with her…

Oh boy… they were carrying on _this_ argument, again? Sayaka had thought it got a little state the _last_ time, when _they’d_ been the one’s visiting Tornado in London… She guessed the boy band must have got enough good publicity from it that they’d been told to rekindle the banter once they got here…

“No we don’t! It’s _you_ guys who have it wrong! When was the last time you needed to know what _month_ it was, but not the _day?”_

“But if you need to tell someone a date, you can just say ‘March fifth’ or whatever, instead of having to add extra words!”

They were even repeating the same arguments as before as well… Honestly, it was a bit silly, really. It had been a little confusing at first, but it was hardly a big deal once you got used to switching the day and month around… Was she really going to have to listen to all of this again…?

 _“Maizono!”_ Uh, oh… That was their _producer…_ On second thoughts, the stupid banter wasn’t so bad after all…

“Hi, Boss! You called?” She turned to smile at him, as he stalked towards her waving a piece of paper in his hand…

“What’s this about you having a boyfriend!? And bringing him _here?”_ He snapped.

“Oh, _him!?_ He’s just my class rep… he was _supposed_ to have been helping me sort my homework out, but he messed up, so I had to let him tag along to fix it!” Sayaka explained, as dismissively of Taka as she could manage… “But you know how fans read into every little thing!”

“Well… then what’s _this!?”_ He thrust the piece of paper at her… it was a printout of the internet discussion they’d been reading earlier…

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Do you think he was talking about US!?_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: OMG! Hello Ishimaru-san!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Hello, Maizono-chan!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: Noooooo! They’ve stopped reading!_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Awwwww._

_ <3_Pop_Lover<3: But anyway, we can agree that thing he said about being single is nonsense, right?_

_Maizono_Chan_Fan2: Well, DUH! He’s totally gay!_

_< 3_Pop_Lover<3: No he isn’t! He’s her boyfriend!_

And then suddenly a third person entered the conversation…

_K3N74_1NS1D3_S0URC3: He’s a total whackjob, is what he is. He just accused her of ‘cheating’ because of her photobook._

“How did he _know_ that!? That happened in my dressing room!” Sayaka cried.

“I _knew_ it was Kenta! AND he was stood right outside there, wasn’t he!?” Satomi cried.

Well… if it _was,_ he must be a complete idiot! He’d even put his _name_ in the account! Surely he wasn’t _that_ dim? It could be someone else was trying to frame him…

“That’s not important!” Her producer snapped, “What’s important is why he says you’re _cheating_ on him!”

Well, she could tell him the truth, but would he believe it? “He said making the book was cheating… he didn’t mean it was cheating on _him!”_ She started, “He was just going on about how I should be judged for my _voice,_ not my looks, so showing off my body is ‘cheating’, according to him…”

“He sounnds like a total  _smeghead_ _.._.” Neil, the green haired boy, smirked...

“He’s got a _point_ though…” She just about heard Ayaka mutter, bitterly.

“Maizono… I wasn’t born yesterday.” He producer sighed, “You really think I’d believe that? He’d have to be queer as _hell_ to think something like _that!”_

 _Urg…_ She’d thought that wouldn’t work… but then the producer had just given her something that _would…_ if she didn’t mind potentially throwing Taka under a bus for the sake of her dream…

Well, she’d done too many bad things to back out _now…_ And it wasn’t as if she’d have to _lie_ about it…

“Well, I’m pretty sure that his _boyfriend’s_ in that picture she posted!” Sayaka told him, blithely...

“Eh? Oh yes… they _did_ mention that, didn’t they?” He had another look at the piece of paper. “Alright, Maizono. I’ll trust you _this_ time… But I’m going to be watching you, and I better not hear any more suspicious rumours about you!”

“Yes, Boss!” She smiled, breathing a quiet sigh of relief once he’d left… That had been close… Curse Taka! Now her producer was going to be watching her far more closely all the time! 

“Well, time for lunch, I guess!” She gave a casual shrug and walked off stage herself, externally at least. Internally she was wondering if the hour’s lunch break would actually be enough time to do this missing assignment… Which he _better_ have actually _found_ after all this trouble he’d caused her!

“Hey… Maizono?” Aaron, the orange haired guy, had quietly followed her. “Hey… so, between you and me, is it _true_ that Ishimaru guy you brought is gay?”

“Yes… umm… but I’m pretty sure he’s in the closet, so please don’t say anything to him about it!” Sayaka added, “I mean, I probably shouldn’t have told him that…”

“Gotta keep chasing the dream!” Aarob shrugged, “But I gotcha, thanks for the info!” He winked and scurried back off to the rest of his band...

Why did he care whether Taka was gay? She’d already told them he had a boyfriend, and it wasn’t like any of them looked like Mondo… Although, _any_ of them would have been a better match for Taka than _he_ was…

Well, whatever. She didn’t have _time_ to be worrying about that! She needed to get her homework done!

“Alright, what’s this assignment?” She demanded as she opened the door and saw him hunched over the desk…

 _“AH! S-sayaka!”_ He jumped, “Err… I’m not quite done, but…”

She took a closer look at the files… “You _still_ haven’t looked all the way through them!? All you had to do was compare which classes we went to!”

“I started by doing just that, but there’s no difference like that between the two sets…” He insisted.

 _“Or_ you just missed it!” She pointed out, and if he hadn’t been _slow_ he’d have had time to check again!

“No, I’m _certain_ it’s not that!” He countered, “I think the problem is that you must have made a mistake…”

So, he was _still_ pushing the blame on her? “The only mistake I made was bringing _you_ here!” She snapped, “I _thought_ you were going to _help_ me, Taka! But now there’s a bunch of rumours going around, my producer’s planning to keep a closer watch on me, so I won’t be able to relax at school, and instead of helping me like you were supposed to, the only thing you’ve done is _insult me!”_

“I… I’m sorry for that! But… please just let me explain…”

“No! I’ve wasted enough time on you this weekend!” She snapped, “Just… just get out and I’ll do it myself!”

“Ah… but I can still… Maybe if we work togeth…”

_“I SAID GET OUT!”_

“Ah…” She just about saw the tears starting to form in his eyes, before he turned away and hurried out of the door…

 _Urghh…_ He was probably going to sit and cry right outside her door now, wasn’t he? That had been both cruel _and_ stupid… But she couldn’t go outside and talk to him, or it’d spark even _more_ rumours… and she had to finish this schoolwork herself, regardless…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka shut the door behind him and looked out at the empty, unfamiliar corridor… What could he do _now?_ He messed things up with Sayaka… heaven knows if she’d ever forgive him after all the trouble he’d caused her, _and_ what he’d said to her earlier! And he couldn’t go ask anyone for advice, because he had no idea what the layout of this building was, and even if he _did,_ the only person who would have spoken to him at all had just screamed at him to get out of her _sight_ …

Forget his performance at the party, _this_ was a _real_ disaster! And he no idea how to even _start_ fixing it!

He sank to the floor, stupidly bashing the torch hanging from his belt… _Sayaka’s_ torch on the the floor as he did so…

Oh, no… _please_ don’t let him have just broken one of her birthday presents on top of everything else! He checked it over… it didn’t _look_ damaged, and still turned on… it was still unharmed… and hopefully Mondo would be as well…

 _Gods,_ he wished Mondo was here! Nothing ever seemed as bad when he was around to talk to! Or maybe Makoto… _he_ understood Sayaka, he might be able to talk to her for him.. Heck, he’d have settled for having _anyone_ to talk to right now!

“Heey… Ishimaru-kun, right!?” Kiyotaka looked up in surprise at the sound of his own name being called…

Coming towards him from down the corridor were a group of five boys, all clean cut and in matching suits, but of varying heights and hair colours…

“Ah… Yes! That’s me!” Kiyotaka quickly stood up in a proper posture.

“Huh… I was expecting you to be dressed differently…” The one with orange hair muttered.

 _“_ Why!?” Kiyotaka asked, “I’m a student, and as such a school uniform is perfectly appropriate clothing for me to wear!”

“Yeah… sure! It’s just not very… _stylish!”_ The blond one commented, looking somewhat disapproving of him… Like all the times in middle school the other children had made fun of his clothing…

“Especially with you being g… _AH! Neil!”_ The blue haired one started saying something, only to stopped as the shortest by in the group stepped on his foot.

“Whatever, we’re getting off track…” The small boy replied, without even apologising, “We were thinking you might be sick of having to hang out with the girls, and wondered if you wanted to come to _our_ dressing room!”

“I appreciate the offer, but I probably ought to stay here, in case Sayaka needs my help at all…” He bowed.

“But… you were just sat outside her dressing room _crying…”_ The blond one pointed out.

“Err… Well… yes, she’s upset with me at the moment and I’m worried about how to make it up to her!” Kiyotaka admitted, “But that’s all the more reason not to disappear on her!”

“You realise she’ll be even more upset with you if a journalist reports that there’s a guy crying about her outside her room?” The one with orange hair asked.

“Err... You think so…?” it _was_ a good point, but he could hardly just leave with no trace… “Well, I’ll leave her a note telling her where I’ve gone then!” Kiyotaka decided, getting out his notebook and pen to write an apology, followed by the message that he was going to be in the dressing room assigned to… “Who are you all?”

“You need to ask!? Really!?” The blue haired one cried, “We’re _Tornado!”_

 _“_ Ah… spelt as in the wind storm?” Kiyotaka checked, before finishing the note and slipping it under the door.

“Aww, man! You’ve never heard of us!? You don’t recognise _any_ of us?” The blond sighed…

“Well…” _Should_ he!? Kiyotaka looked over the group, and then suddenly realised he _did_ recognise one of them… “Ah! You! I saw you performing with Sayaka once!” Kiyotaka pointed at the quiet red-headed one, feeling slightly happier to have been able to answer the question positively…

“Ahh… th-that…” His face turned slightly red and he stammered at the extra attention.

“Yeah, that’s right! Andy here had to fill in for that _Kuwata_ guy, after _he_ messed Sayaka around!” The blue haired one told him.

“Not that it made much difference, given they’re identical…” The orange one smirked.

“I wouldn’t say that…” Kiyotaka commented.

“You wouldn’t?” The red head looked slightly downcast.

“No! You look a _lot_ better than him, without the ridiculous facial hair or ugly piercings!” Kiyotaka continued.

“…Thanks…” He said, staring at Kiyotaka in amazement as his face turned even redder.

Odd, he’d have thought a pop star would be more accustomed to compliments… but the rest of his band seemed pleased that Kiyotaka had made the favourable comparison. Perhaps the poor lad was continually getting pressured into having piercings done…

“Well, let’s get you off to our room…” The tall blond suggested, “It’s on the other side of the stage area…”

The six of them all walked in that direction…

“Uhmm…”  Andy (that was the what they’d called the red-head wasn’t it?) had ended up walking alongside him and looked as if he was trying to think of something to say, “You… uhh… you’ve not got… _stuff_ either!”

“Ah… thank you?” Kiyotaka _thought_ that was a compliment about his lack of piercings… “I’ve always thought your body is a gift from your parents, and shouldn’t be thoughtlessly damaged…”

“…Yeah! Totally!” He nodded and looked at Kiyotaka for a moment, before turning away sharply…

He seemed oddly nervous… Kiyotaka wasn’t scowling without realising it, was he…?

“Speaking of body damage, they’re setting the stage up, so mind where you walk…” The shortest lad warned them, as the approached the side of the stage.

“Understood!” Kiyotaka nodded, and started walking across the stage, falling behind the others somewhat as he made sure to check the floor for any obstacles and keep an eye around him to make sure he wasn’t about to crash into anyone carrying any expensive equipment, such as the cylindrical platforms being inserted into the floor of the stage, or those large speakers Kenta had taken off of the bus earlier, which were now about to be hoisted up above the stage…

But… hadn’t he and Sayaka’s other tech said those ropes needed replacing? Why did they still look the same as before?

“Err… Excuse me? Weren’t those safety ropes supposed to have been replaced?” Kiyotaka asked the men hauling the speakers around.

They all looked between each other in confusion, before one of them finally came out with “We weren’t told anything about that.”

“Err… It was supposed to have been organised in advance, by the techs from, err…” He suddenly realised he didn’t actually know the _name_ of Sayaka’s band… “ _Maizono’s_ _band?_ ”

 _That_ lack of knowledge seemed to cause a drastic drop in what little credibility the men had been giving him… “Look, kid, we got a job to get on with…” One of the rolled his eyes and signalled for a member of security to move him along…

“I understand that, but you’re doing it with substandard safety equipment and…!” Kiyotaka vainly tried to explain…

“ _What was that!?”_ The blue haired band member suddenly wheeled around and stalked back over to his position to look at the speakers in question himself.

“Uhh… this guy’s just worrying about nothing, Edward, sir!” One of them nervously tried to prevent him from getting too close.

“I’ll judge that myself!” He practically pushed the workers out of the way, “What did you think the problem was?” He asked, once he was there.

“Err… the safety ropes were frayed? The green ones…” Kiyotaka explained.

He picked one up and looked at it… “Hey… can you guys explain something to me?”

“Oh boy, here we go…” He heard the members of Tornado muttering.

“Uhh… sure thing, sir…” The tech who’d tried to stop him looking at the speakers nodded nervously.

“You know I’m just the dumb, pretty one in my band and all…” Edward started with a wry grin, “So maybe you experienced, _clever_ techs could explain to me HOW THE HELL _I_ CAN TELL THESE ROPES ARE A PIECE OF PISS AND _YOU_ CAN’T!?”

The tech seemed to shrink as the pop star’s tone suddenly changed from cheerful banter to enraged yelling.

“LOOK AT THIS BLOODY THING! IT’S GOT A BLOODY _HOLE_ IN IT YOU BLIND _TWAT!_ I WOULDN’T TRUST THIS THING TO HOLD _NEIL_ UP, LET ALONE A SPEAKER THAT’S GOING TO BE LIFTED _ABOVE MY BLOODY HEAD!_ WERE YOU DICKHEADS TRYING TO GET ME _KILLED!?”_

“N-no, sir! I-It’s only a s-secondary…”

“I DON’T _CARE_ IF IT’S THE FIRST THING HOLDING THIS UP OR THE _LAST!_ IT’S BAD ENOUGH BEING SHOVED AT THE END OF THE LINE WITHOUT YOU NUMBSKULLS THINKING THAT _THIS_ PIECE OF PISS IS GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP ME…”

“I’ve got new ropes, sir!” A different tech suddenly arrived, with arms full of the green ropes in question.

Edward looked over them critically, then brightened back up and smiled at them all. _“Good one!_ Thanks, mates! Keep up the good work!” He slapped the man on the shoulder as the group of them started to replace the ropes and then cheerfully walked back over to his band as if nothing had happened.

How could he go from screaming at them all to cheerfully thanking them so quickly!?

“…Ishimaru, are you coming?” Neil had noticed that he wasn’t moving.

“Ah… yes!” He carried on after them, aware of an annoyed glare from the tech who’d been shouted at as he went. Well, of course he was annoyed at Kiyotaka, he’d just caused the man to get screamed at, but then, he couldn’t hardly have ignored the substandard safety arrangements when Sayaka and her friends would have been performing under those speakers as well!

“…Ah… are you alright?” The quiet red-head asked him after he’d been walking with them for a minute.

“Yes, thank you!” Kiyotaka responded, “Although… I’m just wondering if I handled that in an appropriate way…” He added quietly, glancing at the blue haired boy walking in front of them…

“Uhh…” He didn’t seem to have an answer, did that mean Kiyotaka _had_ done something he shouldn’t have?

“You mean ‘cause Ed pitched a fit at the guy?” The blond one asked, “Don’t worry, our techs are kinda used to that… Ed’s almost been killed a couple of times when working at shitty clubs that didn’t pay attention, plus he’s not so good at dealing with stress, a bit like Maizono, but not as bad, so…”

“What do you mean? Sayaka deals very well with her responsibilities!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

‘Ehh… _yeah…_ But only when things go the way she organises them?” He half-agreed, “Isn’t that why she’s upset with you, you made one mistake and she flew off the handle?”

“Ah… well, it was a very _big_ mistake!” Kiyotaka explained, “I’ve made her miss an assignment deadline!”

“What… just _one?”_ The boy blinked. “Is she going to fail a course because of it?”

“Well… no… she’ll just have a lower grade overall…” Kiyotaka conceded.

“That doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but she’s still got pissed off enough to make you _cry…”_ He smirked.

“Err… I’ve been told I cry too easily!” Kiyotaka admitted, “And regardless of ‘how big a deal’ it is, It will still be _my_ mistake! Which I subsequently failed to correct, as I promised, and inconvenienced her even more in the process! _And_ insulted her!”

“Eh… I wouldn’t worry about it!” The blond shrugged, “She’s forgiven people for way worse than that… you wait and see, once she’s calmed down and realised it’s not the end of the world, she’ll be happy to talk to you again!”

Kiyotaka could only hope that he was right…

* * *

 

 _Where the hell was this stupid assignment!?_ All of the classes matched up and none of the pages were obviously missing! Was this why Taka hadn’t been able to find it? Why had she just assumed he’d been slow? She should have at least let him finish explaining what he thought was the problem…

Well… she could ask him! He wouldn’t have gone anywhere, right?

She opened the door, “Taka, I…” There was no one in the corridor… He’d gone. And she had no idea where he would have went… There was no way she’d have time to find him _and_ finish her work in time!

She shut the door and sank to her knees in tears… She couldn’t _cope_ with this anymore! But how else could she fix this? It seemed _impossible!_ If only Leon was here! _He’d_ think of _something!_ Or maybe at least make it seem like it wasn’t such a big deal! But if she rang him, people would figure out he was her boyfriend, right?

…Except… no one had figured it out back at school… they’d all assumed she was dating _Taka…_ Heck, half of them thought he was gay!

Her fingers were selecting his icon from the contacts page on her mobile before she really thought about it…

 _“_ Sayaka! Happy Birthday! And, uhh, _hey!_ Funny story…”

“I don’t have time! I’ve missed…”

“It’s the thing about dynamic effects.” He stopped her.

“Wha…?” She gaped in confusion… How had he known the problem? But also… “That’s not due until August!” She pointed out.

 _“What!? That’s_ why you haven’t got it done?  Why the hell would we have homework due in _during_ the summer holidays?” Leon laughed.

“Ahh… I don’t know!” She cringed… when he put it like that, it was really stupid of her not to have realised this was the assignment she’d missed, “But that’s what I’ve written as the due date! Sixth of August!” Sayaka flipped back a couple of paged to the right page to check… and there it was: ‘Due:  6th August’!

“No… It was supposed to be in on the _June eighth!”_ Leon sounded like he was slapping his own forehead. “Was that class right after you came back from Britain, or something?”

“Oh… yeah, it was…” She remembered. “…So it _was_ my mistake…”

And instead of considering that, she’d convinced Taka it was _his_ fault, made him drop all his plans with Mondo and then accused _him_ of wasting _her_ time when he’d not spotted the tiny little mistake _she’d_ made!

“Well… not _just_ yours…” Leon cringed, “See… when you didn’t hand it in, teach told me she’d let you off until the final deadline… and _I_ was supposed to tell you about it…”

 _“WHAT!?”_ Sayaka shrieked, “You mean she gave you _one thing_ to tell me about and you _forgot!?”_

“Haha… yeah?” Leon laughed, “Guess it’s a good thing _I’m_ not class rep, ‘ey?”

 _“URRGGHHH… Leeeooonnn!”_ She sighed. Gosh darnit to heck, _why_ did she end up falling in love with this useless _idiot!_ She could see why Taka used to think she’d be better off with literally _anyone_ else! “Do you have _any_ idea how much trouble this has caused!?”

“Yeah… I’ve read all the rumours… I’m sorry, I fucked up…”

“…And I forced Taka to drop all his own plans…” And then been completely horrible to him as well…

“Uhh… actually, we probably did Taka a favour there…” Leon muttered.

_“How!?”_

“Well… Turns out their plan was for Mondo to ask Tsumiki to talk to Taka and give him a more ‘in-depth’ medical exam than the one he got from that other nurse…” Leon started.

So… they weren’t going on a date like she’d thought? They wanted to fix the issue Taka had had since Valentine’s… which was something he’d been putting off doing for months… but then she’d got in a strop and stopped them…

“How is stopping _that_ a good thing?” She asked

“Well… ‘cause Tsumiki’s fuckin’ crazy!” Leon answered, “Since you took Taka away, Mondo decided he’d just go talk to her himself, and put in a good word for his kyoudai! But… seems like as soon as he mentioned that he and Taka were besties, she suddenly insisted on running every test she _knew_ on him!”

“Umm… getting a good medical doesn’t sound like a bad thing?” Sayaka pointed out.

“One of the tests she knows is a _lumbar puncture,_ which she pulled on him for no good reason!” Leon sighed, “He’s gotta stay in bed with a shitty headache for several days… or maybe even a whole _week_ or more! So _fuck knows_ what she’d have done to Taka himself!”

“Are you _serious!?”_ She gasped… Tsumiki hadn’t always been that crazy, had she!?

“Yeah… and Kyoko reckons some of those stress tests we had to do might’ve been cause _we’re_ friends with him as well… Her Dad’s got her looking into it all…” He sighed, “So, like I said, you probably did Taka a favour, even if it _was_ for a stupid reason!”

“Yeah… But I still owe him an apology…” She sighed.

“Yeah, you do… Oh, and another thing… Makoto wants to talk to you about something as well…” Leon added, “I dunno _what_ though…”

“I ring him if I have time after my homework!” She might do, if apologising to Taka didn’t take too long…

“Cool! See ya soon, babe!” Leon hung up the phone and she started on the piece of work she’d almost got finished a few days ago… And it only took her ten minutes! She really needed to learn to stop letting little things like this stress her out so much, otherwise she was going to end up as bad as _Edward…_

Now what? She actually some free time after all… she should probably use it to apologise to Taka… But he _still_ wasn’t back outside the door… she hoped he hadn’t got into trouble… It wasn’t like him to wander off like that, unless perhaps he’d gone off to try and find a phone to ask someone else for advice on how to deal with the temper tantrum she had…

Oh! Maybe _that_ was why Makoto wanted her to talk to him! If Taka had rang _him_ for help…

Makoto picked up the phone pretty quickly… “Hey, Happy Birthday, Sayaka! Do you have time to talk?”

“Yes! Do you know where Taka is?”

 _“What!?_ Isn’t he supposed to be with _you?”_ Makoto cried down the phone.

“Umm… well… I kinda told him to get out of my dressing room a while ago…” Sayaka cringed, “And I was expecting him to have stayed by the door, but he’s gone!”

“And he didn’t leave you a note or anything?” Makoto asked, worriedly.

“Ahh…” She hadn’t thought of that! She checked around the door and noticed a sheet of paper on the floor… “No, you’re right… he left me a note...” She told him, flinching with guilt at how desperate Taka’s apology was. “He’s being looked after by Tornado…”

“Well… as long as he’s alright…” Makoto sighed, “I wanted to ask you something…”

“What is it?”

“Well… I spoke to Mondo…” Makoto started, “Is it true you said Taka’s been ‘wasting his time’ with Mondo?”

“Umm… I might have mad and said something like that…” Sayaka admitted.

 _“Seriously!?”_ Makoto cried, “Why would you _say_ that to him!?”

“Well... it’s _true_ isn’t it? They spent so much time together that Taka’s falling behind on school work!”

“Sayaka… he had _three whole days_ spare! No one but _him_ thinks that’s ‘falling behind’!” Makoto sighed.

“Well… it’s making his standards slip, at least!” Sayaka pointed out, “Any other month he’d have made me that fourth voucher, even though I _had_ already used it!”

“…You’re _really_ upset about that?” Makoto sounded disappointed with her, _“_ He was really angry with himself when he realised he forgot to write them out before yesterday! _I_ was the one who told him you’d understand how busy he’d been if he only had time to do the three of them during lunch...”

“Well… It’s just one example!” Sayaka told him, “Like… this business with my homework being missing! Usually he’d have asked for details…”

“…But he’d spent most of the morning setting up your party with us! He barely had time to get _himself_ ready before class…” Makoto explained.

“Well… he also _ditched_ me to go make out with Mondo when he was supposed to clean my room!”

“You mean Thursday? When Mondo panicked about him hitting his head and insisted he spend the night in the med centre, just in case?” Makoto asked.

“…What?” Sayaka hadn’t heard anything about that… “But… Junko told me he went straight into, uhh…” Thinking about it, Junko hadn’t exactly said _which_ of their rooms it was… “Into one of their bedrooms…”

“You mean, to pick up Taka’s stuff overnight?” Makoto suggested.

“I… guess that could have been it…” Sayaka admitted. Why hadn’t she even thought of that…?

“Well, either way, they definitely weren’t ‘making out’!” Makoto insisted, “Taka thinks Mondo just wants him as a _friend!_ And I’m not sure _how_ Mondo feels, but he’s _saying_ he’s going to stop spending so much time with Taka because _someone_ has said it’s a waste of Taka’s _time!”_

“Well… it _is!_ ” Sayaka told him.

“Wha…!? Sayaka, what the _hell!?”_ Makoto cried, “Okay… I _know_ Mondo’s not given you much reason to like him, but... he’s really helped Taka come out of his shell and start talking to people, which he _needs_ to…”

“Was that actually _him_ , though?” Sayaka asked him, “Because it was always _you_ who invited him to spend time with us all…”

“Yeah… but it was _Mondo_ who actually convinced him to say _yes!”_ Makoto pointed out, “And it’s _Mondo_ who understands how he thinks and how to stop him from stressing himself out over tiny mistakes, and when it comes down to it, _Mondo’s_ the one he actually listens to!”

“But… he can’t have Mondo hanging around him forever! Not if he wants to be Prime Minister!” Sayaka pointed out.

“Well… _you_ can’t be a pop idol _and_ have a boyfriend!” Makoto snapped, “So does that mean _Leon’s_ a waste of _your_ time?”

“NO!” Sayaka snapped back, “That… that’s different! Leon… if it weren’t for Leon I wouldn’t be able to _cope!_ He… he stops me getting stressed out when things don’t go exactly the way I expected them to, and… _”_

“Sayaka, that’s not different at all…” Makoto sighed, “If it weren’t for Mondo, Taka would beat himself up over every tiny little mistake he makes!”

“So what are you saying? Sayaka asked him, “That I should break up with Leon?” There was no _way_ she could do that!

 _“Hell no!”_ Makoto cried, “I mean… geez, Leon and Mondo don’t talk to you and Taka much for a few days and the pair of you end up yelling at each other over _one_ piece of homework?” He almost laughed, “You’d think you’d lost the nuclear codes, the way you two were treating it!”

“Ahh… You think I could have just… not worried about it?” On second thoughts, she could probably have just explained the whole issue to her teacher on Monday morning… “But… what _is_ your point?”

Makoto sighed heavily, “My _point_ is that Mondo _isn’t_ a waste of Taka’s time! Taka needs _him_ as much as _you_ need _Leon!”_ He told her angrily, “And you saying what you did on Friday has probably messed up _both_ of them!”

“So… I need to apologise to them… _both_ of them” Sayaka guessed what Makoto was really thinking.

“Yes. You do.” He agreed, curtly.

Okay… she ought to apologise to Taka, if only for accusing him of screwing up when that was _her_ fault, but did she really have to apologise to Mondo as well? Did Taka _really_ need Mondo the way she needed Leon? She’d never thought of it like that before… he’d seemed pretty capable of dealing with everything he took on _before_ befriending Mondo. Even if he had been set in his ways a little… Too insistent on either monitoring the school, or staying in his room studying to really talk to the rest of them much…

Whereas now he had plenty of friends, but he wasn’t keeping quite as on top of everything as he should be… Well, no, that wasn’t really true, was it? He _would_ have been on top of everything, if she hadn’t dumped a load of last minute requests on him… or thrust him into a situation she should have _known_ would stress him out, without any guidance whatsoever… and then forced him to drop his own plans for the weekend because of a mistake _she’d_ made and refused to own up to…

If anything, _she’d_ been the one wasting Taka’s time… After all, he’d actually _enjoyed_ the time he spent with Mondo, even if it _wasn’t_ helping him work towards his dream! _She’d_ just make him feel miserable and look foolish…

“Alright… I’ll start with Taka now and speak to Mondo when I get back…” She agreed.

“Alright… thanks, Sayaka.” Makoto sounded like he was breathing a sigh of relief, “And good luck at the concert!”

“Thanks!” Sayaka replied, before they hung up.

Right… so Taka was in Tornado’s dressing room…

 _*Knock, Knock, Knock*_ “Dress rehearsal in fifteen minutes!”

 _Ah!_ She hadn’t even _started_ getting dressed! Taka would have to wait… she’d just have to hope Tornado were taking good care of him...

* * *

 

“Well, welcome to the celebrity lifestyle!” The blond boy announced as he opened the door to reveal a large room split off into sections with curtains, the closest section being full of colourful plush seating and food, and then another section full of racks of gaudy outfits and accessories and a third with five beds in it…

“You only have one room between the _five_ of you?” Kiyotaka asked, “Sayaka’s band have a room each…”

“It’s part of our whole ‘best-buddies’ image!” Neil said, with sarcastic enthusiasm. “’Sharing a room all the time helps us learn each other’s deepest secrets and develop an unbreakable, close relationship!’”

“Ah! That sounds wonderful!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, “And that time bonding together helps you all perform as a cohesive unit on stage?”

“Well, it might if we actually _did_ it…” The orange haired one smirked, “Assuming we didn’t all snap and murder each other first…”

“Err… but if you _don’t_ spend your time together in your room, there _where…?”_

“Most times we pick one of us who gets to stay and chill in the dressing room each evening, and then the rest hide our hair and go out and do our own thing…” The blond one explained, “Tonight’s Andy’s turn to stay in.” He added, smiling over at the red head, who turned red at the attention again.

“Speaking of which, lets get _you_ settled in!” Edward started pushing him further into the room, “You can put that bag over on the stand over there…” He gestured to his makeshift torch-scabbard.

“Err… actually, I’d rather keep it with me, if it’s all the same to you!” Kiyotaka admitted, “I promised my friend Mondo I’d keep the torch with me… in case I got attacked…” He added, slightly embarrassed to be explaining the paranoid sounding request to the sceptical looking group...

“Mondo… that was the carpenter at Sayaka’s party, right?” Andy suddenly piped up.

“Yes! Although that’s not the talent that got him into Hope’s Peak…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Are you interested in carpentry?”

“No, I just remembered him ‘cause he was… uhh… he seemed nice?” The redhead stammered.

“Haha! Yes, he’s _very_ nice! Even if he doesn’t exactly _look_ like it, at first glance…” Kiyotaka agreed, “A lot of people just can’t see past the whole ‘gang leader’ thing! Err… myself included, at first! We spent the whole of the first term aggravating each other, but then we actually _talked_ to each other one night and became best of friends!”

The other boy was just staring at him.

“Err… sorry, I started rambling a bit there, didn’t I?” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Well, at least we know you and Andy have _something_ in common …” The orange haired boy smirked, “Why don’t you two sit next to each other?” He added, leading them both over to a small couch.

“Err… thank you!” Kiyotaka sat down, followed by the other boy.

The other four boys stayed standing, watching the pair of them.

“Err… aren’t any of you going to _eat?”_ Kiyotaka asked them, surprised that they’d not all gone over to the table of delicious looking food the minute they’d walked in the door and seen it was there for them.

“Ah… yes, I’m sure we should _all_ have something to eat and drink…” The orange one agreed, as the band made their way over to the table… although they still seemed to be watching him as they went. Were they worried he might try to steal something?

“Can I get you a drink? Or some food?” Andy suddenly asked him, in a nervous rush… Good lord, he _really_ wasn’t good with strangers, given his profession.

“Err… just a drink of water, thank you! I’ve already eaten!” Kiyotaka asked.

He nodded eagerly and rushed off to the table, coming back with a small plate of food and two bottles of water, one of which he handed to Kiyotaka.

“Highland spring water?” Kiyotaka read the label… he’d never seen water that look like this…

“It’s Scottish… I grew up near there, so I always drink it.” The redhead explained.

“So you carried a supply of _water_ across the ocean with you!?” Kiyotaka exclaimed, that seemed _hideously_ wasteful!

“Umm…”

“Well, that’s the joys of being a rock star! Anything we want, we _get!”_ Neil announced, sitting down next to Andy and inadvertently pushing him and Kiyotaka closer together, “You know, you seemed pretty observant earlier, with those speakers… We could use a guy like you on our crew… and you’d get to hang out with us and have whatever you want as well…”

“Ah… that’s a very generous offer, but I’m afraid I’m too busy with my studies!” Kiyotaka declined.

“…Is school _really_ that important?” The green haired boy asked him, irritably.

“Yes! Of course it is! Studying should be important to _any_ student!” Kiyotaka insisted, “And I intend to become Prime Minister one day, so I _need_ good grades to help encourage people to vote for me!”

“Really? I thought politics was more a popularity contest…” Neil suggested.

“Yes! So I need to work on my charisma as well…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Really!?” Andy asked him, surprised by the admission, “I mean… _I’d_ vote for you…”

“Ah, thank you!” Kiyotaka smiled at the prospect of at least _one_ voter, before realising the problem with that, “…But I want to become Prime Minister of _this_ country, not _yours_ …”

“Oh, uhh… yeah…” The redhead blushed and turned away from Kiyotaka, and the green haired boy glared at him for a moment before getting up and joining his friends over by the food.

Had he… done something wrong there? It felt like the four of them were judging him for some reason… But _why?_ What did they want from him? They’d insisted he come and sit with their friend, then left the pair of them alone despite said friend’s poor communication abilities…

Ah! That must be it! They must have wanted their friend to get a chance to practise conversation with a stranger, and Kiyotaka had just made him feel foolish about the offer of a vote! So he should try and talk to him some more? But what about? He didn’t really have any idea what the boys interests were, aside from having seen him play guitar once…

“Err… So, Andy, have you played guitar for long?” That seemed like a safe way to start…

“Umm… yeah…” He nodded, quickly. “…Since I was five…”

“That is a long time! I guess you’ve done a lot of practise, then!”

“Uhh… yeah?” He was staring at Kiyotaka and turning red again.

“Hey! Why don’t you _show_ him all that practise you’ve done!” The blond suggested, walking over to a corner of the room where several impressive looking instruments had been stored, then picking up a guitar and bring it back over to the pair of them.

“Oh… I dunno…” Andy turned bright red at the suggestion, “I’m not really in the zone…”

“C’mon man! Remember what was said before?” The blond pushed the guitar into his hands with a wink, “You’ve _got this!”_

He nodded and began playing…

Kiyotaka didn’t particularly care for the choice of music, but he had to admit the skill needed for the performance was inspiring! His fingers moved so fast they could barely be seen, and yet it was all done with perfect precision! Honestly, Leon could do with watching this and seeing how taking the effort to practise really _did_ trump his initial talent!

“Bravo!” Kiyotaka clapped once he’d finished the last few bars of the piece with a dramatic finish.

“Heh… Thanks!” The guitarist smirked with newfound confidence, “You like my music, then?”

“Well… it’s not exactly to my tastes…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But I can see how much practise you put into your performances! It’s a shame _Leon_ isn’t here to have seen that!”

“Oh… _yeah…”_ Andy stammered as he handed the guitar back to the blond, his confidence vanishing as quickly as it had appeared… Perhaps he was only confident with a guitar in his hands?

The blond’s eyes narrowed at Kiyotaka as he took back the guitar and went back to talk to the rest of the group, all of whom were shooting sideways glances as Kiyotaka… Again, it seemed he’d failed to do exactly what the group wanted him to… but he’d not been insulting that time, had he? So what exactly did they _want?_ Should he try to talk to the red-head again? But about _what_ though?

He didn’t get a chance to think of anything before the blue haired boy broke away from the other group with a confident smirk. Perhaps _this_ one would just _tell_ him what they wanted!

“Hey, Andy, we reckon you should change clothes!”

Judging from the bemused looks on their faces, that was _not_ a sentiment that had been shared by the other members of the band… The shortest one even slapped his own forehead at the statement.

“Uhh… but…” The red head also seemed to disagree with him, but the blue haired one pulled him up off of the couch and shoved him towards the racks of clothes…

“Just get changed!” He ordered, before sitting down next to Kiyotaka. “And don’t bother with the curtain! We’re all guys here, right?”

“Indeed!” Kiyotaka agreed… although he decided to look away from the changing area regardless.

“So, hey!” Edward nudged his side with his elbow, “Our Andy’s pretty _fit,_ right?”

“Err… yes, he is!” Kiyotaka agreed, all the band members looked as if they did exercise regularly.

“Fitter than that Kuwata guy, right?”

“Hmm…” Kiyotaka glanced at the, now mostly undressed, guitarist as he considered the question, it was rather awkward to judge the muscle composition of someone so far away, but… “I’d say they’re about the same, athleticism-wise!”

“Ath…Athleticism-wise...” The blue haired boy repeated, starting to look irritated.

“Yes… as in, their sporting ability? That was what you were talking about, wasn’t it?” Kiyotaka asked, cautiously. He was starting to suspect that _wasn’t_ what he’d meant… especially as all four of them were starting to look outright _angry_ with him…

“Err… is there something you all _wanted?”_ Kiyotaka asked them, only for them to look even angrier in response.

“Y’know…I’m starting to think it’s not something _you_ could help with.” The blond one scowled.

“Could you not tell me, and I’ll see if I…?”

“No, I think you’ve wasted enough of our smegging time, already!” The green haired one snapped.

“Yeah… or _Maizono_ has, at least!” The orange haired one added.

Wait… he’d somehow made _Sayaka_ look bad? “Ah! If it’s something _Sayaka_ said I could do, then I’m sure I…!”

 _“Urg!_ Yeah, of course you’re just worried about _her!”_ The blue haired one complained, “That’s the bloody problem!”

“Err… I’m sorry, what do you…?”

“Just piss _off,_ mate!” Edward snapped at him.

“It means _get_ _out…”_ The other three added, in unison.

“Ah… alright…” Kiyotaka stood and headed to the door, “I… apologise for any inconvenience?” He bowed, and headed out as the group glared at him.

What had just happened? Obviously he’d done _something_ wrong, but _what!?_ It was bad enough making mistakes when he _knew_ what they were, but now he was apparently just messing up while completely oblivious to the problem!

Now what should he do? He knew they’d said it was a bad idea to stand outside of Sayaka’s door, but he had no other place in this building he could go to! And perhaps she might have calmed down a little by now…

He made his way back to the stage area, where the last few touches were being put on the elaborate stage set, including testing some mechanism that made the five tall, circular platforms he'd seen earlier rise out of the floor. It looked as if it would still be safe to move across the stage though…

“HEY! You there!” Kiyotaka froze as an angry voice shouted at him. “How did _you_ get on stage!?”

“Err… I walked here?” Kiyotaka explained, “From Tornado’s dressing room?”

“And security just let you wander on!?”

“Ah… there wasn’t anyone there…” Kiyotaka pointed out.

 _“WHAT!? That_ entrance’s unguarded as well? What the hell is this place playing at!?”

“What’s the problem?” A more familiar voice asked, as the older of Sayaka’s two road crew members walked towards them.

 _“That_ entrance is unguarded as well!” The man who’d stopped Kiyotaka pointed irritably to the entrance he’d walked in through, “And this random kid is wandering around the place!”

“Ah… Don’t worry about him. He’s with Maizono…” Jutaro explained, “In fact, he might be able to _help_ …”

“Ah… certainly! If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll be glad to!” Kiyotaka offered. It might go some way to making up for the absolute _disaster_ he’d made of everything for the rest of the day…

“I thought you would be…” Jutaro turned him around and started leading him towards the stage entrance he’d only just passed through, “The venue’s security is in shambles, so I just need you to stand here and make sure that no one, except for Tornado members and myself, comes through this entrance! You can manage that, right?”

“Ah! Absolutely!” Kiyotaka saluted. Monitoring a hall? There should be no way for _him_ to turn _that_ into a disaster, even _today…!_

* * *

 

Urg… less than three songs in and this concert was already shaping up to be a total disaster!

Everything had seemed… _off_ ever since she’d finished lunch. The backstage staff were more stressed than they ought to have been, Tornado seemed as if they were in a mood with her and were barely speaking to her (aside from Andy, who just seemed depressed in general), especially when she’d tried to ask about Taka, who she’d spent half of the dress rehearsal worrying about before anyone had thought to tell her he was standing guard just at the side of the stage, and been before she arrived!

But even with him _right there,_ she didn’t get the chance to talk to him before the show started, because Jutaro suddenly announced that their producer had seen the concert itinerary had been leaked online and insisted on switching all the songs around at the last minute so it would still be a surprise… but of course, since _he’d_ set the new list he’d not considered any of the practical aspects of running a concert, so the stage techs were freaking out over having to move set pieces on and off in the most awkward order, so they all had to practise extra hard to work out the switches between some of the songs. And the sound tech were annoyed because all their quieter, sadder songs were in a row right at the beginning, followed by a large group of all their loudest pieces, instead of them switching it up and down to get a better reaction from the crowd.

Of course, none of them let any of the _fans_ see any of that! _On_ stage, Tornado were wishing her a happy birthday and saying what a lovely person she was. _On_ stage no one was surprised about the order of the songs at all! _On_ stage, everyone was having a great time, just singing all their favourite songs to a group of cheering fans who had no idea how much everyone had been swearing and cursing less than 20 minutes before the lights went on (or, in some cases, _didn’t_ , because there was some sort of electrical issue Jutaro had had to go sort out…)

Still, she was making the crowd happy, so _she_ was happy! Just so long as no one messed up!

“Thank you, Everyone! Our next song is…” Oh no! She’d forgot the new itinerary!

 _“Eyes On Me!”_ Someone hissed into her headset.

“…Eyes On Me!” She finally announced, to a few cheers, but also plenty of irritated looks in the audience. Curse this stupid new line up, it was making everyone hate the show! The last thing they needed was yet another sad song less than 20 minutes in! But it was on the list, so she had to start singing it…

_“You look ahead. Your eyes are on the world. And so I look ahead, to be with you. But I can’t see the world, all I see is you. And I wonder, what you’d say if you knew…_

Yeah, the audience were getting bored before the end of the first verse, and they still had three more to perform. Why couldn’t they have just kept the lineup as it was, internet leak or not? She really wished she could find whoever showed her producer how to browse the internet and slap them…

_“If I could only have your eyes on me. Nothing else could make me feel that happy. But I know there’s much more for you to see. And so you’ll never put your eyes on me.”_

Now a few of them were even browsing their phones while she was _singing!_ And it wasn’t so they could try and film her either! Hah! Maybe they were trying to check the itinerary to see when all the sad, slow songs would stop!?

She wished she tell them it would only be two more, and then Tornado would come on and play pretty much _all_ of their loudest songs in a row, and by the end of all _that_ they’d probably be wishing they could hear something like Eyes on Me… But that would be unprofessional, and ruin the illusion of her happy idol life, so she couldn’t.

She just hoped Taka wasn’t getting too fed up with all of these slow songs… this was the first concert he’d ever be able to see, and it was turning into a total bust! It’d be nice to know what he thought of it…

* * *

 

Why was this song reminding him of _Mondo?_

Well, admittedly, the answer to that was obvious! It was about someone with an unrequited crush on someone _else!_ Which did sum up his current situation with his friend… A better question might have been ‘Why was it reminding him of Mondo in such a _painful_ way?’ Why was the thought of Mondo never wanting to so much as _look_ at him again so upsetting?

_“You look ahead. Your eyes still on the world. But mine can only see your smiling face. You move so fast, you’ll soon leave me behind. Because my eyes are still stuck on one place.”_

Was that it? The idea that Mondo would keep growing up, improve his skills, get a good job and go off to do great things by himself… while Kiyotaka was already floundering, falling behind on his work and causing disasters wherever he went, because he was too weak to resist the urge to spend, _waste_ even, his free time with the object of his affections…

But the thought of Mondo not only _not_ feeling the same way as he did, but also having _better_ things to do than spend time with Kiyotaka… the thought of spending his spare time _alone_ again, like before they were friends… he didn’t _want_ it to happen! Even if it would probably be for the best if the pair of the grew up and stopped distracting each other! It had been bad enough when Mondo had barely looked at him these last few days, he didn’t think he could cope if he _never_ got Mondo’s attention again…

“ _If I could only have your eyes on me. Nothing else could make me feel that happy. But I know there’s much more for you to see. And so you’ll never put your eyes on me.”_

 _That’s_ why this song was hurting so much… all he wanted was Mondo’s attention, but he knew Mondo was soon going to have other things to worry about than Kiyotaka! _Women,_ for starters! He was getting _much_ better at dealing with them all… it probably wouldn’t be long before he met one he liked, and they started dating, and Kiyotaka would no longer be the most important person in Mondo’s life.

And that was a _stupid_ thing to start crying over, while he was supposed to be standing guard here! He _knew_ that would happen, sooner or later! He’d always known! And it was just as well! After all, it wasn’t as if he could date Mondo anyways, was it?

_“Glancing sideways, hoping to catch the day. That your eyes stray, and look my way. But it’ll never happen. And so I save my breath. I’ll keep my selfish feelings hidden ‘till my death.”_

Yes! _That_ was it! He had to just keep his mouth shut about the whole thing and get used to the idea that one day, probably sometime soon, Mondo was going to lose interest in him, and to keep on wishing that that wouldn’t be the case _was_ selfish of him! He had to become Prime Minister, otherwise all his father’s hard work, and all of his _own_ hard work, would have all been for naught! So he _couldn’t_ let it be known he was gay! He had to do whatever it took to reach his goal! _He knew this!_

“ _If I could only have your eyes on me. Nothing else could make me feel that happy. But I know there’s much more for you to see. And so you’ll never put your eyes on me_ … Thanks everyone! Now we’re going to sing…”

…So had one sad little song reduced him to _tears_ over it? Why was he still crying, even as Sayaka announced the next song? What was _wrong_ with him? Why couldn’t he just grow up and get over this stupid crush already? Was there something he had to _do_ to stop feeling so… so confused and guilty and _messed up_ about it all the time!?

And if so, what _was_ it? If only someone would just _tell_ him what he needed to do, instead of him having to try and guess! After all, what if he was getting it wrong, and he was making as big a mess of his _entire life_ as he had of that meeting with the Tornado boys?

…Thinking of which, they were walking up the corridor towards him, instruments in hand.

Kiyotaka quickly wiped away his tears and stood to attention while they waited to make their entrance, earning an odd look from the red head. He was probably wondering why there wasn’t a real security guard stationed here…

Which, admittedly, was a good question. Were they really just that short staffed? It almost seemed suspicious, to be frank… But, none of the pop sensations were saying anything about it, so presumably it was a common occurrence…

“And next up, we’ve got Tornado to pump this party _up!”_ He could hear Sayaka introduce the group quite clearly through the speakers he’d been positioned close to. “Everyone give them a warm welcome, and we’ll see you again soon!” Kiyotaka peaked over to the stage, hoping Sayaka might be coming back in this direction, so he could talk to her… or try to apologise again, at least! But unfortunately, she headed off in the other direction, where her _own_ dressing room was.

What followed made him wish the girls were back on stage… it wasn’t that the music was porr quality, but did they have to play it so _loud!?_ He knew he was near a speaker, but this _couldn’t_ be good for the audiences hearing, surely? It certainly wasn’t making the show _enjoyable!_ How was anyone supposed to enjoy the music when it was overpowered by the sheer sensation of the _sound_ filling his head like thick fog?

And yet, every time they _stopped_ and there could have _finally_ been some peace and quiet, all those _idiots_ in the audience had to ruin it with their stupid _cheering!_ Gods, he wished he could get them all to _shut up! All of them! Even the BAND!_ No, _especially_ the band! They were the worst part, playing so loudly he was having trouble _breathing_ and…

Ah… Wait… he was having a sensory overload… where were his earplugs!?

Well… that was a little better… but he could _still_ hear the noise through them, no mater how hard he jammed them into his ears! How could anyone stand _listening_ to such loud music!? Even _with_ the plugs, he was still feeling anxious and irritable from all the noise! Honestly, it was a complete relief when they walked off the other side of the stage and the girls came back on! Now he could take out the earplugs and listen to more of those nice (well, except for the one about Mondo), quiet songs!

…Except the first song _they_ started singing was almost as loud as the last one! _Curses!_ It didn’t seem like they were going to quieten down either! Even with the earplugs in and his hands over his ears, he didn’t think he could _cope_ with this! But he was supposed to be standing guard, he couldn’t just run off! He was stuck here! Why did this have to happen to _him!?_ Why couldn’t he just be _normal_ and enjoy the concert, like all the fans out _there_ obviously were, instead of standing here and wanting to _scream_ in the hopes that it would make everything _stop_ just long enough for him to calm _down_ and…

Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder and he looked up into the pair of concerned blonde eyes belonging to the older of Sayaka’s road crew… Oh gods, he’d been caught freaking out over a bit of noise instead of paying attention to the corridor like he should have been! How could he explain this? Would he even be able to _try_ with this noise!?

But he wasn’t able to think of a way to try before something was pressed into his hands, and he looked down to see a large pair of bulky headphones and a piece of cloth with string attached. In his somewhat muddled state, it took him a while to make the connection… but he could have almost _hugged_ he man once he worked out that he’d just been handed a _blindfold_ and _ear defenders!_

But that would have highly inappropriate, so instead Kiyotaka just bowed and allowed himself to be seated up against the wall before putting on the items and plunging into some much needed peace and _quiet_ …

* * *

 

Hmm… Just as she thought, _now_ the crowd were getting tired of dancing and needed a slower song! But there wasn’t going to _be_ one because they’d played them all at the start!

She _really_ hoped they didn’t think _she’d_ set this itinerary! But they _might,_ given that it was _her_ birthday concert…

 _“The platforms are going up”_ One of the techs warned her through the hadset.

Sayaka took a quick look downwards to check she was in the right spot and braced herself as a circular railing rose up from the floor around her waist, followed by the floor under her feet lifting away from the rest of the floor, so she was now standing on a pillar emblazoned with a portrait of herself.

That as another thing she hoped they didn’t think was her idea… But they all seemed impressed enough with the display even in their tired state, as the set designers had intended when this was supposed to be the final act before they got called back on for an inevitable encore.

Oh well, this wasn’t the time to be worrying about that! She had a song to get on with! Deep breath aaannnndddd…

There was a loud _CLUNK_ as all the lights and music shut off…

A power cut!? _NOW!?_ When they were stuck on these stupid raised platforms!? _Uuurrrggghhh,_ what was _with_ today!? It was as if something was conspiring against her! And now her fans were getting worried in the dark…

“Uhh… _Everyone keep calm!_ This is nothing to worry about We’ve just had a little technical fault, but I’m sure our great team of techs are working to get it fixed!” Sayaka assured them as loudly and brightly as she could, which got them all to calm down. “So, in the meantime, are there any _acoustic_ numbers you all want to hear!?”

The crowd started to shout out various song titles but were soon cut off as a voice rang out over the speakers…

 _“Very_ professional of you, Maizono, but that won’t be necessary!” Jutaro announced, striding onto the stage using his tablet as a torch.

“Great! You’ve managed to fix…” Sayaka started speaking at normal volume, only to realise no one could hear her. “Umm! _My_ mic’s still not working!”

“Yes, I know.” He smirked and carried on walking past her pillar.

…She had _such_ a bad feeling about this…

“There’s only two working microphones.” Jutaro carried on, smugly, “Mine… and my _girlfriend’s!”_ He stopped walking, at the right distance to be looking up at Ayaka.

 _“What!?”_ Ayaka’s voice rang out over the speakers, so everyone in the hall could hear it… and they all started muttering amongst themselves. “Heck no! Are you _crazy!_ I’m not your girlfriend! I _don’t date!”_

“So, you’ve just been leading me on then?” He snarled up at her.

“I… I don’t know what you’re _talking_ about!” Ayaka scowled down at him.

“What about all those photos you sent me?” He asked, angrily.

“You _asked_ me for those!” She snapped back at him, “I thought you needed them for the photo book…”

“You don’t expect me to believe you’re _that_ naïve, do you?” He sneered.

…Ayaka might not have _really_ believed that, but she probably just thought he wanted to sell them on, not take them _personally_ , after all…

“You’re _ten years older than me!”_ Ayaka cried.

 _“Tch!_ So you’re pretending it’s like _that…”_ He grimaced…

Okay… this was getting crazy! _He_ was getting crazy! Why weren’t security stopping him? Why had they even let him _on_ the stage!? He obviously wasn’t supposed to be there! But if she shouted for them, the fans would probably freak out…

“I’m not _‘pretending’!_ You _creep!”_ Ayaka snapped back at him.

“Hah! I’m a _creep_ now? You little _bitch…_ You sure change your tune when you’re not _using_ someone!” He snarled, “I should have seen through your act right from the start, you man-eating _whore!”_

Okay, that was too much! And the crowd were starting to freak out now _anyway!_ “SECURITY!” Sayaka yelled as loudly as she could…

Jutaro just laughed as absolutely nothing happened…

 _“SECURITY!?”_ She tried again…

“Ahaha! I think you’ll find they all had a little too much to eat, and are taking a nap to get over it…” He smirked.

 _What!?_ Why would the whole of security all fall asleep at the same time, unless… “You drugged them…” Sayaka realised. Wait… was that why she’d felt so groggy this morning? And everyone in the band but Ayaka had crashed out early last night… “You drugged _us_ to! Last night!”

“Can you blame a man for wanting some alone time with his girlfriend?”

 _“I’m not your girlfriend you FREAK!”_ Ayaka yelled, “And you’re lucky that nerd caught you, ‘cause I was about to kick your _head_ in for that!”

Wait… Taka had stopped him doing something last night? So _he’d_ not been drugged? No, of course he hadn’t! He was eating all that food _Mondo_ packed up for him! Which meant he should be awake _now!_ So why wasn’t he stopping this!? Surely he didn’t think it was part of the show, did he? Where _was_ he!?

Wait… she could just about see him, from up at this angle, he was sat meditating on the floor in a blindfold and ear defenders… _ARGH!_ He was having a sensory overload _now!?_ What were the chances of _that!?_

…Oh… pretty high given that Tornado and they had just played a string of all their loudest hits!

“There’s really no _low_ you won’t stoop to, is there…” Jutaro muttered, darkly…

Hah! Said the man who’d gone a far as to switch all the songs around, just to take advantage of Taka’s inability to cope with loud noises…

 _“I haven’t done anything wrong!”_ Ayaka insisted.

 _“Yeah!_ Leave Ayaka _alone!”_ One of the crowd suddenly shrieked, causing a chain reaction of support for her, and a few of the older fans even started making their way to the stage…

“I’d stay where you all are, if you don’t want to see your wonderful little _Ayaka_ flattened like a pancake!” Jutaro yelled brandishing his tablet and smiling way too wide when they all stopped at his command… But what was he talking, being able to squash her? Was there something above her _head?_

…Oh no… oh, nononononono! The _speakers!_ One of them was positioned _right over her,_ he must mean he could make it drop! _And_ with her stuck up on that platform she had no way to get out of the way, unless she threw herself over the side, but then she’d risk killing herself from the fall anyway!

But… there were ropes on those things as secondary measure, right!? Except… he’d been saying he’d organise for them to be replaced… all he’d have had to do was _not_ do that… And who would have thought to check that, if he’d drugged Kenta again?

“…What do you want?” Sayaka asked him, he’d have only done all of this if he had some end goal, right!? So… there must be _something_ they could give him to stop him from hurting Ayaka! She’d do _anything!_

“I want Ayaka to admit she’s my girlfriend, that’s all.” He shrugged, as if he was _at all_ justified in saying that…

“I _told_ you, I don’t date!” Ayaka snapped, “And anyway! You couldn’t even get me out of the _corner spot_ like you said you would! You really expect me to believe you could _kill_ me, live on stage!?”

_Oh gods no, Ayaka, HE CAN!_

_“Oh really?”_ Jutaro snarled, “Look _up,_ dear… And then _watch me!”_

 _NO! Please_ let there be a way to _stop_ this! There must be _someone_ who stop him! Where the hell where Tornado, or her producer!? No… they’d all be on the wrong side of the stage, he’d just hit the button as soon as he saw them coming towards him…

 _Taka_ could probably have ambushed him, if he had any idea whatsoever of what was going on, but he was still sat recovering from the noise! Why hadn’t she seen this coming!? Why hadn’t she been more suspicious at such a terrible itinerary? Or the fact that Taka had been put on guard duty _at all?_ Or even the way Jutaro had been unfairly annoyed at him this morning… She’d been so busy stressing out over her stupid tiny piece of _homework,_ and so caught up in thinking that Taka was being useless, that she hadn’t noticed this lunatic had been working to screw him over, along well as everyone else!

_Taka please take off the blindfold! Before it’s too late! I know I ask a lot of you, but please just help me one more time! Please! PLEASE!_

Her heart soared as she saw Taka’s hands move to take off the stuff on his head…

And then it crashed back into the ground as Jutaro let out a triumphant laugh and everyone else in the hall shrieked as he hit something on his tablet, and the speaker started moving downwards…

And got caught on the ropes.

Which _didn’t_ break?

 _“WHAT!?”_ Jutaro snarled.

“Hah… hahaha…” Ayaka laughed in relief as she stared up at the unmoving speaker, “I _knew_ you were too _useless_ to pull that off, you _idiot!_ AHAHAHA!”

“How…!? Those ropes should have broken!” Jutaro scowled.

But they _hadn’t!_ Thank goodness! But why not? Were they just not as broken as he’d thought, or had someone switched them for proper ones… But who would have…?

 _“Aaahhh!_ They _should_ have!?” Taka cried guiltily from the stage entrance…

It was him… of _course_ it was him! Who else would be _great_ enough to fix a problem before it started…? And to think he’d _ever_ worried about looking bad in front of all her fans! She could have _kissed_ him right now!

* * *

 

 _Oh GODS he’d RUINED Sayaka’s concert!_ Why had he thought he knew better than the technicians specifically paid to set up the concert!? He should have just kept his mouth shut, instead of assuming he was some sort of… of _genius_ who could just waltz in and do their job better than _them_ after having just one single talk about safety protocols!

“I… I’m terribly sorry!” He stood up and started walking towards the stage to try and explain himself, it was only fair for the crowd saw who was responsible for the problem… Even if they might not see him with all the lights off.

“You mean… _you!?”_ Sayaka’s technician growled.

“I… Yes!” Kiyotaka admitted, as he took his torch out of the bag and switched it on so he could walk out on stage safely, “You said you’d organised for them to be switched, but when I came through earlier I thought they looked exactly the same as before, so I insisted they be switched again!” He bowed in apology, cringing slightly as the crowd started muttering about him and laughing at his mistake…

“You stupid, _fucking…_ I should have thrown you off the _bus_ as soon as I _saw_ you! _”_ The technician yelled, “Or better yet, _under_ it!”

Kiyotaka winced at the harsh words, while multiple people in the audience seemed to _shriek_ at them… Why was _that_ necessary? Okay, it was a little over-dramatic, but he’d just ruined all of the effort the man had put in to organise this con…

_“TAKA! LOOK OUT!”_

Kiyotaka’s eyes flicked upwards at the sound of Sayaka’s voice, to see the man running full pelt at him, hands drawn back as fists…

_He was being charged at? Why was he being charged at? And what was he holding in his hand?_

_Oh, that was right… it was his Shinai, he and Sakura were sparring, like they always did on Sundays! Of course, she was going easy on him, not moving anywhere near her full potential… honestly it was almost insulting how slow she was going! And she’d left her throat wide open! He’d make her pay for underestimating how much better he’d become during their training!_

_He gripped his Shinai in both hands and quickly stepped forward to meet his opponent…_

_“TSUKI!” He called, driving the sword into the neck of his surprised sparring partner, who choked and fell to her knees… “Point to me!” He announced._

_She didn’t have anything to say in response; in fact she was taking a surprising amount of time to get back up…_

_“Point!?_ Taka… Are you alright?” Sayaka asked him, “This… this isn’t sparring…”

Not sparring? Where was he then? And what was Sayaka doing here, didn’t she have a concert to…

His brain switched back to reality so fast it was as if he’d hit a wall, but instead of being left reeling from physical pain, he was having to deal with the sudden shock of realising he’d been _stupid_ enough to assault Sayaka’s technician! “Ah… I’M SO SORRY! I… I over-reacted! I’m sorry!” Kiyotaka let go of the… the _torch,_ not a _Shinai!_ It wasn’t even _that_ long… and rushed over to help the man he’d just attacked in his fit of panic, who was only now managing to get back to his feet… Which was when he suddenly noticed the flash of a _knife…_

_A knife? Why was there a KNIFE here!?_

_Oh, that was right… it was the fake one Ikusaba was using to show him how to disarm someone… He’d just about got the techniques down now, after several HOURS of practising!_

_Ikusaba went low, aiming to swing the knife up into abdomen, which Kiyotaka now knew to deflect by forcefully chopping his wrist into hers, to force the knife back down and hopefully make her drop it…_

_No such luck there, she managed to keep hold of it, but backed away from him while she regained her balance, which allowed him to move around to her side like she’d told him to, which had the benefit of putting her between Kiyotaka and the wall, and also gave him more of a chance to see how she was swinging the knife as she turned to face him…_

_This time she had her arm raised high, trying to ‘stab’ him from above, to which he responded by ducking low and moving in close, so he could grab a hold of her arm, and then roughly push it backwards into the wall, then kneeing her in the abdomen to force her to drop it._

_Good thing she was wearing padding for this training… although she seemed to be struggling to recover… and why were there so many people rushing towards him when the school was practically deserted for the Christmas holidays…_

Wait… no… it wasn’t Christmas, that was almost _two terms_ ago! He’d over-reacted and attacked Sayaka’s tour manager _again!_ And the rushing feet he could hear were a group of police coming to restrain the pair of them, and probably to _arrest him for assault!_

In front of a crowd of _hundreds…_ all of them holding up _cameras…_ pointed straight at _him…_

Oh gods. What a complete and total _disast…!_

* * *

 

Taka’s eyes rolled upwards and he fainted dead on the floor, just before the crowd all started cheering for him… Which resulted in lots of concerned whispers and even the odd bout of crying while the police dragged Jutaro off somewhere, trying (but failing, thanks to that stab in the throat) to shout more slander else about Ayaka as he was forcibly removed from the stage.

“Haha! Don’t worry! Taka will be fine!” Sayaka assured the crowd, while a medic of some kind came to check on him to see if that was actually the case… _please_ let it actually be the case! “He’s just not used to fights and gets a little panicky!” At least, she _hoped_ that this was just a repeat of the panic he’d had when he got attacked way back at the start of the year...

At least _this_ time he’d actually _won_ the fight though… she’d have to thank Sakura for that…

“How about _you,_ Ayaka? Are you alright?” Sayaka asked.

“…Of course I am!” She smiled, causing the crowd to cheer again… although Sayaka couldn’t help but notice her staring up at the speakers anxiously once the crowd had stopped paying attention to her.

They ended up having to do a few acoustic performances to the light of the torch, helped by Tornado who also pitched in to entertain the crowd while everything was being sorted out. But eventually some very groggy looking techs came back with Jutaro’s tablet and managed to use it to get the lights back on and the platforms lowered and they could move about again (much to poor Ayaka’s relief, even if she did her best not to show it).

Then there was a brief interval while they all figured out exactly how the heck he'd managed to almost kill one of the band, secured the speaker and tried to work out a sensible order for the last few remaining songs, and the concert carried on as before… Not even a death threat from their own tour manager was enough to get any of them to disappoint their fans (and risk a backlash) by leaving a show half-performed…

 _“Please,_ tell me that’s the craziest concert we’ll ever have…” Sayaka sighed, once it was all over and everyone’s headsets were off.

“I sure hope it will be!” Satomi agreed.

“Well, it’ll be for _Sayaka,_ at least…” She just about heard Aaron mutter under his breath.

 _“Excuse me!?”_ She snapped at him, “What is _that_ supposed to mean!?”

All of Tornado, except for Andy who was carrying on walking away from the stage as if he hadn’t even _noticed_ the conversation, grinned at each other… “Well… you having a boyfriend is against your _contract,_ isn’t it?” Neil smirked.

“…I don’t _have_ a boyfriend.” Sayaka lied.

“Oh, come off it!” Ronan snapped, “Your supposed ‘gay friend’ turned Andy down _flat!”_

“Yeah! Bloke wasn’t even _interested_ in him!” Edward added, “Not even when I convinced him to get naked!”

Oh good grief! _That_ was why they were annoyed at her? Because they’d tried to hook up their gay friend with _Taka?_ Even _after_ she’d said he had a boyfriend!? “All that means is Andy’s not his _type…”_ Sayaka pointed out.

“Except he already said Andy was a ‘nicer looking’ version of his _supposed_ boyfriend!” Ronan scowled.

“What do you mean? Andy looks nothing _like_ Mondo!” Sayaka pointed out.

 _“Mondo!?_ You mean that guy he’s carrying a…” Ronan started to say something, then stopped and slapped his forehead.

“…We’re such smegging idiots…” Neil sighed.

“What? I don’t get it?” Edward was whispering.

“He was _literally ‘_ carrying a torch’ for that big guy in the _back_ of the picture!” Aaron whispered back.

“ _And_ …?”

“It’s a phrase! It’s means you fancy someone!”

“Oooohhhh…” Edward finally got it, “Oh, man! I guess it _was_ kinda shitty for us to bitch at her producer about him then…”

 _“WHAT!?”_ They’d talked to her _manager!?_ “What did you guys _do!?”_

“Ah… we…  pretty much told him there was no way in heck your friend was into guys…” Neil cringed, “So, now he’s convinced the two of you are dating…”

...And there went her dream… after all the hard work, all the bad things, all the stress… everything she’d worked for, all gone… because of these _stupid idiots!_

“We’re doomed… because you guys made a _mistake!?”_ Satomi sniffed.

“You _stupid dumbasses!”_ Ayaka snapped, “Why the hell didn’t you think to at least _ask_ her about it first!”

“Uhh… okay, we messed up! But… if your friend really _is_ gay, then it’s all fine, right!?” Edward hastily tried to calm them down, He’s just gotta talk about hot that _Mondo_ guy is!”

That _might_ work, although she doubted it… bot to mention... “Taka won’t do that.”

“Wha…? But he’s your friend, right? Why wouldn’t he?” Satomi asked.

“Because if it gets out that he’s gay, it’ll ruin _his_ dream… He wants to go into politics…” Sayaka explained, “He’ll probably just try to tell the truth, that he's single…”

And it didn’t take a genius to work out that their producer would probably assume that was just a terrible cover for him dating _her_ …

* * *

 

 _Urg… Where was he?_ He was lying down on a couch, but he didn’t recognise this room at _all_ … what was the last thing that had happened? Well, he’d messed up Sayaka’s concert… and then…

 _Oh gods, he’d attacked her tour manager and been arrested!_ “Is this prison?”

“What!? No, this my office!” A rather fat, balding man sat on a chair opposite him laughed, “Why would you be in the clink? You’re a _hero,_ kid!”

What? That couldn’t be true, could it? After all… “I assaulted a member of Sayaka’s staff…”

“Well, firstly he was a member of _my_ staff! _I’m_ the one in charge around here, not _Sayaka!_ ” The man seemed overly irritated about that… “And secondly, he tried to kill one of _my_ world-famous band and then pulled a _knife_ on you! No one’s gonna arrest you for roughing him up a little!”

 _“He tried to kill Sayaka!?”_ Kiyotaka shot up to a seated position, “Where _is_ she!? Is she okay!?”

“Settle down, kid, she’s fine! It wasn’t even her being attacked… But _Ayaka’s_ fine and dandy to, thanks to you getting those ropes switched…”

Wait… so… it was a _good_ thing he’d switched the ropes, after all? He’d _saved someone’s life!?_

“Ah… you’re welcome!” Kiyotaka smiled… he’d done something _right_ after all! Hopefully _now_ Sayaka would be able to forgive him for messing up her homework assignment! “I’m glad I was right to be worried about Sayaka’s safety, after all!”

“Yeah… about that, kid…” The man leaned forward to get a better look at him… “You seem _very_ worried about her…”

“Well, she’s one of my closest friends!” Kiyotaka explained, “And I don’t really have many…”

“So you’re saying you’re just friends?” He smirked, “Even though she goes on and on about what a _‘great guy’_ you are?”

“Err… Yes?” Kiyotaka hesitated… he didn’t like the way this man was looking at him. “I mean… it’s true! We _are_ just friends!”

“Why? You not asked her yet?” He asked, “The way she goes on about you? You didn’t think she’d say yes?”

“I’ve never considered it…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’m not attracted to her that way.”

“ _Bahaha!_ You expect me to believe you run around like that for a chick you aren’t into?” He snorted, “Or even that you _aren’t_ into _Sayaka Maizono!?”_

“Ah…” Kiyotaka froze…

This man wasn’t going to believe he just happened to be the solitary straight male who _wasn’t_ attracted to the world’s most popular idol, was he? The only reason he’d believe that Kiyotaka hadn’t even _tried_ would be if he admitted he was gay… but he couldn’t just _admit_ that to this complete stranger, with ties to _famous people!_ He’d never be Prime Minister if he did that!

But, he couldn’t tell her he _was_ dating Sayaka, because then _she’d_ be in trouble! Or at least she’d have been in trouble if she’d said yes, which this man seemed _sure_ she would have done…

But… maybe he could change _that! That_ was it! He’d just have to act like he _had_ asked, but she’d said _no…_ even though she was still talking to him and being polite… But how!? He didn’t know any men who’d failed to court a woman other than Mondo, who was always to embarrassed to talk about it afterwards, or… or…

 _Souda!_ Of course! He’d been _furious_ about Princess Nevermind’s treatment of him, even though she usually spoke of _him_ as a friend, and _he’d_ believed that Sayaka was treating _Kiyotaka_ the same way… So if Kiyotaka could mimic Souda’s comments, then _perhaps_ …

“Look, kid, you seem like a nice, honest guy, so just between you and me… Sayaka’s _dating_ you, right?”

Now… what would _Souda_ say!? “Well… she _should_ be!” Kiyotaka ‘insisted’, forcefully.

The man talking to him leant back in the face of his ‘anger’ on the subject. “What was that?”

“I said she _should_ be dating me!” Kiyotaka reiterated, although the man still didn’t seem convinced… what _else_ had Souda said!? “I mean… you said it yourself! I’m a nice guy! I do _lots_ of things for her! She should be _thankful_ , right?” He still wasn’t responding… think… _think!_ What else had Souda said that he could use!? “But… even after helping her all those times, she just… _friend-zoned me!”_

“…That’s interesting… because she told _me_ she thinks you’re _gay_ …”

 _AH! Curses!_ Sayaka _had_ figured him out! And she’d expected him to be honest about it!? Didn’t she _realise_ he’d been keeping it a secret!? Now he had to try and think of a way around this…

“That… that’s just a rumour!” Kiyotaka spluttered, trying to rack his brain for a reason why a girl would say a man who’d asked her out was actually _gay…_  What would be the point of her besmirching him after he did her so many favours?

 _(“I’m just trying to make sure he doesn’t waste his time, like I did!”)_ Souda’s words from a few days ago flashed through his mind… Ah! Something like _that,_ perhaps? If she _was_ the type to want men to constantly run after her doing favours, she wouldn’t want it to be obvious that doing so had no inherent ‘reward’ associated with it, would she!?

“…A rumour that _she_ made up!” Kiyotaka added.

“You’re accusing her of slander?” The man frowned, “Why would she do that?”

Urg… hopefully she’d understand why he was doing this, once he explained about the proportion of homophobia in the country… _“Yes!_ I am!” Kiyotaka ‘agreed’, “And she did it because the other boys at school were starting to think it wasn’t worth helping her out!” The man still didn’t look convinced, maybe he wasn’t acting angry enough? “It… it’s easier for that… _witch_ to pretend I’m _gay_ than to admit that she’d been _wasting_ my _fudging_ time, all year!”

“Huh… I see how it is…” The man _finally_ seemed convinced… “What was your name again?”

“Err… I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Perfect.” The man nodded, getting a small black machine out of his pocket and pressing a button on it, “Gotta admit though, kid, I’m disappointed. You almost had me with that whole good-guy act!”

“Ah… I beg your pardon…?” Kiyotaka asked, looking at the machine in his hand… was that one of those old tape recorders!?

“You might even have had _Sayaka_ fooled with that, and _she’s_ a hard one to fool, lemme tell you…” He added, holding down another button on the device for a while. “Be interesting to see her reaction, when she hears what you _really_ think about her…” He started pressing more buttons on the device…

_“She SHOULD be” … “She just FRIEND-ZONED me!” … “that WITCH…!” “WASTING my FUDGING time!” … “I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru!”_

Ah… he… he sounded absolutely _horrible!_ And he’d said all those awful things about her, as if her really _believed_ that just by doing her a few small favours he’d obligated her to be romantically interested in him!?

And now this man had it all on _tape,_ with Kiyotaka saying _his own name_ at the end of it to make it absolutely clear it was _him_ those horrible words were coming out of! And he was going to play it to _Sayaka!?_

“HEY! SOMEONE GO FETCH MAIZONO IN HERE!” The man shouted down the hallway…

“Err… wait… please… I didn’t mean….! Just… _please don’t play that to Sayaka!”_ Kiyotaka begged.

“Sorry, kid. But I don’t fancy a repeat of _tonight_ …” He shrugged, “Girl needs to know exactly _what_ kind of guy she’s dealing with…”

But… he _wasn’t_ that kind of guy! That recording wasn’t _him!_ He’d only said it because he didn’t want to risk sabotaging his life’s goal! _Or hers!_

But would she understand that? She knew what it was like, right? And she’d know he could have just told the truth about her and _Leon,_ if he’d not cared about her at all! If anyone would be able to tell that was only a recording of his desperate acting, it would be _her…_

* * *

 

“…Maybe the boss’ll keep you on anyway? He might just use it to blackmail you a bit more…” Ayaka suggested, desperately, after a few minutes of sullen silence between the nine of them.

“That’s probably the best chance I have, isn’t it?” Sayaka sighed.

“Umm… Excuse me? Maizono-san?” One of the staff members approached them all. “The producer wants to speak with you…”

Well, here she went! But she wasn’t going to go out without a fight! As far as that man was going to see, she hadn’t done anything wrong! “Really!? Just me?” She asked, innocently.

“Uhh… yes!” He nodded, “He’s this way!” He gestured down the hall.

“Well, alright!” Sayaka agreed, brightly, “See you guys later!” She waved at them at all…

“See ya!” They all played along with her… well at least _now_ they weren’t trying to screw her over…

But, what was she going to do when she got in there?

Well, it would depend on what Taka had ended up telling him. The most likely thing being that he’d have ended up saying ‘But we’re just friends’ over and over like a broken record… Hmm… if he _had_ done that, then maybe _she_ could just bring up Mondo! He’d probably get flustered enough if she _did_ for her manager to believe her…

But… then he might just bring up _Leon_ out of revenge… assuming he hadn’t done that _already…_

But, Taka wouldn’t have done that, right? He knew how hard she’d been working to keep her secret hidden all year! It wasn’t like he would have just _told_ her manager the truth just because it was the easiest way to keep his _own_ one, would he? He would have at least _tried_ to keep _both_ their secrets, right!? He was supposed to be her _friend!_

…But _she_ was supposed to be _his_ friend to, but she’d not even thought _twice_ about throwing him under a bus straight away… She _could_ have said he _asked_ and she’d said _no…_ It would have been harder to convince her manager, and he’d have probably wanted to watch her and Taka more closely for a while, but she _could_ have done it! But instead, she was so used to doing bad things for the sake of her dream, that she’d just gone for the ‘safe’ option of stabbing her friend in the back, without even thinking about it! And she’d even been considering doing it again _now!_ After he’d just saved one of her best friends’ _life!_

Uhh… she been a horrible person to him… So why shouldn’t Taka have done exactly the same to _her?_ It’s not like she’d left him with any other options…

The aide led her up the corridor and into the room her manager had decided to take over for the weekend, where Taka her manager was smugly holding one of his favourite cheap Dictaphones, and Taka looked up at her with desperate fear in his eyes…

“Sayaka! Sweetie! Taka a seat, hun!” Her manager smiled, gesturing to the seat _furthest_ from Taka.

So, did that mean Taka hadn’t blabbed about Leon?

“Okay!” She kept up her cheerful act as she sat down, “What did you need to talk to me about? Is it because of that craziness with Jutaro? What’s happening with him?”

“Huh? Oh, don’t you worry your pretty head about that! He won’t be bothering you again… Shame really, he was good knowing what was going on with people… but it turns out it wasn’t just _me_ he was reporting it to, so good riddance!”

So… _Jutaro_ was the one posting stuff about them online? She’d _known_ no one could be dumb enough to think changing a few letters in their name would hide them leaking confidential information!

“So… what _did_ you want me for?” Sayaka asked.

“Well… it’s about your _‘friend’_ here…” Her producer started, “You need to listen to _this…”_ He started playing the recording in his hand…

 _“Look, kid, you seem like a nice, honest guy, so just between you and me… Sayaka’s DATING you, right?”_ Her producer’s voice was first, speaking in an overly friendly tone that he often used to get people’s guard down… Oh, no… Taka would probably have thought it was alright to just say _yes…_

 _“Well… she SHOULD be!”_ Kiyotaka voice snarled from the recording.

“What!?” Sayaka jumped slightly… was that _actually_ him? He’d sounded so _weird!_ But from the way he cringed in his seat, it _must_ have been him who said it, or he’d be denying it now!

Her producer paused the tape… “I’m afraid it gets worse, sugar. But you’ve gotta hear this…”

He and Taka were both facing her for the rest of the recording, watching as her face dropped further into shock at the sound of her most honourable, respectful friend ranting wildly about being ‘friend-zoned’ and her ‘wasting his time’. She could just about pick up Taka in her peripheral vision, shrinking further and further into his seat as the recording played and her producer looked more and more concerned for her…

Concern that was completely wasted on her… This… This was _perfect!_ Acting as if he was some bitter, spurned ‘nice-guy’ who’d been hiding his true colours from her for their whole friendship!? And doing it so well that her producer fell for it hook, line and _sinker!?_ She didn’t care _what_ Taka said, he was a _genius!_

It was all she could do to stop herself from ruining all his good work by smiling like an idiot and _hugging_ him! After all, if this was going to work, _she’d_ have to play the part of a shocked and betrayed friend…

She gulped, to help herself get into character… “…Is that what you really think of me?”

“Ah… Sayaka… no! No, of course not! I… ah… just… _I can explain this!”_ Taka put on an act of desperation at being ‘caught’… But of course, it would be easiest for them both if she just shut him down…

“You mean you can shove more _lies_ down my throat about how _‘great’_ you are!” Sayaka ‘snapped’ at him…

“No… no _please!_ Just _listen_ to me!” Taka pretended to beg… at least… she _hoped_ it was begging… “The only reason I said those things was because I…”

Oh no… he _wasn’t_ pretending! He couldn’t tell she was playing along with him! If she didn’t do something drastic he’d end up giving the whole thing away…!

_“Shut the FUCK up!”_

Funny, if _Mondo_ had yelled that at him, he wouldn’t have even blinked, but his only response to _her_ doing it was to stop his explanation and stare at her in slack-jawed horror... and his eyes started filling with tears as he mistakenly thought she really _was_ mad at her…

Urgh… This was so hard! Why couldn’t he tell she was _acting!?_ Wasn’t it _obvious!?_ Did he _really_ think she was so untrusting of him that she’d not seen _exactly_ what he’d actually been trying to achieve with his performance? After all, it wasn’t like he’d ever let her down before! He’d even gone out of the way to try and fix _her_ mistake…

…Which she hadn’t had a chance to tell him _was_ her mistake, or _had_ been fixed! No wonder he thought she was serious! The last thing she’d told him to do was _‘GET OUT!’_ of her dressing room! But now she couldn’t let him know without outing both of their secrets…

Although… she’d left the finished assignment on her dressing room table… if he saw _that_ , he’d probably figure it out…

“I don’t want to hear anything else from you!” She carried on yelling at the poor guy, “Just _get out of my sight!_ And get your stuff out of my dressing room to! You can sleep on the _street_ tonight for all I care! _”_

He gulped, but started to turn towards the door… Hopefully he’d look at the table and no one would _actually_ let him go sleep on the street…

“Hold on a second, sweetie…” Her producer suddenly interrupted, _“Think_ about this for a minute…”

“What? But… _you_ were the one told me…”

“Yes, yes, he’s a creep…” Her producer sighed, which Taka flinched at, “But as far as the _fans_ are concerned, he’s the _great guy_ who saved Ayaka’s life…”

And of _course_ he still wanted to play that up… “So you want me to pretend I don’t _know_ about this!?” She asked him, “And just keep being friendly with him?”

“Only in public! You’ve not got to be nice to him back at your school… or when there aren’t any cameras around!” He assured her.

So… he was expecting her to be all buddy-buddy with Taka in front of the cameras, but horrible to him in private… so she’d have to treat their friendship like a yo-yo until they got back on the bus tomorrow afternoon…

She was going to have _so_ much to apologise to him for… But maybe she could at least make sure that recording wasn’t around to screw up Taka’s chances of being Prime Minister…

“If I’m going to do that, I’ll need something to make sure he won’t try anything at school…” She pointed at the Dictaphone.

Her producer shrugged and handed it over… he’d probably kick himself for that in a few years…

“Ah… I… I’m _not_ going to…” Taka started to defend himself.

“ _Can it,_ Ishimaru!” Sayaka put on a fake glare at him. “Alright, you got lucky! So I guess I’m _not_ screwing over your career before it even _starts!_ But here’s how this is going to work! When there are cameras or people around, you and I are going to be best buddies, and _neither_ of us is going to let on that there’s a problem!” She ordered, “But when there are no cameras, or we’re back at school, you aren’t to speak a single _word_ to me! And if you don’t play along, _this…”_ She shook the Dictaphone, “Is getting played on every feminist network I can _find!_ Got it!?”

His face paled and pupils dilated… was he only _just_ realising how bad this recording could be for his political career?

“Well, kid…?”

Taka looked between herself, her producer, and the Dictaphone.

Why was he taking so long to decide? It was a choice between her friendship or his life’s _goal!_ Did he _really_ care about her so much that he was having trouble picking which was more important to him?

Apparently he wasn’t quite as much like her as she’d thought… But it would be stupid to say no to this! It was just for a while to fool her producer!

“I…” Taka looked into her eyes…

_Just agree, please! It’ll just be a day! Until we’re back at school, at most!_

“I agree…” he nodded, shamefully.

“Good.” Sayaka said, curtly. “Now, start smiling, there’s probably paparazzi outside the door…”

 “And take your torch back!” Her producer added, fishing it out from under his desk. “The press’ll probably wanna see you carrying it…”

He actually _did_ manage to smile in relief as he took it back … Oh, right. He’d promised Mondo he’d carry it with him, hadn’t he? Hopefully thinking of his kyoudai would help him get through the ridiculous charade she was about to put him through…

* * *

 

(Sunday, July 8th 2012)

How did Sayaka _do_ this!? He knew that being in the public eye often meant putting on a brave face when times were bad, but…

From the moment they’d stepped out of that cursed man’s office, Sayaka had been nothing but smiles and laughter about him in front of the members of the press that had managed to gather outside the door, to the point that he almost forgot that she’d even been mad at him at all!

But then the press had left, her fellow band mates had attempted to thank him for his help at the concert, and her demeanour had switched completely as she curtly told them all what he’d _said_ about her, and how their ‘friendship’ was going to work from now on. And then _they’d_ all gone from wanting to thank him to wanting as little to do with him as possible, other then when the cameras were pointed at him, and he was a fake ‘hero’ once again.

And the cameras had been pointed at him a _lot_. It turned out that both the evening of the concert and the first half of the day after had been reserved for structured fan-meets and press interviews, most of which were now taken up with false discussion of how wonderful _he_ allegedly was…

He wondered what his father thought. He’d probably be pleased at the good impression Kiyotaka was apparently making, wouldn’t he? And his friends at school would be happy to see him doing something that helped him reach his goal of being Prime Minister, but…

What was going to happen once he and Sayaka got back home, and she told all of _them_ what he’d said about her? Would they give him a chance to explain, or would they treat him the same way Sayaka’s band were? Had he, by attempting to keep _both_ their secrets, inadvertently ruined all his friendships in one fell swoop? After all, who’d want to be friends with him if they thought _that_ was the kind of things he’d say about them behind their backs?

But… he’d told _Mondo_ that he didn’t think of Sayaka in that way, hadn’t he? Would _he_ believe Kiyotaka? If anyone would, it would be _him!_

But he’d thought that Sayaka would understand he’d just been acting, and she hadn’t. So who was to say Mondo wouldn’t also defy his expectations…

But… _why_ hadn’t she understood that he’d just been acting? She was usually so good at working out what people were thinking, so why had she been so convinced by his angry facade? Was he really that good at acting? He’d have thought _she’d_ be the better actor out of the pair of them… Unless… maybe she wasn’t acting _on_ camera, she was only acting _off_ of it! That would make sense, wouldn’t it? That she’d just been playing along with his own lie? Playing along _incredibly_ well?

Did he dare to hope that was the case? She’d not given him any evidence that it was, but that might be because she didn’t want to risk getting caught being nice to him when she wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be…

 _And,_ she’d let him keep her torch, hadn’t she!? If she’d _really_ been upset with him, she could have stopped him taking it back to Jutaro’s room last night, couldn’t she!? Or insisted _she_ hold it unless they were on camera! But she hadn’t, she’d let him keep it the whole time! She knew how much being able to keep his promise to Mondo meant to him and had let him do it! So she couldn’t possibly be _that_ mad at him, could she?

Well… he’d find out soon enough, now that all the interviews were over and he and the band were getting back on the bus to go home…

“Got everything?” Sayaka asked him with a smile… and hopefully not just because there was a group of fans gathered around the front of the bus to wave her off…

“Err… Yes!” He help up his significantly lighter carrier bag to show her, “Let me help you with your bags!” He added, picking up the heavier one and… and the two sets of notes…

…He’d failed at _that_ to, hadn’t he? Had she managed to get it finished, in the end? Or was it still another reason for her to be angry with him? He’d not had the chance to ask her... But he couldn’t really do it in front of all her fans either, so he got a hold of himself and carried the bags up the steps onto the bus, and Sayaka and her band followed, waving to the crowd one last time as they got on.

And then the doors shut, meaning that there were no cameras or watching fans… but also no sign of that man, right? So what would she do now…?

“Ah… it’s about time!” She smiled again, stretching her arms out and looking far more relaxed than she had done all weekend.

So… she _wasn’t_ angry with him? It _had_ all just been an act!?

 _“What’s_ about time?” Kiyotaka flinched and Sayaka paused mid-stretch at the sound of her boss' voice… What was _he_ doing here!?

“…It’s about time I got my _torch_ back!” Sayaka announced, snatching the item out of his make-shift scabbard. “Now take my bags up to my bed, and then _you_ can stay in _yours_ until we’re back at the school!”

...She was taking the _torch…?_ So… she must be _furious_ with him then…But there was nothing he could do, aside from nod and follow her command, shamefully scurrying up to the second floor and shutting himself in the bunk he’d been assigned two days ago…

* * *

 

Oh, geez… Taking the torch off of him really _had_ been too much, hadn’t it? Why hadn’t anyone _warned_ her her manager was going to be on the bus as well!? She was going to have to apologise to him for the rest of _term_ after all of this!

 _“Your_ torch?” Her manager asked.

“Yes, it was a present from one of my class!” Sayaka explained.

“Oh, you mean the baseball guy?” Her producer assumed, from the shape of the torch. “That reminds me, I hear he plays guitar?”

“Kuwata? Well… he picked it up pretty quick, but I don’t think he practises much, so…”

“So I could give him an album, but no live performances, got it…” He shrugged.

“…You think it’s worth funding an album for him!?” Sayaka asked.

“Sure! He’s a big name! I’d get a ton of sports nuts picking it up just because his name’s on it, even if he couldn’t play for crap! Might even be worth doing more than one if he can actually _play…_ ” Her producer laughed, “I’ll ask him about it when I visit your school… _”_

… _What!?_ “Umm… you’re visiting my school?” Sayaka asked, “We’re not usually allowed to have guests…”

“Well, no. But now I know about that steering committee, we can have you do interviews there more often! I was thinking every fortnight, or maybe two out of three weeks… Sounds like a plan, right hun?”

An interview like on Friday _every week or two!?_ And _he’d_ be there, so she’d have to keep forcing Taka to play along with their on-and-off friendship again!? _Oh please…_

_“No.”_

“What was that!?” Her producer wheeled around to glare at her.

…Oh _heck!_ Had she _actually_ just said _no_ to him!? Where had _that_ come from!? “Ah… I… it’s just… going to the steering committee’s kind of considered a big thing at school… so, maybe it’s best not to take it for granted?” She tried to make her defiance seem a little less… well, _defiant._ “You probably don’t want those girls getting _too_ close to me either, the way they were blabbing about me on the internet…”

He just glared at her… Oh boy, this wasn’t going to be good… why had she decided to stand up for herself, she _knew_ she wasn’t important enough to be calling the shots like tha…

“Huh… That pretty head of yours has some _sense_ in it... I don’t want those guys thinking I owe them _too_ much…” He finally decided, to her complete shock. “But I expect you to be getting some work done instead! If those classes you’re taking there are so good, you ought to be able to help Kuwata throw together a half-decent album!”

“Huh… _me!?” Her_ put an album together!? Sure, she’d been writing her own songs, but she didn’t think anyone would have taken her seriously if she’d tried to push for them to be produced… But she could probably rewrite a few to work with Leon’s style… maybe even do a duet with him for one of the pieces, just to increase the appeal and act as a cross-marketing thing…

“I don’t _care_ if you don’t like him Sayaka, you’ll have to work with him, _understand!?”_

“…You’re the boss!” She shrugged… That seemed to satisfy him enough for him to get himself a drink from the kitchen and head off the stairs with it…

“Sayaka, are you _crazy!?”_ Satomi asked her quietly, “You _know_ we can’t just say _no_ to him!”

“Yeah, I know…” Sayaka sighed, “But it seems like I can _negotiate…”_ Just like Taka had tried to tell her…

She still couldn’t believe she’d just done it though! But… it had meant she’d be able to put together an album with Leon! He was going to be _thrilled!_ And Taka would be pleased she’d stood up for herself as well… she’d have to tell him just as soon as they got off of the bus… hopefully he was alright up in the bed up there…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka stared at the top of the small alcove bed alcove, vaguely aware of music being played from the lounge area he’d spent Friday night working in… He’d not really slept that night, or after the concert… But that wasn’t stopping him from lying awake and worrying about _Sayaka…_

What was he going to do? Was it really going to be like this forever? How had this _happened?_ She’d been so _happy_ with him, just three days ago, and now she wouldn’t even let him _speak_ to her!? How had he turned a good friendship into this… this _façade!?_ She’d _said_ he was lucky that she wasn’t ruining his political chances, and logically he had to admit it was true… but…

Right now, he was wishing this whole act was the other way around… that she _wasn’t_ mad at him, but just had to _act_ like it in public, and when they were alone she’d… she’d just be her usual self…

But that wasn’t the case. She was only even _pretending_ to be nice to him because it was now her _job_ to, and she was too professional to refuse.

But… really, why couldn’t she see that his anger outburst had just been his attempt to keep her from getting into trouble for breaking her over-strict contract? It had seemed like such an obvious solution to him at the time! What else _could_ he have done, aside from admit to the man that he wasn’t attracted to Sayaka because he was _gay…?_

…Was _that_ what she’d thought he’d do? It must have been, after all, _she’d_ been the one to tell the man that he _was!_ But had she really just expected him to admit to being homosexual so easily? _Surely_ she must have _some_ idea how difficult it would be to run for office if people knew, or even _thought,_ he was gay, so why had she told her manager that he was? Even if she had been certain that it was true, didn’t she realise that saying as much was tantamount to handing the country over to someone who _wasn’t_ him? And _she’d_ been the one saying he should do whatever it took to avoid doing that!

…But then, _he’d_ said that was _cheating,_ hadn’t he? _He’d_ been the one to suggest he was going to be honest and moral in achieving his goals, regardless of the disadvantages it brought! So why _shouldn’t_ she think he’d be honest about his sexuality, even if it left him 33 points down in the polls…

But he _hadn’t_ been, had he? He’d been so desperate to keep it his dirty secret that he’d _slandered_ her in response! So of _course_ she hated him now! He’d been a complete hypocrite, insulting a decision she’d made as a child, only to then do the exact same thing himself! He’d not been thinking of what was the _right_ thing to do, he’d just thought of what was best for _him!_

…In fact, it hadn’t _just_ been that conversation when his image had taken priority over her, had it? He’d spent the entirety of Sayaka’s birthday party worrying about how it all made _him_ look, instead of whether _she_ was going to enjoy it or not! No wonder she hated him now! For the last three days, he’d just been trying to _use_ her hard-earned popularity to kick-start his political career!

If only he could apologise! Tell her he understood why she was angry now, and that he’d never be so selfish again! But if he tried to talk to her, she’d play that tape and…

And he was doing it again, wasn’t he? He was putting himself above her, _again!_ If he kept treating his friends like that, he’d soon have none left, not even _Mondo…_

He… he’d have to talk to her once they got back to school, even if she _did_ end up publishing the tape! He had to at least _try_ to apologise properly to her, now he knew what he’d done wrong…!

* * *

 

“We’ll be arriving at Hope’s Peak soon!” The driver of the bus finally announced, some time around 9pm.

“Aww…” Her band all sighed.

“I _know!_ I’ve been missing you guys so much; I almost don’t want to go back! _”_ Sayaka admitted, “But, it’s only two weeks until summer holidays, so I’ll be with you all _then!”_

“Well, you better work extra hard, girly, ‘cause if you don’t I’m taking your spot on stage!” Ayaka threatened… As if that would happen…

“But, you know, don’t work _too_ hard! We wouldn’t be much of a band if you work yourself to death!” Satomi added, and the others agreed.

“Thanks, girls…” Sayaka smiled, and then they all gave each other a big goodbye hug…

And then it wasn’t long before it was just her, Taka, and a few bags of their stuff standing outside the gates of Hope’s Peak as the bus drove away… So now she could _finally_ apologise to him for this entire weekend!

Except, as soon as she looked at him, he drew a deep breath and started talking himself. “Sayaka! I only said those things about you because I was attempting to behave as a spurned suitor would have…”

“Because that way I could say I’d not broken my contract, I know!” She finished for him…

“Err… You did?” He looked worried, “Ah… well… I… I realised I _could_ have kept your secret _without_ slandering you, if I’d have agreed with your suggestion that I was homosexual…”

“But you didn’t want to make your political career harder, I understand!”

“Ngh… well… Alright! I _know_ it was hypocritical of me! But… please give me another chance! I…”

 _“Taka, I’m not mad at you!”_ Sayaka insisted, to stop the frenzy he was working himself into.

“You… you’re _not!?_ But…” Taka’s eyes flicked down to the torch, balanced precariously on top of her bags.

“I didn’t realise he’d be on the bus, and I couldn’t think of a better way to explain why I’d been looking forward to getting on it.” Sayaka explained, “And… why do you think you’re a hypocrite…?”

“Well… I told _you_ off, for not wanting to disadvantage yourself in your auditions… but then as soon as a situation arose that risked disadvantaging _my_ career goals _,_ I choose to protect my _own_ image, with little concern for _yours!”_ He cried, shamefully. “ _And_ I’ve been doing that ever since you announced that your party would be publicised! Instead of being concerned with whether _you’d_ enjoy the party, I just worried about making sure _I_ didn’t get laughed at for making a complete disaster out of it!”

“Well, of course you did, after the way Junko scared you!” Sayaka told him, “It’s all right to worry about your needs above mine, even if we _are_ friends! After all you can’t help _anyone_ if you don’t look after yourself first!”

“But… Still… wouldn’t it have been _better_ if I’d just said that I…” Taka started to try and say something, only to fail at the last moment.

“No, Taka, you shouldn’t have to tell people you’re _gay_ , just to help _me…”_  Sayaka sighed, “You not wanting your sex life to be national gossip isn’t the same as me actively doing things I wasn’t comfortable with, just to gain an advantage…”

He stared at her anxiously for a while, trying to figure out whether or not she’d actually worked out that he definitely _was_ gay… but then another thought crossed his mind.

“…In _that_ case… Why did you _say_ that I…?”

Well, this was it…

“…Because I was being selfish.” She admitted. “I was so worried about myself, I just told him you were gay because it was the easiest way to make sure _I_ didn’t get in trouble, even though I knew it could easily cause you trouble later on… I’m sorry.”

“Ahh…”

 _“And…”_ She took a deep breath, “I’m sorry I asked you to do a bunch of favours for me even though I knew you were busy and stressed out. I’m sorry I said Mondo’s been wasting your time. I’m sorry I assumed _you’d_ made a mistake with my homework, especially because it turned out to be _me_ who did it! I’m sorry I dragged you along to make you fix that mistake, even though I knew you had plans. I’m sorry I got mad when you tried to encourage me to stand up for myself. I’m sorry I yelled at you for not being able to find two swapped numbers in two hundred pages of notes. I’m sorry I didn’t let everyone thank you properly for saving Ayaka. And I’m sorry I’m been doing such a good job of pretending I hated you today…”

She took another breath as she reached into her pocket to hand over the piece of paper she’d put there earlier… “Will you please forgive me?”

He stared at her for a moment, then broke out into laughter as he took the voucher off of her. “Ahahaha! Of _course_ I will! You’re one of my _best_ friends! I’m not going to give that up over something so petty!” He took a moment to wipe his eyes… “Now, how can I help you?”

“Umm… what?” Sayaka blinked, did he _really_ think she’d given him the voucher to ask for something _else!?_

“I mean… what favour do you want?” Oh, geez, he really _did_ think that!

“I… I wanted you to forgive me?” Sayaka tried to explain. “I mean… you’ve done enough over this weekend, you probably deserve it anyway…”

“What… _Nonsense!_ Everything I’ve done this weekend was something I’d have done, regardless!” He insisted.

“Even ditching Mondo?” She asked.

“ _His_ plans were something we could postpone, fixing the mistake with your assignment wasn’t!” Kiyotaka tried to hand back the voucher.

“You saved my friend’s life!” Sayaka exclaimed.

“I was merely ensuring that the proper health and safety precautions were in place!” Kiyotaka said, with a little hint of pride. “Anyone would have done the same…”

“But they _didn’t…_ ” Sayaka pointed out, but he wasn’t having any of it… “Well… what would _you_ consider a favour then?”

“Oh, well… Something helpful, that I wouldn’t have done otherwise…” He mulled it over, “Something like, pretending to be in a relationship wi… Wait… no! What am I saying! I couldn’t do _that!_ Even if it _would_ help you…” He looked guilty…

“Were you going to suggest you could pretend to date Leon, so no one figured out _I’m_ dating him?” Sayaka asked.

“Yes, but… then I realised… I _can’t…”_ He cringed, "I... I'm sorry..."

“Taka, what did I _just_ say about you not having to do things like that for me…?” Sayaka sighed, and he looked embarrassed and relieved at the same time. “Besides, no would have believed you’re dating _Leon_ after you turned _Andy_ down!” She giggled.

“…What are you talking about?” Taka asked.

“Umm… Tornado told me they tried to set you up with him?” Sayaka explained.

“What? They didn’t do anything like that!” He complained, “They just invited me into their dressing room and encouraged me to sit with him!”

“Umm… Taka?” She tried not to laugh at him, “That sounds like they tried to set you up with him…”

“Err… But… how was _I_ supposed to know that!? None of them said anything to me about dating him!”

“Well, they were probably being subtle about it so they didn’t make him seem desperate…” Sayaka explained.

“But… the only things they said were that they’d like me to work with them! Other than that they just encouraged him to play his guitar and asked if I thought he was fitter than Leon…”

“Ah… Taka? ‘Fit’ is British slang for ‘good-looking’…” Sayaka told him, “And that was them trying to make it so you could always be around him, and then trying to get him to serenade you…”

“Argh… well… perhaps that might be obvious, given the context that he was attracted to me!” Kiyotaka admitted, “But at the time, it would have been presumptuous of me to assume that was the case!”

“Well… from what they said, Tornado thought it was pretty obvious that Andy liked you.” Sayaka told him.

“…How so?” Taka asked, looking confused.

“Well… he was nervous, so he was blushing and stammering at you a lot. And apparently he kept staring at you when he thought you weren’t looking, and saying nice things about you.” Sayaka counted off several of the things Tornado had mention over the last day, “Did you really have no idea at all?”

“Err… no, I just thought he was shy in general, not because of… well… _me!”_ He blushed slightly, “I mean… I’m not exactly attractive, am I?”

“That’s not true… you look quite nice when you relax, and smile!” Sayaka told him, making him blush even more.

“I… I didn’t realise…” He muttered, “Wait… Do you know if there’s anyone _else_ who’s attracted to me, that I haven’t noticed!?” He asked, hopefully.

Wait… was he thinking about _Mondo?_ He really _didn’t_ know how Mondo felt about him?

“Wait… NO! Don’t answer that!” Taka suddenly cried, “I mean… I don’t have _time_ to waste on… on _romance_ anyway! I… I have my school work to think of, and from next year I’ll be joining the student council, so I’ll have even _less_ time than before! It… it wouldn’t _matter_ even if anyone _did_ like me in that way!”

… His fists were clenched in anger at himself for thinking about… well, probably about ruining his chances of becoming Prime Minister, but also the _waste of time…_ But at the same time he looked like he was desperate to be told his feelings weren’t unrequited…

What had Makoto said, that Taka needed Mondo the way she needed Leon? How miserable would _she_ be, if she didn’t know full well that Leon loved her back? But, at the same time, if she just _told_ him Mondo liked him, he might feel forced to make a hasty decision about it in front of her, instead of giving himself time to think about what he should do… If only there was some way to tell him without actually _telling_ him?

Ah! The photobook! If she could find some way to get him to look at what _Mondo_ was doing in the pictures…

“Alright! Oh! But I _did_ think of a favour you could do for me!” Sayaka told him.

“Oh… really? How can I help!?” He smiled, pleased that the conversation was moving _away_ from his secret…

“I need to apologise to Mondo, but I want to do something special for it! Would you be able to pick a nice photograph of him out of the photobook? Preferably something recent…”

“Ah! Certainly!” Kiyotaka smiled, “I’ll bring it to you in class tomorrow morning!”

“Thanks, Taka! That will be perfect!” After all, that meant he’d be looking at it _now,_ while it was still fresh in his mind what a guy staring at him could mean…”

* * *

 

Kiyotaka checked his watch as he headed into his homeroom classroom and picked up the class album he’d spent more of the year steadily adding to… this would probably be quite a fun favour! He’d not really looked through the completed album at all…

He decided to start at the beginning, smiling at the happy looks on all of his friends faces, and the picture of himself and Sayaka she’d taken when she told him he needed to relax in photographs… then there was the photograph Chihiro had taken for Christmas, with them all facing the camera…

 _That_ was a good one of Mondo! Kiyotaka had never noticed it before, but Mondo had one of his calm, confident looks about him… a teasing smile playing on his lips as his eyes shone out from the image…

 _Gods,_ Mondo was so handsome! Especially with that look in his eyes…

 _“If I could only have your eyes on me. Nothing else could make me feel that happy…”_ before he really thought about it, Kiyotaka was singing the chorus from that song from yesterday…

Ah! What was he _thinking!?_ Of course there was something that would make him happier than Mondo’s attention! _Being Prime Minister!_ Right!?

But… would it really? He’d been telling himself for a month that he was willing to give up on romance until he’d cleared his family’s name, _especially_ as Mondo wasn’t interested in him... But being able to help Mondo, to comfort him with his words and hugs… it made him feel so satisfied, validated and… _happy!_

And now they’d started getting so close, so often, he _still_ couldn’t help but wonder if there was even the _slightest_ chance Mondo was attracted to him as well… And the comfort he’d got from hugging Mondo, the courage from holding his hand… not to mention the excitement from just _imagining_ him in the shower! Kiyotaka couldn’t imagine that there’d be a better feeling than those!

But… becoming Prime Minister wasn’t just for _his_ happiness, was it? He needed to clear his family’s name, that his father had been working so hard to do for years… and he needed to show that ordinary people working hard could surpass those with innate talent and ability! He couldn’t just throw all of that away! He _needed_ to be Prime Minister! And to do _that,_ he needed every advantage he could _get!_

…But that was what Sayaka had thought about _her_ goal as well, wasn’t it? And it seemed to had led to her doing things she wasn’t comfortable with… or _proud_ of! And even if she said it wasn’t comparable, constantly hiding how he really felt, well...

It was neither comfortable _or_ something he was proud of! In fact, the thought of letting people vote for him, without really understanding such a large part of him… it rather felt like _cheating…_

But… what would happen if he stopped hiding it? That would be an instant 33% disadvantage! Well, unless it turned out that his opponent was also gay, but what were the chances of that!? How many gay politicians were there…?

Well… if they all decided to _hide_ it, like he was intending to _,_ there could be a lot more than he _thought_ there were… All of them making themselves feel ashamed and miserable, because they were too worried to be the first one to put themselves at a disadvantage…

…But if he admitted it, and _then_ managed to become Prime Minister… then every gay politician _after_ him would know they _didn’t_ have to hide themselves to succeed! And yes, it was a long shot, and it would take effort and hard work… but he’d known that about his goal for all his life anyway! Why had he balked at just one more challenge? He shouldn’t have been _hiding_ this! He should have _talked_ about it! That was the _moral_ thing to do, wasn’t it!?

That was it! He’d decided, he was _sick_ of constantly feeling bad about this! He was going to tell...

…Someone? Who didn’t already know, obviously… But who?

His eyes flicked down to the photograph in his hand… of course, _Mondo._ He’d tell _Mondo!_ After all, it was _Mondo_ he had a crush on! Even if he didn’t reciprocate his feelings, at least Kiyotaka would feel less guilty when they hugged, knowing he wasn’t tricking his friend into thinking it was purely platonic…

And if Mondo _did_ reciprocate…?

If Mondo really _did_ care for him in the same way, he felt like he’d be able to do _anything…_

_“I’ll reach my goal, just watch me and you’ll see… Just so long as you put your eyes on me!”_

“That’s a nice song…” Kiyotaka almost threw the photo album away in shock at the sound of Kyoko’s voice.

“I heard it at Sayaka’s concert!” He hastily explained, not wanting to admit he’d been singing love songs at a photograph. “It’s called Eyes On Me!”

“Hmm…” Her eyes flicked down to the photo in his hand regardless… “How’s Mondo doing?”

“Err… I don’t know… I only just got back to school…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“You mean… didn’t Sayaka tell you?” Kyoko’s brow furrowed, “About the lumbar puncture?”

 _“Lumbar puncture!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, weren't those horribly painful!? “You… you don’t mean _Mondo_ had one, do you!?” Kyoko just nodded, _“Why did he need a lumbar puncture!? Is he sick!?_ He hadn’t mentioned _anything_ to me…!”

“He’s fine! Aside from the normal side-effects of the procedure, but those should be gone within a week!” Kyoko assured him. “But, he didn’t _need_ a lumbar puncture… Nurse Tsumiki just…  _gave_ him one, because he’s close to _you.”_

 _“Me!?”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed, “You mean… she’s still angry with me… so she took that anger out on _Mondo?_ ”

“Well… I don’t have proper evidence for it but… I believe so. From looking through her notes I believe there’s a trend between the severity of her medical tests and the closeness to _you…”_ Kyoko said, warningly. “I hope it goes without saying, but _don’t_ try to talk to her yourself.”

“I… I understand…” Kiyotaka sighed, how could he have been so _stupid_ to ruin Valentine’s for her _that_ much… “But, where’s Mondo now?”

“In the medical centre.” Kyoko answered.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka checked his watch… he could take the photo album with him. If he was quick he should have time for a brief conversation with Mondo before curfew, just to check if there was anything he needed… “I’ll see you in class tomorrow!” He told Kyoko as he left…

…

“Ishimaru… Here to see your friend?” The nurse on reception must have recognised him from Thursday night, “He’s in the third room on the left, I don’t think he’s asleep at the moment…”

 _“Thank you!”_ Kiyotaka bowed, and headed towards the room, opening the door quietly… “Kyoudai…” He whispered into the room.

“…Taka? Issat you?” Mondo muttered from the bed, “Are you alright!? I saw the news, I swear, if that asshole laid one hand on you…”

“I’m perfectly fine! I was carrying that torch like you said to, after all!” Kiyotaka answered, and walked over to him, “Besides, what about _you!?_ I just got back and heard about the test…”

“Yeah… I, uhh… don’t think I did a good job getting Tsumiki ta like ya…” Mondo replied, staring straight up at the ceiling…

“I’m sorry… I didn’t realise she was _that_ upset with me!” Kiyotaka apologised. “Can I do anything to help? Like help you sit up, or a drink, or get anything from your room, or…”

“I can’t sit up… anything but lying down gives me the shittiest headache ever…” Mondo complained, “But if you could pass me my drink…” Mondo gestured to a glass of water with a long straw sat in it on the table above his head…

“Of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, passing it close enough for Mondo to take a drink and then putting it back once he’d finished. “I can’t stay long, as curfew’s soon, but is there anything else I can do for you?” He looked around the bed Mondo was in, “You don’t seem to have any of your things here! I’ll pick them up for you and bring them tomorrow!”

“You ain’t gotta do that…” Mondo mumbled.

“No! I insist! I’m your friend, remember! And you did it for me!”

“Uhh… alright…” Mondo sighed, irritably. “But… can ya pick up the vouchers ya gave me as well, while you’re at it?”

Mondo had another favour he wanted doing? “Certainly!”

“Cool.” Mondo muttered.

…He’d wanted to tell Mondo how he felt, hadn’t he? Was it _right_ to do it now, while he was sick? He wasn’t sure… but he’d put it off too long regardless, so he ought to say it! Hopefully Mondo would forgive his poor timing…

He opened his mouth to speak… and froze… Ngh… Why was he hesitating!? He needed to say this! So why wouldn’t his mouth move!? Why was he so scared!? He just needed to summon a little courage to say what was on his mind…

He felt something brushing his arm… it was Mondo’s hand, almost just like before at the phone booth, he’d be able to grab hold of it and find the courage to speak again… And now Mondo was even looking at him with those wonderful eyes of his and…

“Sorry… didn’t mean ta hit ya…” Mondo muttered, pulling his hand away and turning his eyes away from Kiyotaka…

And there went his courage… Mondo didn’t even want to look at him again… How could he possibly admit how he felt like _that?_

“Ah… don’t worry about it!” Kiyotaka choked out. “You must be tired… I hope you sleep well!” He added. “I’ll bring your things tomorrow!”

 _Then_ maybe Mondo would look at him and he’d have the courage to finally stop hiding his feelings…

* * *

 

(Monday, July 9th 2012)

“Sooo… What excuse are we using for hanging out _now?”_ Leon smirked at her as she sat down opposite him at breakfast.

He certainly hadn't been worrying about excuses when she’d found him practically treading a hole in the carpet outside here door when she got back… he’d never have admitted it, but he’d been worried about her after seeing the news of what happened at her concert… But now that she’d spent the night assuring him that she was fine, she could tell him her big piece of good news…

“I’m here to start discussing the details of your upcoming album release.” She smirked back.

“Wha…?” He stopped moving, the spoon he’d about to feed himself with hanging partway between his lips and the bowl of cereal it came from… “…Are you serious? _How!?”_

“My producer thinks having your name on the cover will make it sell to sports fans, if nothing else…” She sighed. “But, if we actually make a _good_ album, you might get more than one…”

 _“Seriously!?_ You’re not just jerking me around, are you!?” Leon exclaimed, “And you say  _we’re_ making it!? So, I’m working with your band?”

“No… just me. It’ll be _you_ playing, but I’ll be putting together a track list and, I think I should do a duet with you on one track…”

“How the _fuck_ did you swing _that!?”_ He yelled excitedly.

“Oh… the producer wanted to come talk to you himself, and visit the school every two weeks, but I said no to that, so he decided…”

“Woah, woah, _woah!_ You said _no_ to your _boss!?”_ Leon grinned even more than before…

“I didn’t say _no…_ I just…. negotiated a little!” She smiled.

“Well, it’s _something!”_ He shrugged, “Let’s go tell the others!” He stood up to leave…

“But what about your breakfast…”

“Screw breakfast! I’m gonna be rockstar!” Leon cheered, dragging her off to class by the wrist…

“OOH! It’s _Sayaka!”_ Hina was the first to spot them, practically jumping out of her chair when she did.

“Maizono-dono! We saw the news, did that villainous cur harm you at all!?” Hifumi asked her.

“O-of course he didn’t… she was n-nowhere _near_ her!” Toko rolled her eyes at him.

“Well… he might have caused damage to her band's reputation… and given that’s her main asset…” Togami smirked.

“Yes, but it’s obvious that’s not what Hifumi meant…” Celestia told him, patronisingly.

“Hey, Sayaka… How’s your friend doing!?” Makoto asked her.

“Aah… I’m fine! And she’s fine as well, we’re all fine!” Sayaka told them all… “I’m surprised you’re worried about _me_ and not _Taka_ …”

“He was here earlier!” Junko told her, “He just left to drag Hagakure’s sorry butt in here…”

“Awesome! I’ll be able to tell him my kickass news!” Leon grinned, leaning up against the teacher’s desk so he’d be able to give a ‘class announcement’ as soon as they arrived.

Sayaka sighed at him and sat down at her own table, vaguely aware that everyone was watching her with concern...

“Umm… Sayaka?” Makoto approached her and asked quietly… “Did you remember what I said about Mondo…?”

“…Oh _heck!_ I forgot to tell Taka about that!” Sayaka realised, “He’s probably waiting at Mondo’s door…”

“Umm… no… Kyoko told him where Mondo is last night!” Makoto interrupted her, “I _meant_ , what I said about _apologising_ to him…” He looked at her with reluctant determination in his eyes.

“Aah… Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I apologise today…” Sayaka promised him, “Although, I might have done something that’ll make it up to him anyway…”

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“Well… you might see once Taka comes back…”

After a while, Taka arrived with an exhausted looking Hiro in tow and headed over to the top of the class as well…

“I’d like to make an announcement…” He announced, gesturing for Leon to sit down… He didn’t look very happy though… hadn’t he looked at the album?

“Is it good news!?” Leon grinned.

“…No.” Taka frowned.

“Uhh… I’ll let you go first then…” Leon conceded the floor and Taka turned to face them all.

“Well… I wanted to announce that I was looking though the class photo album last night, and have discovered that a large proportion of our photographs have gone missing.” Taka frowned. “I’m not expecting anyone to own up to this _now_ … but I _would_ appreciate it if you could return the missing photographs, and… I’d also like to know the reason _why_ those photographs in particular have been taken. Thank you.” He finished, awkwardly, while everyone looked at each other in confusion…

Why did she have a feeling she knew exactly which photographs had gone missing? All the ones of Mondo and Taka from May onwards?

“So, like, which photos is it?” Junko asked.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to point it out.” Taka tried to evade the question.

“I’d bet good money that she’ll check the album herself and find out regardless…” Celestia shrugged.

“Ah… well, if you’re _that_ insistent…” Kiyotaka sighed, “They’re all pictures of _me…”_

“Is it _all_ the pictures of you, or…?” Kyoko asked him.

“There’s a period of pictures between late November and mid-January that have been left untouched, but otherwise they’re all missing.” Taka explained.

 _Mid-January?_ That early? And why were the ones before _November_ gone?

“So, all the ugly ones are gone! _”_ Junko laughed…

“Ah… was that it?” Taka muttered under his breath…

 _Urgh! Junko!_ Now he was going to think _all_ the missing pictures were ‘ugly’ ones of him!

“Regardless, that was all I had to say…” Taka walked back to his seat, passing her a copy of Chihiro’s Chirstmas card photo as he passed her…

“Well! Guess it’s time for my news!” Leon jumped up to the front of the class, and had fun bathing in the excitement of his friends… Well, except for Taka, who just looked depressed…

She needed to go give Mondo that apology _quick!_

_…_

Several hours of lazy, last-week of classes lessons (and one turned in assignment) later, she and Makoto were in the medical centre…

“Hey, Mondo! How you doing?” Makoto asked the gang leader, who was lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

“My head feels like shit and I’m bored as _fuck!”_ Mondo snapped, “And every time I try and get up I feel like I’m gonna pass out! How the fuck can one tiny-ass little needle fuck me over like this for a _week!?”_

“Uhh… that’s the joy of medical science, I guess!?” Makoto tried to joke with him, “Anyway! Sayaka came to see you! So I’ll leave you two to talk!” He added, before running out of the room before she could stop him…

Thanks, Makoto… She knew she needed to apologise and get used to talking to Mondo, but did he have to run off and leave her by herself with him!?

“Oh… uhh, hi, Sayaka! Sorry, I didn’t see ya there…” Mondo apologised, lowering the volume of his voice. “How’re ya doing!? I saw the news…”

“I’m alright, thanks to Taka!”

“Yeah… it’s a good thing he went with _you…”_ Mondo mumbled.

“I guess… but I shouldn’t have made him do it…” Sayaka admitted, “Umm… and I shouldn’t have said you’ve been wasting his time, either…”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Mondo slowly waved his hand dismissively, “You were right.”

“What!? No I wasn’t…” Sayaka hastily disagreed, “I only said that because I was mad about the homework, and that turned out to be all _my_ fault, anyway!”

“…You’re still right though! I mean… He’s gonna be Prime Minister, he can’t do that if he’s…  _mates_ with some dumb gangster…”

“But… you’re _not_ just some dumb gangster…” Sayaka admitted, “especially not to _him…”_

“Yeah, but it ain’t _him_ he’s gotta worry about impressing, is it!?” Mondo snapped, “And even if I dress up nice and carve shit for a living, I’m still gonna be the guy who got inta Hope’s Peak by being a _thug_ …”

“Maybe… but, you probably help him enough to make up for it…” Sayaka told him.

 _“Bullshit!_ He doesn’t need anyone, let alone _me!”_ Mondo snapped, then looked guilty about it… “Look, I’m sorry! I just… I realised I need ta get out of his life before I fuck it up for him, so just lemme do that, alright?”

What the heck!? Why had he suddenly gone from wanting Taka’s attention all the time, to feeling like he didn’t deserve _any_ of it? It couldn’t _just_ be because of what she said, was it?

“Kyoudai…?” Taka’s head popped around the door before she got the chance to ask, “I made your favourite lunch! Turbo Ramen with cotton candy for dessert!”

“Uhh… thanks, Taka…” Mondo muttered, wincing as he forced himself upright.

“Ah! You’ve not got to sit up!” Taka cried, “I’ll feed it to you!”

“What!? C’mon Taka, I ain’t wasting your time like that…” Mondo insisted.

“You shouldn’t be so reckless with your health!” Kiyotaka snapped back at him, “You need to stay lying down to make sure you’re fully recovered in two weeks’ time for your drive home! Otherwise, you might get in an accident and… and…”

“Alright!” Mondo huffed and laid back down, in the face of Taka’s quivering lips. “But you’re taking the voucher for this…”

“No I am _not!”_ Kiyotaka countered, “As I told you this morning, I’m not taking the voucher for something I’d have done anyway!”

“And you’d never have fucking _spoon-fed_ me, so you can take the voucher!”

“You’re _sick!_ Of course I’d make sure you’re fed!” Taka responded, “That’s what _you_ did when _I_ was sick, wasn’t it!?”

“Well… yeah…” Mondo sighed, realising he wasn’t winning this argument. “I just think you’ve got better thing ta do with your time…”

“What!? No! That’s not true at all! I… I _like_ spending time with you…” Taka admitted, nervously… “ _And_ …” He took a deep breath…

 _‘And…’!?_ Was he about to _confess…!?_

“And _what?_ ” Mondo asked, looking over at the wall to Taka’s side…

She could practicall _see_ the confidence drain out of him as he noticed that Mondo was pointedly _not_ looking at _him…_

“…and all the classes this week seem as though they’re going to be full of non-school related activities, so I have plenty of free time to spend with you now!” Taka covered up his attempt…

“Ya could still be studying though…” Mondo must have said for the first time in his life…

“Ah… well, if you rather I did _that…”_ Taka agreed, sadly… “But I’m still not accepting the voucher for this…”

Mondo groaned irritably and Sayaka quietly left the room as Taka started spoon-feeding him ramen in silence…

And, of course, Makoto had stood outside the door listening to the whole thing…

“You weren’t kidding when you said I messed them both up, were you?” She admitted.

“Well… it didn’t help… but I think those missing pictures had more to do with it now…” Makoto sighed.

“You think Mondo saw them?” Sayaka asked him.

“Well, who _else_ would have had a reason to steal them _and_ have wanted to get rid of the ones that make Taka look bad?” Makoto pointed out, “I’m just wondering how he found out about them… he only people Leon showed was _us…_ ”

“But Junko and Syo knew as well…” She reminded him, “Although I don’t think either of _them_ speak to him much?”

“Hmm…” Makoto was thinking about it… “Well, it doesn’t really matter _who_ told him… It’s not going to change the fact that he’s too embarrassed about it to talk to Taka… So we just need to go with _your_ idea of getting Taka to tell _him!”_

“Umm… I’m not sure that’ll work either…” Sayaka admitted, “He was about to just now, but because Mondo’s avoiding eye contact…”

“Aww, _geez!_ Now he thinks Mondo doesn’t like him…” Makoto sighed.

“…This is all my fault. If I hadn’t dragged Taka off for the weekend, Mondo probably wouldn’t have checked the album…”

“Well, maybe… Although I don’t want to think about what Tsumiki would have done to him…” Makato admitted. “But… why _did_ you take _Taka?_ Why not ask Leon about it… he knew as soon as Mondo mentioned it which piece of work it was!”

“I was convinced it was Taka’s fault, somehow, and Leon would have told me already if he’d known anything about it…” Sayaka admitted, “And I couldn’t take Leon in case anyone figured out he’s my boyfriend.”

“But… you took _Taka,_ who people were actually _naming_ as your boyfriend?” Makoto asked, “And you _really_ thought _Leon_ was more reliable than _Taka!?_ That… doesn’t really seem like you… so _why?_ ”

It was a good question… Why _hadn’t_ she just asked Leon in the first place? Why had she assumed _Taka_ would have been the one who messed up, rather than _him?_ Why had she thought Taka and Mondo were dating and ditched her? Where the _heck_ had she got all those _stupid_ ideas from!?

Oh… that was right…

“Junko.” She admitted, “She’d been going on about Mondo wasting Taka’s time, and making him ditch me to go to his room and make out, and then she sent me that picture of Taka and Leon and said it said it had my boyfriend in it, but not that they’d named _Taka_ as the boyfriend…”

That… that couldn’t _all_ have been coincidence, could it?

 _“Really!?_ Geez, she really needs to learn to think about what’s she doing sometimes…” Makoto sighed.

Or Sayaka needed to learn to trust her intuition… There was definitely _something_ wrong with that woman!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! (I guess it might have been a nice way to end Spring Break, for those of you who get it?)  
> From now on I'm going to be posting weekly writing updates on Thursday evenings (GMT time) on my tumblr blog http://charlotteml1.tumblr.com/ . So you can get an advance warning for the next time I apparently decide to drop almost 60 thousand words on you all... (Note, I seriously don't think I'm EVER going to write a single chapter that's this long again though, certainly not in THIS fic!)  
> Next up is Yasuhiro!


	14. Saviour of OOPArts (Yasuhiro Hagakure)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: This'll be a short chapter! *40000 words later* ...Well, still shorter than Sayaka's...  
> This is also another one of those chapters where I'm not sure if I'm doing an appropriate job of representing Taka's homosexualit and how others are treating it. If you have any complaints about that, please let me know (I have a tumblr here http://charlotteml1.tumblr.com/ if you want to complain anonymously, although I would appreciate it if you please read the entire chapter first...).  
> On with the notes!  
> -I have a bit of a weird way of thinking about Hagakure's powers. He mentions doing calculations to work them out in he free time events, which is why I sometimes refer to things as having an X% chance of happening. But then there's also the whole '30% accurate' thing. I tend to think of it as, he'll have 'predictions' that from his calculations SHOULD be 100% accurate, but they're only come true 30% of the time, and the rest of the percentage chances are also only correct 30% of the time, but it's less noticable because it's not supposed to be a dead certainty.  
> -I had to make up a daft conspiracy theory that's sort of based on Steven Universe, because nine months ago I thought it'd be funny to throw the words 'polymorphic sentient rocks' into Surprise for Ishimaru...  
> -Speaking of which, if you hadn't realised that this story is a prequel to that, it is, but I recommend you DON'T go and read it right now, because I intend to give it a few updates (including an extra section) once I've posted the next chapter.  
> -I don't know if this is a thing anywhere outside of the UK, but schools here tend to have 'doss weeks' where the last week of school is spent doing activities that let the class mess about, because no one really cares anymore at that point.  
> -I realised I've set the kids age at least one year younger than it is in the actual game. (Mostly because I can't really believe that they're all 17, that seems too old?) which is why Hiro's only turning 20, not 21 like he should be.  
> WARNINGS FOR MENTIONS OF SUICIDE (Nothing graphic, just a few references to methods)  
> Also when this first went up I forgot to mention that I've had more fanart drawn for me! https://derpyflowergarden.tumblr.com/post/159056984342/so-i-realized-i-never-posted-this-and-im-not Thank you ChibiBreeby !

(Monday, July 9th 2012)

 _‘Yasuhiro’s room will only take a day to pack up.’_ (Neat!) _‘First contact from aliens next Wednesday’, ‘No proper classes this week’_ (Also neat!) _, ‘Hina will break a leg this week’, ‘The reserve course students…’_

Aww, man! Not _that_ one again! What was _with_ his predictions lately? It was like he couldn’t do a single set of calculations without something creepy about the school coming up as 100%! This place must be giving off some _seriously_ bad vibes to keep making him predict stuff like _‘Hope’s Peak won’t last past next Christmas’_ , ‘ _Black and White bears will take over the school’_ or, or…

_‘The reserve course students will all commit suicide together’._

That was the most common one… But it was _crazy,_ right!? It couldn’t _possibly_ happen, could it!? There were, like, _two thousand_ of those guys, they couldn’t _all_ decide to kill themselves at the same time, could they!? They’d need to have some weird, crazy brainwashing shit for that to happen, wouldn’t they? And if they were brainwashed into it, did it even still count as suicide?

Urg… that didn’t matter! That prediction was _wrong!_ It _had_ to be! After all, he was _wrong_ almost 70% of the time, so he just had to work out which of his predictions were the 30% correct ones out of his list!

Which included… ‘ _Black and white bears will take over the school’_ again? Urrggg… Well, never mind, what else did he have? ‘ _Makoto and Yasuhiro will have kids from the same mother’, ‘Togami will take over Denmark and turn it into one of his stores’, ‘the president of India will reveal he was a shapeshifting lizard person’,_ and finally, ‘ _Taka will admit he’s gay before summer holidays started’…_

Hmm… so the ones about his room and the lessons seemed pretty likely, so that was two out of the three he needed. Of the others, the only likely ones were Hina breaking a leg or…

 _Was_ Taka actually gay? He certainly liked Mondo a lot… _maybe_ that one was pretty likely? Although Yasuhiro couldn’t imagine the guy actually admitting he even thought about dating _girls,_ let alone _guys…_ But, unless Hina broke her leg, it seemed like the most likely thing to happen, unless maybe Togami _did_ decide to take over Denmark and turn it into a superstore… Or maybe he and Makoto _did_ end up having kids with the same chick? But that’d take _ages_ to find out…

The other stuff sure as heck wasn’t going to happen, was it? He’d already _had_ first contact with aliens when they’d taken his hamburger and he didn’t believe any of that nonsense about lizard people (it was just made up to distract attention from the polymorphic sentient rocks)!

And he wasn’t even going to _consider_ the bears or suicides… that just _couldn’t_ happen, right!? There was no need for him to worry about those at _all,_ was there!? Nope! No need to worry! Everything would be fine!

…That didn’t exactly stop Yasuhiro from worrying about it until 3am in the morning… Good thing there weren’t any _real_ classes this week! No one would mind if he ditched and had a lie in…

_*Ding dong.*_

Uhhh…? Was that the doorbell…? Eh, whoever it was would probably get the message soon enough…

_*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_

…Or not. Uurgh… he might as well get up and get dressed now… he didn’t need his crystal ball to figure out who _that_ was going to be…

_*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding...*_

“Uhh… Hey, Taka!”

“Hag..., er, _Hiro!”_ Man, he was so annoyed he almost forgot to use Yasuhiro’s nickname… “Class is due to begin in _ten_ minutes! Why have you not even left your room…!? Are you unwell?”

…Taka was looking at his face like he thought it might break it if he got too angry… He must really look like a mess for even _Taka_ to get concerned… “Nah, I’m fine! I just didn’t sleep well and thought I’d lie in!”

 _“What!?_ You can’t just forgo vital schooling because you ‘didn’t sleep well’…!” Taka started a completely predictable lecture.

“Yeah, but it’s _not_ vital schooling…” Yasuhiro told him.

“I _know_ you have your opinions about our science classes…” Taka sighed like he was sick of having this argument… which was fair ‘cause Yasuhiro was kinda sick of telling him he needed to have an open mind about more stuff...

“No, I mean it’s the last week of term, man!” Yasuhiro told him, “We won’t be learning _anything_ this week!”

“Excuse me? Hiro, this isn’t _middle school!_ Just because all of our assignments are due in today, doesn’t mean the teachers won’t be doing their jobs!” Taka scowled, “This is a _proper prestigious_ school! We are _not_ going to have a… a _wasted_ week just because the holidays are approaching!”

“Sure we are! Teachers are still people, no matter _where_ they’re working!” Yasuhiro laughed, “And if I’m wrong it’ll be my own fault!”

“Well… that’s still no reason not to attend!” Taka shot his arm out as if he’d been expected Hiro to try and shut the door on him, “Your presence might be required if one of us wants to make a class announcement!”

Yeah, but what were the chances of _that?_

…Ooohhh! “…You mean _you_ want to make a class announcement?”

“Well, it just so happens that today I _do!”_ Taka admitted, “But regardless, you should still be attending class _every day!”_

Geez, always with the uptight perfection? Couldn’t he cut a guy some slack? _Himself_ maybe? “You know Taka, you can kinda be a _drag_ sometimes…”

“Well, I wouldn’t _have_ to be such a ‘drag’ if _you_ didn’t force me to _drag_ you to _class_ so often!” …Was he serious? Or was that a joke? Ysuhiro’s calculation was that it was a 50/50 chance either way…

“Well, maybe… But what I meant was, _next_ time you wanna tell us all something, you should just _say_ that’s why you want us all in class… You’ve not gotta lecture us all about ‘vital schooling’ all the time!”

After all, if it meant Taka was going to prove his prediction right _already,_ it was totally worth getting up and going to class now!

 _“W-what!?”_ Taka stepped away from in shock as he came out of the door, “Why…? You care more about what I have to talk about than _learning!?”_

“Haha! Sure I do!” Yasuhiro laughed, “You’re our friend! Of course listening to you is important!”

“That… it’s not _that_ important…” Taka muttered, “But if it gets you to attend class…”

 _“There_ we go!” Yasuhiro patted him on the shoulder as they walked down the corridor together… He still looked pretty worried though… but then, he _would_ be if he was about to out himself, right?

They were the last ones to arrive in class, and Taka had to snap at Leon to get out of his way before he started…

 _Urghh!_ He was just annoyed that a bunch of photographs of him had gone missing? (Yasuhiro calculated there’d be a 76% chance that was Mondo’s doing… which was weird, why would he do something to upset Taka?) So much for one of his nicer predictions coming true! At least _Leon_ had some cool news though… and then their homeroom teacher arrived with an arm full of DVDs…

“Well, everyone’s assignments are in, so we’ve all got a lot marking to do…” Their teacher started, “So we’ll be watching some ‘education videos’ this week!” He put the DVDs down with a wink, which probably meant…

“…Sir, with all due respect, _none_ of these are educational!” Taka confirmed it.

“…It’s the last week of term, Ishimaru, no one’s going to be in the mood for learning anything…” The angry scowl on Taka’s face said otherwise… “Just pipe down and watch a movie…”

“Understood, sir.”

Whoop! That was one out of three _good_ predictions!

* * *

 

_“PlEaSe ReChArGe!”_

Kiyotaka jumped slightly as the electronic ‘gun’ in his hand barked a harsh synthetic message at him when he’d tried to hit make a sneak-attack on Mukuro and Junko… the former of which wheeled around and expertly shot him in retaliation.

_*Bzzttzz Bzzttzz Bzzttzz*_

“Ah… nice shot…” He admitted, as the gun in his hand vibrated to signify that he’d been hit and momentarily incapacitated. Although managing to hit _him_ didn’t seem to be much of a feat in this game… especially as most of the rest of the class had had the opportunity to practise on Wednesday, “…But why didn’t my gun work?”

“You need to go back to base and recharge it.” Mukuro explained.

“Yeah, weren’t you listening to the rules?” Junko asked.

“Err… I must have missed that bit…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Thank you! And good luck with the game!” He bowed and headed through the dimly lit corridors towards…

Well, admittedly, he didn’t actually _know_ where he was supposed to be going… He’d not really been paying much attention when the rules had been explained. He’d just been thinking about Mondo, and how it would have nicer if he could have come and played as well, instead of being stuck in hospital (because _he’d_ upset Nurse Tsumiki). By the time he’d started paying attention properly, the teams had been randomly allocated, everyone had paired up in a similar way to how they had on Wednesday, and the game had started, with him being the odd one out of the fifteen of them…

Which only drove it home harder that it would have been nice if Mondo had been here, to help cover his back… Well, assuming Mondo would have actually _wanted_ to team up with him… each time Kiyotaka had tried to visit him today, he’d acted as if he didn’t want Kiyotaka _there…_ Not in a rude way, admittedly, just… politely making it clear he thought Kiyotaka should… go somewhere _else!_

He didn’t understand it… Mondo had been talking about looking after him when he was sick, because they were _friends,_ but now _he_ was the one who was sick, he was acting as if Kiyotaka was ridiculous for attempting to look after _him…_ even going to the lengths of offering the personal favour voucher in exchange for Kiyotaka’s help! And not even looking him in the _eyes_ while he did it!

Did it mean Mondo didn’t want Kiyotaka to be friends with him anymore? Was _that_ why he’d kept insisting that Kiyotaka leave him to recover by himself, and recommending that he should go and study instead of ‘wasting his time’ looking after Mondo? But why would he suddenly stop wanting to be Kiyotaka’s friend? Unless… had he noticed how Kiyotaka _felt_ about him?

He hadn’t _said_ anything that implied it but… it _was_ a possibility, wasn’t it? And it wasn’t one he could rule out either, given that every time Kiyotaka had _tried_ to tell Mondo about his crush on him, he’d just found himself… _unable_ to! And he didn’t even know _why!_ Other than just a fear of rejection? But… he already _knew_ Mondo wouldn’t like him back, even if his subconscious _was_ continually teasing him with scenarios where he _did!_ So why was it that every time he tried to say ‘I’m attracted to you’ or ‘I’ve developed a crush on you’ his mouth just _froze!?_

_*Bzzttzz Bzzttzz Bzzttzz*_

“Huh?” Kiyotaka looked up… oh he’d wandered into Togami and Hiro’s sights while he’d been thinking…

“That was the _worst_ attempt at attacking the base we’ve _seen!”_ Togami told him.

“Ahh… Oh! I’m not attacking, I need to recharge…” Kiyotaka remembered.

“Uhh… You can only recharge at _your_ team’s base, man…” Hiro informed him, “This is _our_ teams one! Your one’s on the _other_ side of the room…” He pointed in the right direction.

“Oh, really? Thank you!” Kiyotaka replied and turned around to head in the direction Hiro had pointed...

…Maybe he couldn’t admit it because… it was just _too_ much to admit to Mondo that he was homosexual _and_ attracted to his best _friend_ at the _same time…_ Perhaps instead of saying ‘I’m attracted to you’ he should just cut it down to ‘I’m homosexual’… or maybe even shorten it further, so all he had to say was ‘I’m gay’ and he’d have at least been _partially_ honest with him friend… That should be doable, right!? It was just two little words! He’d just have to say them when he took Mondo his breakfast tomorrow and… well, at least _some_ of the weight on his chest would be lifted…

* * *

 

Man… Taka so far in own his head that he didn’t even seem to notice as Togami shot him in the back several times... “What’s up with _him?”_

“Ha! _Lovesickness,_ probably!” Togami smirked.

Holy crap… was that _actually_ Togami? Or had he been replaced by one of those non-existent lizard people?

“…Why are you staring at me like that!?” Whoops! Togami had noticed him staring… “Surely even _your_ simple brain can form the connection between his ‘kyoudai’ being absent and him being in _that_ mood!”

“Yeah… I just wasn’t expecting _you_ of all people to call it _love!”_ Yasuhiro laughed, “When’d you go and grow a _heart_ , man?”

 _“In Utero,_ like every other human.” The killjoy replied, “Just because I’m not a complete _cretin_ at recognising these things, doesn’t mean I’ve become some idiotic sentimentalist!”

“Nah, you totally _have,_ man…” Geez… maybe _not,_ Togami looked like he was gonna _kill_ him just for _saying_ it! “Uhh… or you’ve got some… what’s the business lingo for it? _Insider information_ on the subject?”

“Hmm…” Togami looked kinda surprised he’d thought of that… “If I _did,_ I wouldn’t go giving it away so easily!”

“Okay… but, according to this info of yours, what’re the chances of that a prediction that he’ll come out before this school year ends will come…”

_“eeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEE!”_

_“Hina, shhh!”_

“Who’s there!?” Togami wheeled round to point his gun in the direction of Hina and Leon’s whispering…

_“Damnit, Hina!”_

_“Oops… sorry…_ Uhh… Truce so we can talk about Taka?” Hina’s head and hands slowly appeared around the edge of the wall she and Leon had been hiding behind.

“…I have no intention of gossiping.” Togami snipped.

 _“You_ were the one calling him _lovesick!”_ Hina snapped back.

“Uhh… no offence, Hina…” Leon obviously didn’t want to have to say what he was about to… “But Toges has a point. It’s not really _our_ business unless Taka tells us!”

 _“Stop_ calling me To…”

“…Yeah, I know… it’s just I wish he had more people to talk to about it, so I was kinda hoping Hiro’s prediction was true…” Hina sighed.

“… _More_ people to talk to?” Togami smirked, “Implying that he has at least _one…_ that _you_ know of… _”_

“Uhh…” Hina went pale as she realised she’d been caught out, “Well… I mean, I _hope_ he _does_ have someone to talk to about it! Like… maybe he’d have told _Mondo…?”_

Leon rolled his eyes at the bad lie. “If he’d told _Mondo_ they’d be dating already…”

 _“They would!?”_ Hina’s eyes lit up.

“Hell yeah! Mondo’s crushing on him _hard!”_ Leon laughed, “I’m pretty sure that’s why those photos went missing… Mondo’s got embarrassed ‘cause so many of them caught him while he was checking out Taka!”

“That’s great! We can just _tell_  Taka that and…!”

“And he’ll be too worried about his political future to listen to you, I expect.” Togami shrugged, “If you _insist_ on playing matchmaker, you’ll have more luck convincing Oowada to confess… Ishimaru won’t turn down a _direct_ request from _him.._.”

“Yeah, but Mondo’s feeling like crap at the moment… He’s got this idea in his head that he’s not good enough for Taka…” Leon kinda looked guilty about that for some reason, “Even if you _told_ him Taka likes him, I think he’d just disappear from Taka’s whole _life_ …”

“So what _are_ we supposed to do!?” Hina cried, “Just leave them both to be miserable?”

“No! We just need to convince Taka to quit being such a dumbass and admit he likes Mondo!”

“I already told you he won’t _do_ that!”

“So _we_ just tell them they like each other!”

 _“_ Uhh… guys? _Guys!”_ Man… kids these days need to chill out… “You can’t _force_ them to start dating, you know…”

“But… they both _want_ to…” Hina sighed at him like he was being an idiot or something.

“Yeah, but they’ve both got issues they’ve gotta get over first!” Yasuhiro explained, “And they’ve gotta be able to do _that_ by themselves…”

“…So your plan really _is_ ‘leave them to be miserable’?” Togami was about 75% surprised and 25% disappointed…

“Hey! I’m not saying we do _that!”_ He wasn’t _completely_ heartless… “But we don’t have to force them together to get them to cheer up! First we gotta make them feel better about _themselves!”_

“Yeah… I guess that’s true…” Leon sighed, “They’d confess pretty quick if Mondo thought he was good enough for Taka, or Taka thought he was good enough to be PM even if everyone _did_ know he was gay…”

“See!? We just need to calm down and make them feel good about themselves, and that prediction will come true all by itself!”

…Which was good, ‘cause it was that, Hina breaking a leg, or something he didn’t even wanna _think_ about…

* * *

 

(Tuesday, July 10th 2012)

Kiyotaka stood, carrying a plate of bite-size rice balls, outside the room Mondo was resting in and steeled himself… _this_ time he’d tell Mondo his secret! Or _part_ of it at least! It was just two tiny words… how hard could it be? Then he’d stop feeling so _guilty_ all the time!

“Good morning, Kyoudai!” He opened the door and announced himself, “How are you feeling today!?”

“Taka? What’re you doing here?” Mondo asked, sounding slightly annoyed to see him… this already wasn’t going well…

Wait, no! Don’t think like that! He needed to think _positively_ about this or he’d wimp out again!

“I thought I’d bring you some breakfast!” He (partly) explained, taking the food over to Mondo.

“You know they’ve got food here, right?” Mondo asked.

“Yes… But Makoto mentioned that you were complaining about the portion sizes being too small, so I brought extra! It’s important to keep your energy up in order to recover quickly!” He brought the plate down to a position where Mondo could see it, “And I made sure it’s easy for you to eat lying down!”

“Oh… uhh… thanks Taka…” Mondo looked pleased, that was better… It would be easier to confess if Mondo was in a good mood… “…You wanna take the voucher now?” Mondo suddenly added, waving his hand in the general direction of the vouchers he’d asked Kiyotaka to bring here yesterday…

“Err… the _voucher?_ Why? Did you think of a favour you needed…?”

“What are you talking about? You just _did_ me one!” Mondo snapped.

 _Argh!_ This again!? “I already told you! That doesn’t count! I just did it of my own accord!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Because we’re friends…! _Aren’t we?”_

“Uhh…” Mondo actually _looked_ at him for a moment… _oh gods, what if he said ‘no’!?_

“Y-yeah… ‘c-course…’” He answered, hesitantly.

Well… good? But then _why_ did he keep trying to practically… _throw_ the voucher away!? After all…

“And besides! I can’t very well expect me to ‘pay’ me _after_ I decided to do something you didn’t ask me to!”

“Alright… then I’ll ask _now! M_ y favour will be you keep bringing me food while I’m ill, or something!” Mondo exclaimed.

 _Or something?_ Did he really think so little of Kiyotaka’s present that he just wanted to get rid of it without even _thinking_ about it properly?

“But… I would have done that regardless! Like _you_ did when _I_ was sick!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “You can keep _that_ for something _important!”_

“You just said it was important for me ta _eat…”_ Mondo grumbled.

“Ergh…” Kiyotaka had to admit he had a point… but that wasn’t what he _meant!_ He just… he wanted Mondo to… to _think_ of something _specific!_ To _think_ about what it was he’d wanted Kiyotaka to _do!_ Like when he’d come up with the plan to talk to Tsumiki, when he’d been _paying attention_ to _Kiyotaka!_ He wanted Mondo to _care_ about him again!

Ah… but that was pretty selfish, wasn’t it? After all, it was _Mondo’s_ present, why should it matter what _Kiyotaka_ wanted him to do with it? He was just letting his stupid crush cloud his thoughts again! Was _that_ why Mondo was suddenly so keen to get rid of the voucher? He’d noticed Kiyotaka was reading far too much into his requests and was starting to get annoyed about it…

“…Alright, if it bothers ya _that_ much, I’ll think of something else…” Mondo sighed, looking up at him guiltily. “I just thought you’d have _better_ things to do than get me food…”

“Of course not!” Kiyotaka smiled… maybe Mondo wasn’t annoyed with him! He was just being paranoid!

…He _really_ needed to get this whole thing off his chest, didn’t he, otherwise he was going to keep getting worked up and worrying too much about every little thing… He _had_ to look Mondo in the eye and start saying it! And he had to do it _now!_

“Actually, Mondo, I was going to say…” He could do this! It was just two words! Two _syllables_ even!

“…I…” He got 20% of the way before Mondo hastily looked away from him and his voice dried up in his throat… “…I…”

“You’re going to be late for class if you don’t hurry.” Mondo commented.

_He couldn’t say it…_

“…Actually I was thinking of skipping classes this week…” He changed the subject. He’d wimped out _again…_

“What!? _YOU_ skipping class!? The _hell_ are you _thinking!?”_ Mondo cried, “You’ve _gotta_ go ta class! You’re gonna be _Prime Minister!_ Ya can’t _skive off!”_

“But… our teachers aren’t actually _teaching_ anything! All we’re doing is watching movies…” Kiyotaka complained.

“Well… can’t ya just take a textbook and study at the back of the class anyway?” Mondo suggested.

“Or, I could bring them up here and we can study together!” Kiyotaka countered, “Chihiro was saying you’ve been bored, so…”

“Ya can’t do that!” Mondo shot out, “Uhh… I mean… it’d be better if ya went ta class… So ya don’t get a load of detentions on your record…”

“Ah… I suppose that’s true…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine! You just get your… _yourself_ ta class before ya get in trouble already!” Mondo insisted.

“Alright then…” Kiyotaka agreed, feeling disappointed as he left Mondo to eat…

He’d failed to do what he was _supposed_ to have done, and he wasn’t even getting the chance to spend the day with Mondo… although Mondo was _right,_ he shouldn’t have been considering that in the _first_ place! But it still felt like a punishment of some kind as he walked to the _back_ of the classroom, sat between Toko and Hiro, waited for the teacher to dim the lights so they could see the projector more clearly, and quietly put in a pair of earplugs and started to read...

 _“Do I have to tell the teacher you’re not paying attention to the lesson?”_ Read the immaculately-written note that was suddenly pushed into his field of view…

He quickly looks to either side of him, to find Hiro facing him with a smirk on his face… But they were still just watching _Toy Story_ (Which Mondo had already shown him), what was the lesson there!? Hmm… well, if it had _one_ moral…

 _“I’m already quite aware that one should take care of their belongings and not wilfully damage things! I can do some further study without disrupting the class!”_ He wrote a second line of the note and carefully passed it back to Hiro, who rolled his eyes as he read it and started writing out a reply.

 _“I just mean, maybe if the teacher is telling us to do something fun, it means there’s a reason he thinks we need to do something fun?”_ Was the reply Hiro passed back.

Perhaps that _might_ have been the case a few weeks ago… _“But we have the entirety of NEXT week to have fun! Not to mention a SIX WEEK holiday approaching!”_

Hiro looked like he stifled a laugh before writing back… _“Yeah, but be honest, are you going to do anything other than study during that time? Unless we force you not to?”_

Kiyotaka looked back at Hiro, who was staring back at him and waiting for a reply… But what should he put? Hiro was correct that he’d likely spend his spare time studying, but… _“That’s because I’ve not got TIME to be letting myself take breaks! When everyone else is slacking off is the perfect time for me to catch up with them! And Mondo agrees that I should be studying!”_

Hiro just sighed sadly at his answer, before writing his own… _“Why do you think you need to catch up? You’re a great guy! And you’ve got lots of friends aside from Mondo, you know! We think you deserve to take a break and to do something nice for yourself!”_

It was nice of him to say, but right now, Kiyotaka’s idea of something _nice_ would have been to spend this time with Mondo, working up the courage to confess his secret. If he couldn’t do _that,_ then why _not_ just study?

 _“And you know, we’re all here if there’s anything you want to talk about.”_ Hiro placed a second piece of paper on top of the first.

 _Anything_ he wanted to talk about? Hmm… perhaps… maybe instead of confessing to Mondo, who he felt more nervous around, he should try and tell someone _else_ in his class, as a practice run… or to ask for advice about what Mondo’s reaction to the news would be…

But who to start with? Obviously Hina and Togami were out, they already knew! Makoto was easy to talk to, and was the person who most often said he ought to talk about his problems, so that was one possibility. Although he didn’t know Mondo as well as Chihiro or Leon did… so maybe _they’d_ make good choices as well… and they’d both seemed pro-homosexuality in the past, so… _Yes_! Those three seemed like his best options! He’d just have to see which one was easiest to get into a conversation with…

* * *

 

Okay, well, Taka seemed happier all of a sudden! Hopefully that would convince him to talk to someone… He seemed to be looking at Leon, Chihiro and Makoto a lot… And wouldn’t you know, Makoto was coming over to talk to him as well!

“Hey, Taka… Kyoko was wondering if you’d want to have lunch with me and her today, seeing as Mondo’s still not well?”

_Dude! Say Yes!_

“Err… _right!_ Okay! Here we go!” Or… stand up super excitedly and say _that?_

“Umm… okay!” Makoto obviously had no idea what Taka was thinking of doing, but he and Kyoko still walked with him down the corridor to the dining room… followed by Yasuhiro…

 _What!?_ So he was a bit nosy… he wanted to know if his prediction was coming true or not! Could you blame him!?

Taka looked like a nervous wreck though… was he even gonna _get_ to the dining room at this rate...?

“Err… hold on a moment, I want to fix my hair!” Taka suddenly stopped dead outside a shiny window and reached into his breast pocket… he _really_ kept hair clippers in there? Yasuhiro had thought Chihiro and Mondo made that up to fool him! Who needed to sort their hair out _that_ much!? He should let Taka know about how good fabric softener was for it…

“Err… sorry about this…” About _what?_ Oh… the clippers didn’t seem to be working right…

“Looks like it time for new blades…” Makoto suggested.

“ _Or_ you might be able to get a _little_ more use out of them, if you sharpen them with tin foil…” Kyoko added… but how cheap did you have to be to do _that?_

“Ah! Really!? If I can get them to last another month and a half, father might… Err… never mind!” He gave up on the hair _and_ whatever he’d been thinking of saying… “I’ve done enough stalling!”

“Hmmm…” Why was Kyoko annoyed with him? He’d only stopped for a minute! “Are your eyes alright? You seemed to be squinting just now…”

“Oh… Probably just because the lighting in the rooms is a little lower than I’d prefer while studying… and I studied quite a bit yesterday without Mondo to distract me!”

“…Interesting…” Not _really_ , Kyoko…

“And you stayed up late studying?” Makoto got an odd look for _that_ question! “You seem tired this morning…”

“Oh… That! My alarm clock woke me up at 3am!” Yasuhiro always _said_ those things were evil!

“You mean you set it wrong?” Or there was Kyoko’s boring explanation…

“No! It just suddenly made this weird… ‘ _clack’_ noise that woke me up…” Hah! See! _Evil clock!_ “It’s been doing it a lot recently, but that’s the first time it’s done it at night time…”

“Have you asked Souda about it? You know, the mechanic in class 77?”

“Ah… yes! I’ve spoken to him a few times… I guess he might be willing to help me out! I’ll go ask him after classes, or something…”

 _Man!_ This conversation was boring! Why did _Kyoko_ seem to care so much about it? Maybe she’d picked up that he might be trying to come out was just trying to give off this ‘I’ll listen to anything you say vibe’? After what seemed like forever they all sat down (with Yasuhiro picking a nearby chair) and started eating in silence…

“So… Kyoko! Was there anything you wanted to talk about?” No! Don’t ask _her_ Makoto!

“No _.”_

“Uhh… there _isn’t!?”_

“ _No!”_ Geez, Kyoko, no need to get so snippy, it’s just a question! “I’ll explain it to you later…”

“Err… actually… _I_ had something I was hoping to talk about…” _YES!_ Good one Taka! Here we go! “You see, I…” _Come on…_ “I… Err…” _Come on, buddy, you can do it! Positive energy coming your way!_ “I… I’ve been wondering if I’ve annoyed Mondo somehow… has he mentioned anything to either of you?”

Well… _that_ was a waste of positive energy! Although, maybe Kyoko would have figured out that Mondo had a thing for him and would just _tell_ him so!

“Umm… I don’t think it’s anything _you’ve_ done, Taka… He’s just… feeling a little rough at the moment…” Well, hopefully _Kyoko_ would, ‘cause Makoto sure as heck hadn’t!

“Ah… you mean he’s acting different because of the lumbar puncture…?”

“I imagine it’s frustrating for someone like him to be stuck in bed, not knowing what’s going on with everyone…” Nope! No luck there!

“Ah! Well… in _that_ case, I’ll go visit him and keep him informed! I can reading him the school paper!”

…And off he went… Well, maybe when he tried to speak to Leon or Chihiro he’d…

“You do realise you’re _amazingly_ lucky he didn’t notice you?” Aww, crap! Kyoko had noticed him! “It’s not a _spectator sport!”_

“Umm… _what’s_ not a...?”

“Uhh…” Okay, Kyoko kinda had a point there, but… “I just wanted to see if he was alright… This whole things been gnawing at him for _ages,_ right? Don’t _you_ wanna see him… worry less about it?”

“Worry less about _what!?”_

“Yes… but keep in mind you can’t _force_ him to stop worrying!”

“Hey! I’m not trying to _force_ anything!” Yasuhiro defended himself, after all, _he'd_ been the other to tell the other three that! “I just… _nudge_ people onto the happier path, sometimes!”

“He’s _on_ the right path already... And that’s amazing as it _is!”_

Alright… maybe she had a point… he probably shouldN'T be sat right next to the guy staring at him, at least…

“And this path is going… _where_ exactly!?”

“I’ll explain it to you later, Makoto.” Kyoko shushed him. “Too much _‘nudging’_ and you might knock him off the path completely!”

“Alright… I get it… I’ll back off a bit…” He had kinda got over-excited there… of course the guy wasn’ gonna come out to the first person who spoke to him…

“Good.” Kyoko went back to ignoring him...

But… it’d still be better if Taka came out before summer, right? So maybe he should try to work out why he hadn’t managed it just now, and if there was anything he could do to help…

* * *

 

(Wednesday, July 11th 2012)

Kiyotaka surreptitiously check the clock on the classroom wall… only five more minutes to lunchtime… _Finally!_ It couldn’t come soon enough at the moment...

He’d spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to figure out why he hadn’t managed to tell Makoto and Kyoko his problem… It had been just like what had happened with Mondo… he knew _exactly_ what he wanted to say, but everytime he tried his chest felt tight and his mouth just… stopped working until he let it say something _else…_

He eventually decided he must still be worried about what they would think of him… whether or not they were in that 33% of people who’d dislike him because of his sexuality… So, obviously, that just meant he had to talk to someone he _knew_ wouldn’t be upset! Like Leon! _He’d_ been actively _supportive_ of the idea when it had first come up during spring break, saying he’d still vote for him regardless!

So now he just had to wait for lunch and get Leon by himself so he could get this all off of his chest! Maybe he’d get a chance to ask Leon to talk just as class ended…

…

As it was, the baseball player had ended up jumping out of his seat the second the bell rang, and by the time Kiyotaka had packed his stationary away (which in retrospect, he’d needn’t have got out in the first place…) he was already in the dinning room taking a seat opposite Sayaka…

Hmm… could he tell _her_ as well, or would it be better to ask Leon to talk privately? She _was_ friendly with that British band, and one of _them_ was gay, so that should mean she’d be supportive… unless she got annoyed that he hadn’t just admitted this when he was corned about it by her producer…

Perhaps he’d be better off _only_ telling Leon… at least at first! He’d be able to give Kiyotaka advice on who _else_ would be safe to tell! So he’d best make his way over and calmly ask Leon for a moment of his time.

“I reckon it’d sound better if it started with an H… like Heroic, maybe? So it alliterates?”

“Hmm… I guess ‘great’ _would_ sound a little odd… but heroic seems a little overblown…”

“How’s it overblown? It’s pretty much a description of… _Oh!_ Hey Taka!”

“Ah… Good afternoon Leon, Sayaka!” He greeted them both, “Ah… I’m sorry to interrupt your discussion, but I need to talk to Leon… err… _privately.”_ He added.

“Hah! Someone’s getting _dumped!”_ The sneering voice of the Ultimate Seamster laughed at him from a nearby table…

“Fuck _off_ Niwaki! I _told_ you, even if I _was_ gay, I wouldn’t date the fucking _hall monitor!”_ Leon snapped at him, “Uhh… no offense, Taka…”

“Err… The feeling’s mutual...” Kiyotaka assured him.

“Oh, come on! We saw that picture of you grabbing his ass…” Niwaki carried on regardless.

“I was just tickling his _side_ dude!” Leon sighed, at the same time as Kiyotaka made a similar exclamation…

“He was merely tickling my side! _I’m not gay!”_

Wait… except he _was!_ But he’d just outright _lied_ about it… And he hadn’t even thought about it… Was he getting so used to lying that he was doing it _instinctively_ now?

It didn’t even seem like it had worked… Niwaki just smirked even _more_ at them both… “Hah! ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks!’” He quoted, “Assuming you _are_ the lady in your rela…”

“Niwaki, seriously dude, _shut the fuck up!”_ Leon scowled at him.

“I’m just joking man, lighten up!”

“It’s not funny, you’re just being _rude_ …” Sayaka commented.

“Or maybe you guys are just being stuck up…”

“Excuse me, Ishimaru!?” Niwaki was suddenly interrupted by voice of the Ultimate Columnist, who’d come up behind Kiyotaka and was now tapping his shoulder… “I need to ask you a question!”

“Heh… scooping out the new gay couple to report on, eh?” Niwaki suggested…

Oh, _gods!_ What if she _was_ going to ask if he was gay? Would he lie about it? _Should_ he lie about it? It was one thing _not_ to spontaneously announce it to everyone, but he didn’t really want to outright _lie_ to a direct question…

“What? No.” Hinai gave Niwaki a brief, insulted glance at the question before turning her attention back to Kiyotaka, “Do you know what the Hope Cultivation Project is?”

Well… _that_ certainly wasn’t a question he’d been expecting! Hope Cultivation Project? A _cultivation_ project that had something to do with the school… He’d heard of _something_ like that, hadn’t he? “Err… I’ve not heard of it referred to as _that,_ exactly, but I’d imagine it’s referring to the work by Bandai!”

 _“Who?”_ She asked

“Err, Dasuke Bandai? Ultimate Farmer? Member of Hope’s Peak’s 66th class?” He tried to jog her memory, only to get stared at by her _and_ Leon and Sayaka… “He’s been working for years to set up new farming areas in Africa!”

“Farming…?” She looked quizzically at some notes she was carrying… “So all these vats and tubes and stuff is for hydroponic growth then…?”

“Erm… Well, it’s been a year since I actually looked into it… but I thought his work was more focused on terraforming and improving he soil quality…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“…That might explain why so much of this is classed as ‘transformation technology’…” She decided, looking at her notes again…

“Why exactly are you asking?” Kiyotaka asked her.

“Huh? Oh, I was looking through the school’s finances and if you dig deep enough through sub-companies and stuff, a lot of money is going into this ‘Hope Cultivation Project’ but there’s no official info anywhere on what that actually _is,_ so I thought it seemed suspicious…” She explained.

“Err… yes it _does_ sound suspicious!” He agreed. Finances being re-routed through sub-companies to hide certain expenditures was one of the things his grandfather had been accused of… “Why would the school _hide_ putting money into a worthwhile cause?”

“Maybe they’re worried the reserve course would be annoyed that their money’s funding farms in Africa instead of their own education?” Hinai suggested.

“Hmm… that does seem reasonable… although a lot of the reserve students take environmental issues very seriously so I’m not sure they’d mind it all _that_ much…”

“But the school wouldn’t _know_ that, would they?” Hinai pointed out. “Do they even _talk_ to the reserve students at _all?”_

“…Not as much as they should do, no…” He was still in the process of getting the headmaster to take the reserve council more seriously.

“That all makes sense then… Thanks for the info, Ishimaru!” She smiled and waved slightly as she left him alone with Leon and Sayaka… and _Niwaki,_ who was started grinning again as soon as she started to leave…

Perhaps trying to talk Leon privately while that rumour about the pair of them were dating was still circulating was a bad idea… and he certainly didn’t want _that_ guy to be one of the first to know his secret…!

“Well, I need to go make my lunch…” He excused himself and left the table…

Hah! More like running away from his problems… and he’d outright _lied_ about himself as well… But… why should he have to tell _him_ who he was attracted to! It was none of his business anyway! It wasn’t as if he was running for Prime Minister yet, and they certainly weren’t _friends!_

That was it… he wouldn’t outright _lie_ like that to his _friends_ , if they happened to ask… Just… people who didn’t have any business knowing…

But now he _still_ hadn’t managed to tell anyone his secret… Perhaps if he stayed in the kitchen long enough Niwaki would finish his lunch and leave Leon and Sayaka alone…

* * *

 

Geez… Taka sure took a long time to make those tiny rice balls… it was almost like he was being slow on purpose at this point… Which was a shame, ‘cause Hiro was waiting for him to finish so he could ‘coincidentally’ follow him and sit at the same table as him…

“Err… I’m sorry, are you waiting for _this_ rice cooker?” Oops… Taka had noticed him staring. “Because there are several others that aren’t in use…”

He _could_ have pointed out that _that_ one had the best Feng Shui, but that had a 78% chance of starting a long, pointless ‘discussion’ about it… “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted help with those rice balls… You seem to be taking forever with ‘em!”

“Oh, ah…” Taka flinched as Yasuhiro caught him red handed… or white, spotty handed in this case… “I’m just waiting until Leon and Sayaka are by themselves…”

Why…? Aww, man… Leon was surrounded by those guys from class 76, and chances were low that they actually _were_ gonna leave him and Sayaka alone…

“…Although I’m starting to think it might be a lost cause…” And Taka had realised it as well…

“Well, why don’t you sit with me? And Hifumi and Celestia are on an empty table, we can go chill with _them!”_ Yasuhiro put an arm round Taka’s back to gently lead him over to them…

“Err… but aren’t they _dating?”_ Yasuhiro might as well have been trying to ‘gently lead’ a _boulder,_ the way Taka stood still… “Wouldn’t they rather be alone together?”

“Well, _sometimes,_ yeah…” Yasuhiro shrugged, “But not _all_ the time! You can still talk to them at lunch! Heck… Hifumi’s probably dying to hear _your_ version of your ‘heroic rescue’ at the weekend!”

“He _is?_ But I didn’t even realise what I was doing for most of it…” The boulder was just as unmovable as before…

“So? He’ll still probably turn it into some awesome story!” …Nah, that just made Taka look even _more_ worried… “Besides, he’s your friend! He’ll wanna know what you’ve been up to, even if it’s _not_ all great stuff…”

 _“He would!?”_ Geez, why was Taka so startled? It shouldn’t be _that_ surprising, should it? “He’d be pleased to learn something about me, even if it _doesn’t_ cast me in the best light?”

“Of course he would! We _all_ would!” Had he really not known that…? Was that why he was having so much trouble coming out? “Why, was there something you wanted to tell us?”

“I… I’ll tell all three of you at once!” _Hey!_ Now _that_ was better! He started walking towards Hifumi’s table so fast Yasuhiro had to trot to keep up!

“Ah… Ishimaru!” Celestia smiled as the pair of them arrived at the table… Although Yasuhiro thought it was likely she was worried he was coming over to give her detention or something… “What do we owe this pleasure?”

“Err… Well, I hope you don’t mind the intrusion…” Guess Taka didn’t _quite_ believe Yasuhiro yet… “But there was something I was hoping to tell you about…”

“Ah! You’re heroic deeds over the weekend, of course!” Oops… Of course Hifumi was too excited to realise he was derailing the conversation, “Just let me get my notebook ready!”

“Err… well, alright…”

“So! How did you discover the villainous plot you managed to foil…?”

“Ah… well, it was just a case of being aware of the proper health and safety guidelines for the environment we were in!”

Oh boy… this was gonna take a while… Heck, Celestia had already started dealing out _cards_ to him so they’ve have something to do while the pair of the talked… Oh well, hopefully once Taka was done telling him about _that,_ he’d get back to what he’d wanted to say in the first place…

And maybe _this_ time he’d manage to figure out why his predictions had a 0% success rate when he was playing Koi-koi against Celestia… Maybe if he just assumed they were all wrong…?

…Nope! Assuming they were _wrong_ just made them all _right_ instead! She couldn’t _really_ just have super luck, could she?

“Well, it sounds like a _grand_ adventure!” Hifumi and Taka had finally finished talking, “Is there likely to be a sequel anytime soon?”

“A sequel…?” Taka took a while to figure out what Hifumi meant… “Oh! No… I’d rather not go back in the limelight anytime soon!”

“But, why not? It sounds like you had a great time!”

“Err… It’s a long story…” Taka tried to avoid the question.

“Ah! Not to worry! I have a spare notebook with me!” Hifumi missed the point completely… Until Celestia put her hand on his arm to stop him from digging through his bag, anyway…

“I’m sure it’s a great story, but I believe Ishimaru might have had something _else_ he wanted to tell us, instead…” Or she was _hoping_ there was, anyway… “Right, Ishimaru?”

“Ah… well…”

“Oh! What is it?” Hifumi asked excitedly.

Taka looked between the three of them… All smiling patiently and waiting for him to say…

“Err… I... I just wanted to tell you that it’s incredible how well you’ve kept up with your exercise regime!” Aww, man… he _still_ couldn’t say it!? “It’s _obviously_ doing you a world of good! Anyway, I promised Mondo I’d let him know what’s going on in class, so I’ll leave you all to your lunches!” He pretty much lied and ran away… _Aahhh…_ What was it gonna take for him to _trust them!?_

“…Did Ishimaru-dono seem unusually… _panicky_ to anyone else?” Hifumi asked.

“Indeed… I don’t think that compliment about your training was not what he initially intended to tell us… was it, Hagakure?”

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure he’s trying to come out…” Yasuhiro admitted, seeing as Celestia had that ‘I already know everything and just want you to say I’m right’ look on her face…

 _“WHAAAAAT!? But he already HAS!”_ Hifumi shrieked… oh _crap…_ everyone was bound to pay attention to them all now…

Except not? Apparently Hifumi shrieking was common enough that everyone just carried once they realised it had been _him_ making the noise… Which was good because it meant he could ask…

 _“Uhh…_ When was _that?”_ No one had ever said anything to _him_ about it… And Celestia looked as confused as he felt!

“Don’t you remember his doujin?” Hifumi asked, as if that should explain everything…

“The one with him having a curse?” Celestia still looked confused.

“Yes! The one that can only be broken by _Oowada-dono!”_ Hifumi was sure that would convince them both, but neither of them understood… “Do not remember what the curse _was…?”_

“Uhh… yeah, it was that he couldn’t draw… his _sword…”_ Oh, _man!_ Trust _Hifumi_ to come to _that_ conclusion! “ _Bahaha!_ Hifumi, d _ude!_ That’s _not_ what he meant!”

“What…?” Hifumi was looking at Celestia for a second opinion, “But then… what _was_ it symbolic of?”

“I believe he was concerned about his ability to communicate his political ideals…” Celestia was pretty good at not laughing at her boyfriend, “Not that he suffers from… _that_ issue… To be quite honest, I’m surprised you didn’t realise it when you lost that bet…”

“Ah… Well, in retrospect, of _course_ it seems obvious!” Hifumi sulked, “So he’s been forcing himself to _hide_ it all this time? I thought he was just… _avoiding PDA!”_

Man, he looked really cut up about it… “No… I mean, he’d do that anyway, I guess, but there’s only a couple of people he’s actually admitted it to, and I’m pretty sure neither of those was ‘cause he _wanted_ to…” Hell, who’d want _Togami_ to know your biggest secret!? _Brrrr_ …

“But… _why?”_

“Well… I wouldn’t put money on a gay man becoming Prime Minister!” Wow, Celestia, that was kinda _cold_ … “…Although, perhaps if it was Ishimaru we were talking about…”

“So… it’s just because he’s so desperate to be Prime Minister? He thinks he has to choose between happiness and success? _”_ Hifumi was _really_ upset when they both nodded at him, “That’s _horrible!_ I’m going to have to completely re-work my birthday present to him!”

“Uhh…? Why, man?” What had he done, drawn Taka _porn_ or something… Yasuhiro wasn’t calculating a high chance of _that…_

“So I can show him that he can have _both!”_ Hifumi puffed up like a balloon, “He’s a _hero_ of justice! And what sort of narrative would it be if the honourable hero ended up miserable at the end of the story!? He just needs to be shown that he could still _be_ a hero, even if he _was_ dating Oowada!”

Geez what were the chances of _that_ working?

… Oh, wow, it was about 84%! Maybe _that_ would be why he came out?

“Hmm… that will be quite kind of you…” Celestia smiled… and not in her old creepy way either… “Although I suppose _neither_ of us will be giving him our presents early, now!”

“Hmm… It _is_ slightly disappointing, after he trusted me to resist the urge to open my present until my birthday…” Hifumi agreed.

“When _is_ his birthday?”

“Sometime during the summer holidays… but after yours.” Celestia shrugged.

So not before end of term… guess he’d need to try and get Taka’s confidence up after all… Or at least make sure he stopped getting awkward interuptions... 

* * *

 

(Thursday, July 12th 2012)

Kiyotaka was facing the TV their teacher had set up, although he’d long since lost the thread of the plot of today’s first movie… He was too busy berating himself.

Why had he _still_ not told anyone the truth!? Hiro had told him that everyone would be willing to hear him out but… he _still_ hadn’t been able to tell him, or Hifumi or Celestia! And he hadn’t even _tried_ to approach Leon again, in case he inadvertently subjected him to even _more_ taunting… But he _still_ could have tried to talk to Makoto or Chihiro, but he _hadn’t!_ He’s just hidden in his room, studying, instead of dealing with his problems!

Why was he scared about this? It wasn’t as if their class was a judgemental lot! _None_ of them thought any less of Chihiro for his issues… and they’d even managed to accept _Toko_ after she told them that she was an unwilling _serial killer!_ So why couldn’t he so much as admit to liking men… or _a_ man, at least…

He wondered if Chihiro or Toko had ever had this problem, if they’d ever decided they were going to admit _their_ secrets but then found themselves unable to? And how long it have taken them to actually work up the courage to admit their problems to the rest of the class, whether they’d have any tips for him…

Wait… why didn’t he just _ask_ them!? He could ask the pair of them to meet at lunchtime and… he wouldn’t even have to try and tell the secret _itself!_ Just tell them he _had_ one! Toko was sat right _next_ to him! He could ask _her_ to wait after class now!

_‘Dear Toko,_

_Would you mind staying in the room with Chihiro and I after class to discuss something?_

_Yours Sincerely_

_Taka.’_

He surreptitiously passed the note over to Toko… although he wasn’t sure why he bothered being subtle, given their teacher was completely ignoring the fact that she’d been frantically writing stacks worth of paper this last week…

 _‘Why ME!? And what’s with the formality!? Is this some sort of intervention or something!?”_ Oh dear… why would she think that!?

_“My apologies! I thought you’d appreciate the traditional formality! And I just want to ask the pair of you for advice, if you don’t mind!”_

She looked quizzically at the answer and looked back at Kiyotaka for a moment before shrugging and writing her reply… _‘Well, it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do! I’ll make sure Chihiro knows.”_

What!? Chihiro was all the way on the opposite corner of the room? How was she supposed to…?

His question was answered when Toko passed a note to Leon, who read it and briefly looked back at her and himself, before grinning and scrunching it up into a ball to throw to Chihiro, who read it, looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up.

Well… that was sorted then! Now he just had to wait for the bell to ring and everyone else to leave…

…

“Umm… so what was it you wanted to ask?” Chihiro asked, once it was just the three of them in the room.

“Well… I was wondering… the pair of you have both shared some quite… _large_ secrets with us all and I was wondering… _how?”_

“Uhh…” Chihiro and Toko looked at each other for a moment, as if unsure how to answer.

“I mean… I know _literally_ you just spoke to us all about it!” He clarified, “But… did it scare you try and do it? Did you ever hesitate at all? Say… were there times you’d decided you _should_ tell your secrets, but when it came to it you… just… _couldn’t?”_

“Well… I did that a couple of times…” Toko admitted. “I mean… there were times when I thought I could have told someone, but felt like it would have been a bad idea... In the end, I think I only actually told you all because I put myself in a position where I couldn’t back out of it at the last moment…”

“Ah… I see…” Maybe he should that… organise a class meeting… and tell Hina what he intended to do, so she wouldn’t let him come up with something else instead… “Was it similar for you, Chihiro…?”

“Umm… no so much…” He thought about it, “I think I ended up telling people when I felt like I was in situations where _not_ telling them would be worse that telling them was…?”

“So… It was like you did a risk assessment on it?”

“Umm… I guess? I mean, I decided to tell Mondo about it, because I wanted his help to get stronger… but I couldn’t train with him unless he knew that I could get into the male changing room… and I felt that just staying as I was would be worse than the risk of what Mondo might do…” Chihiro started.

“But… _could_ you tell how Mondo would react?” If Kiyotaka knew had a better idea of how he’d feel about it, he’d be able to do a more accurate risk assessment himself!

“Well… as it turned out, not _quite…”_ Chihiro admitted, “He got a lot angrier about it that I expected him too… I suppose that was probably because I kept calling him _strong_ , but with Daiya…” He trailed off, as they all knew what he meant…

“Y-you know, though… I was expecting you all to hate me afterwards…” Toko suddenly admitted. “B-but then you _didn’t…”_

“So… you _didn’t_ do any sort of risk assessment on it?” Kiyotaka asked her.

“W-well, of _course_ I didn’t just tell you all for the heck of it!” Toko scowled, “I decided to tell you because I was sick of you all acting like you could be friends with me!”

“You don’t want us as friends!?” Kiyotaka cried… he knew Toko could be a bit stand-offish at times, and much preferred _Togami_ to the rest of them, but he thought…

“N-no! It’s n-not that I didn’t _want_ friends! It’s that I was sick of thinking it was _possible,_ when at the time I didn’t think it _could_ be!” She explained, then thought about what she’d said… “W-wait… that didn’t make sense, d-did it…!?”

“Err… no! It made perfect sense!” Kiyotaka told her, “It’s as if… there’s a foolish part of you that thinks the thing you want _might_ be possible, and keeps taunting you with images of it, but the sensible part of you keeps having to remind you that it _isn’t_ possible!”

“Except… in _Toko’s_ case it…”

 _“Wh-what!?_ How do _you_ know that!?” Toko shouted over Chihiro. “And w-why are you even _asking_ about all this!?”

Ah… she had a point! He hadn’t explained himself yet… “Well… I… I have a _secret_ that I feel I _ought_ to tell people, but…I keep finding myself unable to say it…”

“Like, you mean that thing about you wishing your Dad was dead!?” Kiyotaka almost fell out of his chair at the sound of _Junko’s_ voice! How long had she and Mukuro been in here!?

 _“W-WHAT!?”_ Chihiro and Toko both shrieked at him, faces full of horror. “You… you wish your _father…?”_ Chihiro started to ask.

“Ah! No! _It’s not like that!”_ Kiyotaka rushed to explain himself… “I… I mean… I love my father! It’s just… I miss my mother and sometimes… I wish _she_ was still alive… even if it meant losing my father instead! _Th-that’s all!”_

“But… wouldn’t you rather have _both_ of them?” Mukuro asked him, as Junko made her way to her desk to pick something off of the floor.

“Well… yes of course!” He told her.

“So… why would you even _consider_ choosing?” Chihiro asked.

“Err… I mean… I don’t really know… it’s just a thought I had, it’s not like I _meant_ to have it…” Kiyotaka explained, “I mean… isn’t it a normal thought to have, sometimes?”

“Umm…” Chihiro looked as if he disagreed… but didn’t want to say as much.

“I’ve never thought anything like that…” Mukuro told him.

“Guess _you_ don’t live with _c-crummy_ parents then!” Toko muttered.

“No… Our parents are dead…” Mukuro said calmly, “But I’ve never wished Junko was dead instead of them…”

“Well, _duh! I’m_ not a crummy sister, am I!?” Junko rolled her eyes at her.

“Of course not!” Mukuro agreed.

“Whereas _I’ve_ totally wished you were dead!” Junko added.

“Oh…” Mukuro looked disappointed… well, of course she would, Junko had just implied that Mukuro was a ‘crummy’ sister!

“Umm… Junko… That’s rather a… _harsh_ thing to say…” Chihiro pointed out.

“It’s just a thought I have sometimes… it’s not like I can _help_ it…” Junko sighed, “Right, Taka!? You get it, right? You’d rather have your mom than your crummy Da…”

“There’s nothing _crummy_ about my _father!”_ Kiyotaka snapped at her, “It’s just… mother was always better at… cheering me up sometimes!”

“Well… if you say so!” Junko shrugged, before silence fell over the room, and Toko and Chihiro were looking between each other and _him,_ probably thinking he was an awful son… or just an awful person in general… and they’d probably think even _less_ of them if he came out _now…_

“Ah… well, thank you for answering my questions!” He told them, “We should probably have lunch now…” He added, quickly scooping up his belongings and making a hasty exit from the room…

* * *

 

Aww man… Taka looked like he was almost _crying_ as he ran out of them classroom…

“ _Told_ ya we shoulda stopped her!” Leon sighed as he peered around the lockers they were hiding behind. _“Now_ what!?”

“Well, who _hasn’t_ he tried to tell yet?” Togami looked up from the book he’d decided to read and took a sip of the cup of coffee he had perched on his swanky portable chair…

“Sakura.” Geez… was Hina right? Was she the only one? “…And _me,_ I guess…” So, yeah, just Sakura then…

“Well… maybe we can warn her that he’s probably going to try to tell her?” Leon suggested, “Make sure she takes him somewhere quiet, where they won’t get interrupted by assholes…”

“And makes sure she lets him set the conversation topic, so he doesn’t lose his nerve…” Yasuhiro added, remembering what had happened with Hifumi…

Well, lets go warn her now! She’s probably waiting for me to go have lunch with her!” Geez, how could Hina just _bounce_ off the floor like that!?

Still, she had a point, so they all made their way into the dining room… where Taka was _already_ sitting down with Sakura, on a table far away from the rest, and she didn’t look like she was saying anything…

 _“eeeeeeEEEEEE!”_ _Oww!_ Geez! That noise from Hina _again!_ Was she possessed by some demonic _mouse_ or something!?

But he couldn’t blame her… By his calculations, the percentage chance Taka would be able to talk about whatever was on his mind was… 74! Not bad…

“Well, we can’t just stand around here looking like _spectators…”_ Togami wandered off to the kitchen, followed by the rest of them…

Of course, once they got their food and sat down, they _totally_ looked like spectators! But it wasn’t _their_ fault! They just wanted to make sure Taka was happy! And he did _look_ a lot happier once he’d finished talking to Sakura and started heading off on his hall monitor route…

Which as about two seconds before Hina and Leon rushed off over to Sakura’s table… flipping sports kids, making him feel old before he was even _twenty_ … By the time he and _Togami_ got to her table, she was in the middle of telling them what they’d spoken about…

“I was discussing my father… and how the path I chose for myself differed from the one _he_ would have had me take…”

“That’s _all_ you talked about?” Hina asked…

“…You think there would have been something else.” Was that actually a question? She kinda looked annoyed either way… But then Yasuhiro _always_ thought she looked kinda annoyed in general, so he might as well be honest…

“…Yeah. You see, we think Taka’s trying to tell us that…”

 _“ENOUGH.” OhcrapsheHADbeenannoyed!_ “I am _aware_ that there is something bothering Kiyotaka, that he does not wish for us to know about…”

“But… we think he _does_  want us to know _…”_ Hina’s pout managed to get Sakura to calm down a little.

“…If that were truly the case, he would have told us.”

“But he’s been _trying_ to all _week!”_ Leon told her.

“And yet, he still hasn’t…” Sakura looked at Leon like he was stupid…

“…I suppose you’re suggesting he only _thinks_ he wants to tell us, not that he _actually_ wants to tell us…” Togami decided.

“…I believe that when he _truly_ wishes for us to know, he will gather the strength to tell us about it.” And she looked like she was pretty darn certain she was _right…_ no chance of convincing her otherwise… “I also believe it is not something you should be attempting to… _support_ him in. It is his _own_ battle…”

“Yeah… I guess…” Man, Hina looked _miserable…_ Leon looked worried… and Togami just looked _mad…_

“Good. Now excuse me, I have to tidy up…” Sakura tidied up the fancy tea set she and Taka had been using and left them standing around under a dark aura…

“…We’re not _really_ going to listen to listen to her, are we?” Of course _Togami_ was the first to talk…

“But… you heard what she said… he’ll tell us all when he _wants_ to…”

“Yes… So we just need to make him _want_ to!”

“How? You already said he wouldn’t believe us if we told him Mondo likes him, and I can _tell_ you Mondo ain’t telling _him_ that anytime soon!” Chances were good Leon was getting really frustrated by all this…

“What if we made Oowada jealous?”

“He’ll think Taka’s better off without him!” Togami flinched as Leon shot down his suggestion.

“You’re _sure_ he won’t believe us if we tell him Mondo likes him?” Hina asked, “I mean… Why would we lie to him?”

“It’s not that he’ll think we’re lying… he’ll just think we’re wrong!” Yasuhiro explained, “It’s always like this when kids are in love, they spend so much time trying to hide it from each other that it’s obvious to everyone _but_ each other, so it you say ‘yeah, Mondo _totally_ likes you!’ he’ll think ‘But I’ve not seen any sign of that! Hina must be mistaken! After all, I know Mondo _waaaaay_ better than her!”

…Why were they all looking at him he was some sorta imposter!?

“…That actually makes _sense!”_ Aww, _geez!_ Was that all it took for him to surprise Togami!?

“So… _and I can’t believe I’m asking YOU this…”_

“Hey! I heard that, Leon!”

“Do couples like that _ever_ get together by themselves?” Leon ignored him…

“I dunno… usually when I meet a couple like that I end up giving one of them a romance reading and that convinces them to ask the other out…” Yasuhiro told them.

“...You mean you’ve had a way to get them together this _whole time_ and you _didn’t tell us!?”_ Yasuhiro stepped back so Hina didn’t start shaking him…

“Well, it wouldn’t work on _them!_ They’d need to _ask_ me for the reading first! And there’s, like, a 5% chance _either_ of them will!”

“Of course… Ishimaru thinks you’re unreliable at _best…”_

“And Mondo ain’t gonna admit he’s worried about romance…”

“But… what would happen if we convinced Taka your _romance_ readings are more reliable…?”

“Ehh… 8%.” Yasuhiro worked out.

“…What if you did that _and_ offered it to him for free?”

“You mean as a trial portion?”

“NO! I mean a _legitimately_ free offer!”

“Well… hmm…” Let’s see… It’d be about 60%... “If one of you can convince him I’m accurate, then _maybe_ I can get him to ask me for one…” He’d have to start working out a plan for this…

 _“Great!_ I can talk about with him after swimming on Monday!” Again with Hina and the bouncing…

“…I can’t believe I’m about to say it… but I’m _counting_ on you, Hagakure!” Gee, _thanks_ Togami!

“Yeah! Don’t screw this up, man!” And Leon to!?

Why was he friends with these guys…!?

* * *

 

(Friday, July 13th 2012)

Another wasted day watching movies… every time he’d tried to get out a book to study, Hiro had slipped or thrown a note onto his desk threatening to tell the teacher he wasn’t paying attention to the class! At least now classes were over, and he’d be free to study in his room in peace… if that was what Mondo wanted him to do, at least…

He found himself sighing… He’d not even _tried_ being honest about his feelings for Mondo anymore! He’d tried talking to everyone in class who wasn’t already aware of his sexualiy and he’d completely failed to say _anything_ about it to _anyone!_ What was _wrong_ with him? He’d like to ask someone, but… other than Hina, there wasn’t anyone he _dared_ talk to about this… and she was always so honest, he didn’t think she’d be of much help… He could probably do with an _adults_ help…

Oh… what about his _father!?_ It was almost time for their weekly conversation! Kiyotaka still hadn’t tried to tell _him!_ But he was his _father!_ It was like Sakura and _her_ father, wasn’t it? He might be upset, initially, that Kiyotaka was going to have to walk a harder path for success in his life than his father had planned, but he’d still _love_ Kiyotaka, regardless! He certainly wouldn’t _disapprove_ of him, would he? He’d understand that it wasn’t _Kiyotaka’s_ fault, especially once he explained that he had _tried_ to stop being homosexual!

Yes! This… this would work! He’d tell his father, and his father would probably be _full_ of sympathy and advice about his problem… like _last_ week, when he’d explained about his idiocy at the party and his father had had similar experiences in the past! Yes! He felt a _lot_ happier about it all as he headed over to the phones...

“Good Evening, Father!” He announced, once his father had picked up…

“Ah! Kiyotaka! My little _hero,_ eh!?”

“Err… I beg your pardon…?”

“Ahahaha! There’s no need to modest about it! You’ve been all over the news, apparently! Rescuing that… that girl! In the band!” His father seemed pleased about it, even if he didn’t _quite_ seem to understand what had happened, “Everyone at work’s been talking about it… although a _few_ of them are saying they don’t really believe it it was actually _you_ who did it…” He added, irritably.

“Ah! Well… I didn’t really realise what I was doing at the time… I was just trying to make sure the proper health and safety measures were in place so Sayaka didn’t get hurt!”

“Yes! Of course! Good thing I raised you pay attention to that kind of thing, eh?” His father laughed, “Ah, but speaking of _her…”_ His father’s voice turned conspiratorially quiet, “I realised girls in… _her_ line of business aren’t _supposed_ to have boyfriends… But you know, I’d keep it quiet if it so happened that you _were_ dating her, don’t you?”

 _Oh…_ He’d heard about _that_ rumour as well, had he? And he sounded so excited at the prospect… He was going to be so disappointed… “Ahh… I’m sure you _would_ be… but I’m really _not_ dating Sayaka!” He admitted… Ah! Maybe _this_ was a good time to explain his homosexuality…!

“I understand… But _please_ tell me you _aren’t_ dating that _Kuwata_ fellow, instead!” His father demanded.

“No! _Gods_ no! I’m barely _friends_ with him!” He spat out instantly.

 _“Good.”_ His father commented. “It’ll be hard enough for you to get into politics without being seen dating _him!”_

“Y-yes… it will be…” Kiyotaka agreed, his heart sinking…

“You really _should_ try and get yourself a girlfriend soon though!”

“Ah… that _would_ stop people claiming I’m homosexual…” Kiyotaka agreed…

_But I AM… and I should be honest about it, shouldn’t I?_

That’s what he _thought…_ But yet again, his mouth was stubbornly refusing to speak the words in his head… He’d already disappointed his father by not dating Sayaka, was it right to do it _again_ in the same conversation…?

“Exactly!” His father told him. “I notice you’ve not changed your appearance at all since you went to school… and I’m not saying you look  _bad,_ but you might to consider trying to look a bit more… _stylish?_ Perhaps?” He carried on, gently, “I mean, I _know_ it shouldn’t matter, but you know what girls these days can be like…”

He didn’t really… none of the girls in class ever commented on his appearance… they all respected who he _was_ and what he _did_ , as he did with them! Just the same as all the boys did!

Well… apart from whoever had thrown out those photographs of him, perhaps… Maybe he _had_ got better at posing, but someone just thought he looked ugly? But who would it be? He hadn’t been able to work anything out from the class announcement, so whoever it was had a good poker face, if nothing else… Celestia maybe? She’s said his looks were only a ‘good start’ back when he’d _last_ worried about this…

“…and apparently these days there are kits you can buy to wax your eyebrows into sensible shapes…” His father had carried on talking while he was thinking.

“Ahh… that sounds useful, but it’s bad enough I need to replace my alarm clock…” Kiyotaka admitted.

_“Why!?”_

“Err… There’s a part that’s worn down apparently, and it keeps making this odd noise sporadically…” Kiyotaka explained, “And the mechanic in class 77 says by the time the part I factor in shipping costs for the part, it would be cheaper to just buy a new clock entirely…”

“Is it really that _that_ bad though? If it still keeping time correctly…”

“Well… I suppose it _is_ useable…” It probably _was_ a frivolous thing to buy…

“Anyway… it’s almost time for me to hang up…” His father announced, “I guess next time we talk will be when you’re back home!”

“Err… I’d be able to talk on the phone _next_ Friday, though!”

“I suppose, but will you _need_ to? You’ll be seeing me the very next day!” His father laughed, “You’d be better off using the time to say goodbye to your friends!”

“Ah… yes! I suppose so!” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’ll see you in a week then! I hope you have a good one!”

“You to! And safe journey as well!” His father hung up the phone…

Kiyotaka sighed… so much for getting advice! The next time he spoke to his father, it would be too late to speak to any of his friends… And now he wasn’t even sure he _could_ speak to his father about this! He’d seemed so irritated with the possibility of Kiyotaka dating Leon… but was that just because it was _Leon,_ or specifically because he was _male?_

“Hey… _Taka?”_ Kiyotaka jumped at Makoto’s worried sounded voice… why did he always get so surprised that Makoto was talking to him, when he did it every _week!?_

“Ah! Makoto!” Kiyotaka greeted him, “Good talk with your family?” He always _did…_ but it might stop him from asking…

“Yes, thanks… what about _you?” Curses!_

“Ah… well…” What could he say? He’d been hoping to get advice on dealing with his sexuality and instead had got advice on changing his appearance…? “…We mostly talked about changing my looks…” He cut the first part.

 _“Why!?”_ Makoto asked, aghast, “You look fine!”

“Ah… he thinks it’ll help me find a girlfriend.” Kiyotaka admitted.

Makoto just frowned at the answer, “Have you ever told him you don’t _want_ one?”

“Ngh! Well… I _tried…”_ He admitted, “But I just… I don’t want to disappoint him!”

“You… you think he’ll be _disappointed_ with you for it?” Makoto asked, anxiously.

“Well… I don’t know!” Kiyotaka sighed, “I mean… it’ll be a _shock_ to him, at the very least! I’m sure he’ll understand eventually, but at first… I suspect he might be, yes! And understandably so! I mean, I’ve always agreed with him that it will be beneficial for me to work towards getting a wife sooner rather than later, so to suddenly turn around and say ‘well, actually, no I rather not’ would probably seem... _foolish!”_

“So… are you just not going to tell him, then?” Makoto asked.

“No! I’ll tell him! It just… just now wasn’t the right time!” Hah! In other words, he was _procrastinating…_

“Yeah… I guess it’d be easier to do in person, right?” Makoto smiled, “You’ll be seeing him again in a week, right!”

“Yes! This year’s gone so fast!” Kiyotaka sighed, almost _too_ fast… he’d already spent one _quarter_ of the time he’d have living so close to all his friends… A whole _quarter_ of it… it didn’t feel like it was going to be anywhere _near_ enough time before he had to leave Hope’s Peak _forever_ and not be able to talk to anyone as much anymore…

“Yeah… it’s crazy how much we’ve all grown up!” Makoto smiled, “Well… except maybe Hiro…”

 _“Ahahaha!”_ Kiyotaka couldn’t help but laugh at that, even _with_ his anxiety about the future, “Can you believe he’s going to be _twenty_ in a couple of weeks!? _”_

“I know! I mean… I know I’m hardly grown up, but I can’t _believe_ he’s three years older than us!” Makoto laughed along with him, “And he can’t even blame being born in the summer, because _you_ are to!”

“Indeed!” Kiyotaka smiled, glad both to be used as a positive example, and that Makoto knew when his birthday was! “Speaking of which though… I was thinking perhaps we ought to have a party for him on the Friday before we leave school! That way he’ll have all of his presents early and be able to open them on his _actual_ birthday!”

“Uhh… a party on _Friday!?”_ Makoto looked worried about the idea…

“You think it’s a bad idea?” Kiyotaka asked, “I mean… I know we didn’t get a chance to organise anything for Hina, or Leon or the twins or Hifumi _this_ year, but…”

“No, no! I think it’s great to have a party for him, just not on _Friday!”_ Makoto explained, “He’ll need time to pack his room up before we leave on Saturday…”

“Oh! Of course! So the _Thursday_ then!” Kiyotaka agreed.

“Uhh… maybe _Wednesday,_ even.” Makoto suggested, “I feel like Hiro’s going to need more than a single day to get _his_ room sorted…

 _“Really!?”_ How bad _was_ his room, that an entire _day_ spent cleaning it wouldn’t be enough!? “Well, alright… Wednesday it is then!”

“Yeah! Sounds good! I’ll let everyone else know!” Makoto agreed.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka smiled, Makoto always was the best at organising everyone else in class… “And have a good evening!”

“You to!” Makoto told him, “But… Uhh… Kiyotaka?”

“Yes?”

“Umm… I know I say this a lot… but really, if there’s ever anything you want to talk about, I won’t judge?” He offered, timidly.

“Err… Well…” This would be a _perfect_ time to talk about his problems… But… Makoto might _say_ he wouldn’t judge… But how would Kiyotaka know for _sure…?_ Makoto was always nice to him, and respectful of him, but what if admitting his secret _changed_ all of that!? He had no real evidence that it _would_ but… for some reason it still felt like a distinct possibility…

“You don’t _have_ to, though!” Makoto added. “I can wait until you’re ready!”

Until he was _ready?_ But he should be _ready_ now! Shouldn’t he? And yet he was still unable to just come out and _say_ it! What was holding him back?

Well, whatever it was, it was still affecting him _now…_ “Thank you.” Kiyotaka sighed, “I’ll keep it in mind…”

“You’re welcome!” Makoto smiled, as he opened the door to his room. “Have a good night!”

“You to!” Kiyotaka replied, just before Makoto was gone…

Hmm… What to do now? Study, probably… That's what Mondo had told him to do earlier...

* * *

 

Well… there _definitely_ hadn’t been any alien sightings on Wednesday… and it was almost after midnight…

(Saturday, July 14th 2012)

…And now it _was_ midnight and as far as he knew, Hina hadn’t broken a leg before the week finished… Geez, his list of _not_ creepy predictions was getting smaller and smaller… His best bet now was this plan with the romance reading… but could he really find a way to get Taka to _take_ one? He didn’t exactly like being in debt to people, even if it was just a case of people trying to be nice to him…

But it was that, or stuff like the bears and the _reserve students…_ But could it really be the reserve students? How would that even work? What, would they all go jump off a cliff together like lemmings (even though lemmings didn’t actually _do_ that), or would they had planned it in advance and all got a different method ready or…

 _Urgh…_ man, why was he even thinking about this? There was no way he was going to get a good nights sleep if he kept imagining what it’d look like if two thousand kids all killed themselves at once… But he couldn’t _stop_ himself thinking about it either! It was like the whole school was surrounded by bad vibes that just kept making him thing of negative stuff, you know?

Geez… hopefully something _nice_ would happen tomorrow, that would break some of this hold on him… Maybe Taka and Mondo would suddenly get together or something… that’d be nice… it’d be that or he’d have to start chatting up Kyoko or convince Togami to invade Europe… or the reserve students would…

…Dammit! Why had he gone and thought of _that_ again…?

* * *

 

“You know… you look a lot better now…” Mondo grinned and stroked his thumb over Kiyotaka’s newly-waxed eyebrows…

It was a little disappointing, if he had to be honest… they might be unusual, but they were _him_ … wouldn’t it be nicer if Mondo just liked him for who he _was,_ not what he _looked_ like?

“Well, just grow ‘em back then…” Mondo shrugged, sitting on his lap and continuing to stroke his brows as they grew back to their original size impossible quickly and _oh for heaven’s sake, he was dreaming again!_

“TCH!” He woke up feeling irritated with himself and checked the time… _9am!?_ How had he slept that long!? Had his clock completely broken… or had he just not heard the alarm through his earplugs…?

Curse this stupid faulty clock part… he couldn’t sleep properly if it kept making that annoying noise overnight and he _didn’t_ have earplugs in to block it out, but he’d sleep in too late if he put the plugs in and kept missing his alarm going off…

Well, at least he’d discovered this on a weekend, not a school day! He’d just have to do something productive and energetic to make up for the time spent sleeping in like a layabout! Perhaps, once he’d showered and had breakfast, he could go see if the school store had any of the boxes they were supposed to pack the items staying _in_ the school over the summer holidays yet… If they did he could grab a couple and start packing away some of the items he wouldn’t be likely to need next week, or be able to take home easily, like all his class notes from this year, his calligraphy set, and that so-called _'dreamcatcher'_ that was doing precisely _nothing_ for him!

Yes, that seemed like a good plan! After all, it was best to start all of this packing early, so he wouldn’t end up having to rush around in a mad panic to get it done on Friday! He wondered what was going to happen with Mondo though… How much longer was he likely to be in the med centre for? He’d seemed a lot better yesterday, although he _still_ wasn’t looking at Kiyotaka…

Maybe he should do something helpful for Mondo… like getting Mondo some boxes as well! And if he _wasn’t_ up out of bed soon, then Kiyotaka could make a list of everything in his room and ask Mondo if it needed to stay or leave the school, then start packing Mondo’s room for him! Maybe if he did all of _that,_ Mondo would forgive him for… whatever it was he’d done to annoy him this much! Surely he must have done  _something,_ regardless of what Makoto and Kyoko had told him... After all, Mondo hadn't wanted to know what was in the school paper at all!

...

An hour later, he was returning to the dorms with two armfuls of flattened cardboard boxes, one for him and one for Mondo… He’d just unlock Mondo’s room with his spare key and put the boxes in there for him before… before…

Before seeing that Mondo was stood completely naked in the middle of his room, facing away from the door, his clothes in a messy heap beside him…

“Err…” Words completely failed him as his mind started to fill with comparisons to Greek statues and curiosity as to what his body _felt_ like and imaginations of what Kiyotaka would _do_ if he only had Mondo’s permission…

“Wha…!? TAKA!? _WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU…!?”_ Mondo turned slightly to see who was at the door, covering his groin with his hands.

But he _didn’t_ have Mondo’s permission to do those things! _He didn’t even have Mondo’s permission to be LOOKING at him!_

“Ahh… SORRY!” Kiyotaka threw both armfuls of boxes into the room in his panic and slammed the door shut.

Alright… calm down… it was just an accident… it wasn’t like he _meant_ to go peeping at his friend, he just hadn’t been aware that Mondo was out of the med centre yet! This would be easily explained as an accident, just so long as he kept calm and didn’t... think too much about how _good_ Mondo had looked just now…

 _NO!_ He’d just told himself not think about that! And nothing was going to happen, regardless! It certainly wasn’t erection-worthy! He just needed to calm down and think of something boring, like maths equations! Or someone he wasn’t attracted to, like Hiro, who was stumbling down the corridor in what looked like a hungover daze…

“Wha… _Hiro!_ Have you been _drinking!?”_ Kiyotaka interrogated him, “You look _appaling!”_

“Urg… man… Do I really look _that_ bad?” Hiro asked, “I’ve not had a drink in weeks! It’s just I’m not sleeping right…”

“Ah… you’re not?” Kiyotaka felt slightly guilty for doubting him… at a closer glance, he obviously had bags under his eyes… “Is there a reason for it?”

“Ehh… I’ve just been having these bad…”

Hiro’s explanation was cut off by Mondo’s door opening and his, now fully dressed, Kyoudai starting to exit the room… “Oh, uhh… hey, Taka…” He stammered, his face turning red, although to be fair Kiyotaka’s probably was as well…

“Ah! My apologies again, Mondo!” Kiyotaka bowed, “I didn’t realise you’d been discharged!”

“Uhh… yeah, they let me out this morning… Although I’m not supposed to do anything too tiring…” Mondo explained, “I thought I’d take the chance to take a proper shower before coming and telling everyone though…”

“Ah, I see! I’m sorry I interrupted you!” Kiyotaka apologised again, “I’ll let you get cleaned up now!”

“Thanks… but… what the hell’s with all these boxes ya threw at me?” Mondo asked.

“They’re to pack your things away over the summer, so the school can move them to your new room over the holidays!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Oh, yeah… Chi mentioned that we had ta do that…” Mondo muttered, “Thanks for bringing me ‘em! In fact… why don’t cha take _this…”_

Kiyotaka almost groaned… Mondo was trying to give him back the voucher for something so simple yet _again!?_

“Ah… all I did was walk to the school store… that’s hardly worth using the voucher for!” He snapped.

 _“Oh come on, why won’t you take this stupid fucking thing!?”_ Mondo yelled.

“I’d be perfectly happy to take it if you actually _needed_ a favour!” Kiyotaka insisted, “But so far I’ve not done anything out of the ordinary for you!”

“The _hell_ you haven’t! You’ve brought me my stuff and better food _,_ told me what everyone been up to, you got me these boxes… You’ve spent _loads_ of time helping me out this week!”

But… none of that had felt _special…_ “Those are just things I’ve have done for you as a friend anyway!”

“But the _boxes_ ain’t! I coulda done that _myself!”_

That was true… but it still wasn’t worth the voucher… he was hoping Mondo would do something… _interesting_ with the voucher, nor just take a few boxes off of him… After all, it was the sort of thing he’d have probably found himself doing for half of the lazier students anyway, just to coax them into getting their room packed up early…

Ah! In fact, it was probably a good idea for him to do that, and make sure everyone knew the proper procedure for packing up! “It’s part of my duty as class rep!”

 _“BULLSHIT!”_ Mondo slammed his fist into the doorframe, “No other class rep does that shit! You’re just making up excuses not to take this shitty of paper off of me!”

 _‘Shitty piece of paper?’_ Was that what Mondo thought of his present? As understandable as it was, it still hurt coming from _Mondo_ of all people… Almost as badly as the allegation that he’d _lied…_

 _“I AM DOING NO SUCH THING!”_ Kiytoaka shouted back, “Just because the _other_ class representatives do not take their role as seriously as I do, does not mean it’s not a part of my responsibility to ensure that you are all aware of what needs doing before we leave the school! After all it will be _me_ that gets the blame if a majority of you fail to…”

“No one’s gonna _not_ clean their room just ‘cause ya didn’t tell us to!”

“Neither of us is psychic! You can’t know that for _sure!_ I’d rather spend a small amount of time making sure everyone is informed than to…”

“But you don’t fucking _have_ to! Why don’t you worry about _yourself_ instead of wasting your fuckin’ time nagging the _rest_ of us!”

“Ensuring friends are looked after is not a waste of time!” It was the same as looking after someone when they were sick… and Mondo had said he’d do that for a friend…

“IT IS FOR _YOU!”_ Mondo cried.

What!? Was he saying Kiyotaka was the one person who _shouldn’t_ make time to help his friends… “What does that even _mean!?_ Why would _I_ be an exception!? What’s different about _me!?”_

“Uhh… I… Just… forget I fuckin’ said that…” Mondo dismissed the question.

Why would he do that? Was he worried Kiyotaka would be upset by the answer? But _why?_ Was there some reason he _shouldn’t_ be worrying about his friends? It was just normal behaviour, wasn’t it? So why shouldn’t _he_ do it? Unless… was there a chance he was _wrong_ about having friends? Was Mondo suggesting he shouldn’t waste his time on his classmates because they weren’t _really_ his friends!?

That… that couldn’t be, could it? But… now he’d thought of it, he needed to know what Mondo _had_ meant, or he’d be worrying about this forever!

“No! I will _not_ just forget it! I want an answer!" Kiyotaka demanded.

“It… it doesn’t fucking _matter!_ I just said something _stupid,_ why’d ya have ta _care_ so _FUCKING MUCH_ ABOUT EVERY _FUCKING TINY THING!?”_

_“WELL FORGIVE ME FOR HAVING EMOTIONS, KYOUDAI!”_

“I DIDN’T SAY YA CAN’T HAVE EMOTIONS I JUST MEANT…!”

_“Guys!? What the hell is THIS about!?”_

Both Kiyotaka and Mondo turned to look at Makoto, who was staring at them from the entrance to his _own_ room… How could explain _this…_ What had even started it? Oh, that was right…

“Err… We were discussion what would and wouldn’t be a personal favour worthy of my…”

“This _lying bastard_ won’t take this _shitty piece of paper_ back!”

“I WAS NOT LYING!”

“YA FUCKIN’ WERE! You ain’t taken those boxes ta anyone _else,_ have ya!?”

“Only because you were the _first_ person I attempted to give them to!” Kiyotaka told him.

“Uhh… _boxes?”_ Makoto asked.

“Yes! The ones for packing up our belongings over summer term!” Kiyotaka told him, “I was intending to go around everyone’s room and make sure they knew what needed to be done before school ends…”

“Except he probably wasn’t planning ta do that for anyone _else_ until _after_ I offered him the voucher ‘cause he did it for _me!”_

“Which I told you isn’t necessary _or_ a worthwhile use of the voucher!”

“YES IT IS!” Mondo shouted.

“NO! IT _ISN’T!”_ Kiyotaka shouted back… before noticing that Makoto was now cradling his face in his hand. _Urgh…_ this was just going around in _circles!_ “And I’m sorry, but I don’t have _time_ for this… I need to go make sure everyone has the boxes…”

 _“No you don’t!”_ Mondo snapped.

 _“Yes I do!”_ He countered, before walking away in the direction of the school stores…

 _URGH!_ Why was Mondo being so _stubborn_ about this!? And why did he keep having to say that Kiyotaka’s gift was a stupid… _inadequate_ piece of paper!? He’d liked it _before,_ hadn’t he? Why had that _changed?_ Would it kill him to take it a little more seriously, or even _pretend_ that he did, just to humour Kiyotaka… Didn’t he realise how important _he,_ of all people, _was_ to Kiyotaka?

Ah… well, no, he didn’t… Because Kiyotaka _still_ hadn’t had the confidence to tell him _or_ anyone else he knew! But how was he supposed to _get_ that confidence when Mondo kept equating his birthday present with off-hand favours he’d not even _asked_ for? Couldn’t he have waited until he had a _real_ favour to ask, instead? Or if he _really_ didn’t that was going to happen, couldn’t he just quietly throw it away like Kiyotaka’s old classmates had done, instead of hurting his pride by constantly offering it in exchange for _nothing…_ like his present was _worthless…_

Then again, Mondo throwing away the vouchers wouldn’t be much better… _That_ would be the same as saying his present was just _trash,_ wouldn’t it… something that was better used to make spit wads to shoot at him, like in middle school…

Huh… Thinking about it, if someone in middle school had offered him the voucher for something he did offhand, he’d have been _ecstatic,_ wouldn’t he? The idea that someone would actually _bother_ to keep it, instead of just rolling their eyes at _worthless_ Ishimaru and his _awful, trashy_ presents would have made him cry with _joy_ back then! How had he changed so much? When had he got the idea that these vouchers were… _special,_ somehow? Just because his friends had used them for interesting things?

Perhaps he was just being oversensitive and should let Mondo give the voucher back to him whenever he wanted to… if he’d done that just _now,_ they could potentially have had a nice conversation now that Mondo was up and about, instead of having a screaming match in the hallway for everyone to see! Makoto and Hiro probably thought he was an idiot for taking this so seriously…

Ahh… and he hadn’t even ended up getting to ask Hiro what had been causing his lack of sleep! He’d said he’d been having bad _somethings…_ dreams, perhaps!? Was he suffering from nightmares at the moment… hopefully not. It wasn’t as if there was anything that could stop _those…_ That ‘ _dreamcatcher’_ of Hiro’s certainly hadn’t!

Ah… but… _Hiro_ believed it did, didn’t he? Perhaps it had some sort of placebo effect on _him,_ which was no longr working because he’d given Kiyotaka the thing… Perhaps in _that_ case, Kiyotaka should return it once he gave Hiro the boxes…

* * *

 

Kiyotaka stormed off in a huff and Mondo looked like he either wanted to punch Taka or _himself_ as he slammed his door shut…

“Man, it is _way_ too early for this…” Yasuhiro commented.

“Yeah… you look like you could do with a few more hours sleep…” Great, he looked so bad Makoto had noticed as well… “I think I might go tell Chihiro about this… He might have a better idea what to say to Mondo than I would…”

“Well, good luck, bro!” Yasuhiro patted his hair for good luck.

“Yeah, I think I need it…”

Makoto was right there! Man, those two were _crazy!_ All that yelling over a piece of paper? If they could get _that_ angry over a cheap birthday present, it was no _wonder_ neither of them would admit they liked the other… but then if they’d admit how they felt about each other, they probably wouldn’t be screaming at each other over stupid stuff… it was just this big mess of circular negative energy that someone had to break somehow… If only one of them would just quit being so stubborn and back down for once!

Hah! No chance of _that_ happening, right? Not unless someone _did_ something… At this rate they were _both_ gonna be miserable and angry for the next three years, unless this romance reading plan worked… Maybe after he’d eaten he’d best go chat to Hina and make sure she knew what she was going to be telling him on Monday…

…

Well… it had taken him a while find her, but at least it was sorted out! Now what should he do? Maybe Makoto was right and he should go to sleep for a bit…

 _*Ding dong.*_ Huh… that was probably Taka giving him the boxes, right?

“Good Afternoon, Hiro!” _Ding-ding-ding!_

“Hey, Taka!”

“I’m here, in my capacity a class rep, to inform you about the procedures for leaving our belongings here over the summer holidays!” Taka was well and truly in work mode… “We have been provided with _these_ cardboard boxes, and anything that is to be transferred to your _new_ room over the holidays is to be placed in _these_ boxes, and _only_ these boxes! More can be requisitioned from the school store!”

…He’d memorised all this from somewhere, right?

“The school also _highly_ recommends having attaching a list of every item in each box to that box, for your own convenience when unpacking, and to reduce potential conflicts regarding items going missing over the summer!” Good idea, it’d be bad if any of his OOPArts got into the wrong hands… “Any items left in your room _outside_ of these boxes will be assumed to be trash and destroyed! There will also be disciplinary action taken against any returning students whose room required item disposal _or_ excessive cleaning, so I recommend you begin packing up your belongs _early,_ so you’ll have plenty of time to clean your room as well! Do you have any questions!?”

“…No, I think you got everything, dude!” Yasuhiro took the boxes off of Taka, “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome! But, ah, one more thing…” He switched _out_ of work mode. “You said you’ve not been sleeping well? Is that… because you let me have _this?”_ He looked super guilty as he handed up that dreamcatcher Yasuhiro had made him ages ago…

“Huh…? Hah! No, man! I got like, a _dozen_ of those things!” Geez, wouldn’t want him feeling guilty about the _one_ thing Yasuhiro had ever given him…

“Err… o-oh…” Oh, whoops… now he just looked embarrassed that he’d offered it back…

“Buuut… If you gimme _that_ one back, it’d probably be… _luckier_ than the others…” That sounded like a good reason for him to want _Taka’s_ one back, right?

 _“Why!?”_ Of course Taka would wanna know that… Hmm… let’s think…

 _OH!_ He’d just had the _best_ idea! No one would call him stupid after _this!_

“Well, when you give people stuff, it makes good karma, so if you get the stuff _back_ , it’s luckier, or it makes you feel better!” Taka was already opening his mouth to disagree… But Yasuhiro had a trump card… “Like those special vouchers you’ve been giving everyone!”

“Err… the _vouchers!?_ You… you think the vouchers _are_ special?”

“Aww… c’mon man! You really haven’t noticed it? Everyone knows you’re _waaaaaay_ happier and more confident now than you were when the term first started…”

“But… that’s mostly because I’ve made friends though!” Wait, he _seriously_ had _no_ friends before now? “Although, it’s nice having a reminder that they respect me enough to actually bother _using_ the vouchers…”

Ehh… not _quite_ the reaction he was hoping for, but close enough! “Well, think how nice it’ll be when you’ve got _all fifteen_ of those puppies back! You’ll have so much confidence _nothing_ will stop you!”

He wasn’t saying anything… Did that mean Taka had _bought_ it?

 _“Confidence!?_ I… I see… that… would be nice…” Hey! It _had_ worked! Now he’d be _sure_ to let Mondo give him the voucher back just for whatever… So no more arguments between them! “Ah! But first I need to finish delivering these boxes… I’ll see you… at some point, I guess?”

“Sure, see ya, Taka!” Yasuhiro waved him off as he left the hallway…Ahh… Nothing like solving a problem for your friends to make good karma, right? Maybe he’d go treat himself to a snack…

“Umm… has he _really_ only just realised he’s attracted to Taka?” Huh? Was that Chihiro talking around the corner?

“Seems like it…” And that was Makoto sighing back…

“Huh… guess it’s a good thing Taka _didn’t_ pick up on all those photos I put in the album then...” Chihiro sounded embarrassed.

_“That was you!?”_

“Umm… yeah… I thought that Taka would notice and talk to Mondo about it… but I’ve put in _tons_ of Mondo looking at him…” Sounded like even _Chihiro_ could get annoyed at how slow Taka could be on the uptake…

“And _Mondo’s_ the one who noticed instead…” Makoto sounded ever-so-slightly peeved… “Which is why he’s chucked all those photographs of Taka out of the album…”

“Umm... sorry. I thought he’d must have noticed himself staring, and would already know…” Chihiro sighed, “Do you think I should get the photos reprinted? I’ve got most of them stored digitally…”

“Well… Taka would probably like that! If they’re not too expensive…”

“By _my_ standards or _his?”_

“I think _any_ money spent on him is too much by _his_ standards!” Yep, pretty good summary of Taka from Makoto there… “Unless it’s from Togami, anyway…”

“…So if I told _Togami_ to give them to him, he’d be alright with it?”

“That’s… kind of a _sneaky_ way to deal with it, Chi…” Makoto obviously didn’t like the sound of that idea… although it seemed _fine_ to Yasuhiro!

“Well, sometimes being sneaky is the _only_ way to deal with him…”

“You mean like with those _photos…?”_ Wow, Makoto being snarky sounded _weird…_ “Because that _totally_ worked out well, didn’t it?”

“Umm… sorry…”

“Well, never mind… At least _now_ Mondo’ll quit trying to give him the voucher back for absolutely nothing, right?”

“Yeah! At least they won’t be arguing anymore!”

 _Aww man!_ They’d told Mondo _not_ to use the voucher!? Hmm… well, that’d probably have the same effect as telling Taka to accept it, right? And Taka probably wouldn’t have been listening to Yasuhiro anyway… it’d be fine!

* * *

 

(Sunday, July 15th 2012)

Right, let’s see… it was 11am… even on a _Sunday,_ Mondo should be awake by now, so it was probably reasonable to ring his doorbell in order to apologise for losing his temper yesterday. And to ask if Mondo wanted help actually _packing up_ his room, in exchange for the voucher! Because _that_ would be a reasonable use of Kiyotaka’s time _and_ a worthy use of the voucher! And then they’d _both_ be happy and Kiyotaka would get that boost of confidence Hiro had been talking about and maybe he’d finally manage to tell Mondo how he felt about him…

So… he should probably do that, then.

Mondo answered the door quite quickly and looked unsurprised, but still slightly apprehensive, to see him…

“Good Morning, Kyoudai!” Kiyotaka greeted him, “Ah… about yesterday…”

“Yeah… I’m sorry for being an asshole…” Mondo hung his head.

“Ah! Well… I was being a little… overdramatic about the whole thing…” Kiyotaka admitted, although it was nice to know Mondo didn’t think it was _all_ his own fault.

“Well… maybe, I dunno! But I shouldn’t have called your present shitty!” Mondo insisted, “Or called ya a liar… I just… I get worried seeing ya stress yourself out all the time doing too much stuff, and I didn’t wanna add ta that, so I just thought I could use your present for summat tiny and you’d be happy without havin’ ta stress yourself out over it!”

“Oh…” If only Mondo had said that _yesterday!_ He hadn’t realised Mondo had just been concerned for him all this time… “Well…”

“But I get it now! If I’d just done that, it woulda been like I was saying your present was just some tiny little thing… and I know you wouldn’t want that!” Mondo carried on, “So… I’ll use it for something _important,_ alright?”

“Ah… yes!” Kiyotaka smiled, he _did_ understand how Kiyotka had felt after all! “Perhaps for making sure your room is packed up before the end of the week…”

“What? _NO!_ I… I don’t need help with that!” Mondo hastily argued, putting his hand over his chest. “Hell, I’ve already done a bunch of it! Once I’ve put all my carpentry shit away, I’ll be halfway there already!”

Ah… well, so much for that confidence boost… “Ah… I see! It’s good that you’ve been organised! I wasn’t expecting you to have made Hiro’s present yet!”

“Uhh… Hiro’s… present?” Mondo asked, blankly.

“Ah… Yes! Did no one tell you? We’re planning to have Hiro’s birthday party on Wednesday…”

“But… his birthday ain’t for a couple of weeks, is it?”

“No… but we thought it would be nice to celebrate it now, while we all still _can!_ And I know from experience that he’d prefer to have his birthday presents given to him _early,_ so he can still enjoy them on the day itself!” After all, that was what _Kiyotaka_ wanted…

“Shit… alright, guess I’m not packing the carpentry stuff away yet… and I got figure out what I’m making him…” Mondo frowned.

“Well… like I say, if you need help, there _is_ that voucher…” Kiyotaka hinted.

 _“Urg…_ No! I ain’t a kid, I can manage ta tidy my shit up, alright!” Mondo snapped.

“I’m not saying you’re a child, but with you being told not to do anything too taxing…” Kiyotaka reminded him of his doctor’s orders.

“Hah! Like a tiny little needle’s gonna keep _Mondo Oowada_ down for two weeks!” Mondo laughed, “Seriously, Kyoudai, I’m gonna be fine! You worry about yourself, alright!”

But ‘looking after himself’ involved getting that voucher… not that Kiyotaka could tell him that.

“Ah… Very well! I look forward to seeing your next spectacular carving!” Kiyotaka told him instead.

“Thanks…” Mondo looked genuinely flattered, “And once I’m done with everything, maybe we can hang out and study or something? Like on Friday?”

“Absolutely!” Kiyotaka readily agreed. It felt like an _age_ since Mondo had wanted to spend time with him… Maybe he’d be able to settle for that, until Mondo thought of something to use the voucher for…

* * *

 

 _Urg…_ man, _another_ night, and half of the day, spent worry about the reserve course… He couldn’t wait for this romance reading plan to start on Monday… assuming Taka hadn’t already got the voucher from Mondo and told him already…

_*ding dong.*_

Huh? Someone at the door? Maybe it was Taka thanking him for the good advice!

…Nope! It was Makoto and Chihiro, with matching scowls…

“Hiro… _what_ did you tell Taka about the vouchers after that argument yesterday…?”

Oh boy… Was this the _one_ time Taka had taken him seriously? _“Hey!_ What makes you think it was _me_ who told him he’d get good karma if he got them all!”

 _“Umm… That’s_ what you told him? Why would he have taken _that_ seriously?” Was Chihiro not even going to answer his question!? “He doesn’t _believe_ in karma!”

“Well, he _kinda_ did once I told him he’s been getting more confident and happier each time he gets a voucher back!”

“That… that’s _still_ the _worst_ example of correlation implying causation I’ve _heard_ of!”

“Yeah… but… I think between Mondo and… something _else_ he’s dealing with, his confidence is taking a battering, at a time when he _really_ wants it…” Huh… weird for _Makoto_ of all people to hide something… “It’s no _wonder_ he’s outright _suggesting_ things for Mondo to use it on now…”

“He _is?”_ That was pretty pushy, even for _Taka! “_ I just assumed Mondo would try and give it to him again, and then he’d just take it and no more screaming in the corridors…”

“Umm… that might have worked better if we hadn’t told Mondo _not_ to keep trying to throw the voucher at him for tiny things…” Yep, Chihiro, it _totally_ would have!

“Well, why’d you guys go off and tell him that anyway…?”

“Because Mondo needed to hear it!” Yikes! Makoto had a good set of lungs for such a little guy… “A better question would be, why did _you_ decide to meddle with _Taka_ when I _told_ you Chi and I were going to talk to Mondo!”

“Oh… yeah… sorry dude! My brain hadn’t been fully developed that morning…” He _totally_ should have had more coffee yesterday… “So, what’s the plan?”

“What do you _mean,_ ‘what’s the plan’!?” What? Makoto didn’t think they needed a plan? This wasn’t the sort of thing you could just improv, dude!

“Umm… well, we’re not just going to leave them like _this_ now, are we?” Chihiro agreed with the need for a plan! “Now they’ve got the opposite problem to what they had before!”

Yeah… unless Mondo was willing to use the voucher, _Taka_ was gonna keep getting at _him_ about it and irritating him… “Got it! Why don’t we set up some situation where Mondo _needs_ to use the voucher, so…”

 _“NO!”_ OW! Makoto shouted so loud Yasuhiro jumped and whacked his head on the doorframe! “Umm… sorry but _no!_ This is exactly the sort of thing _Kyoko_ was trying to warn you about, Hiro! And yes, Chi, we _are_ going to leave them like this! There’s been _enough_ sneaky plans and ‘nudging’ them into it and all it’s done is make things _worse!”_ Aww, c’mon… they weren’t _that_ bad now, were they? “So here’s ‘the plan’ we’re going to leave them alone, and stop butting our noses into their business long enough for them both to sort out their feelings _by themselves!_ Got it!”

“Umm… yeah, that’s probably fair…”

“And you, Hiro?”

… That’d be the _nice_ way to deal with it! But Hiro was on a timetable! But it’s not like he could _tell_ Makoto there was a chance two thousand kids would kill themselves is Taka didn’t come out by Saturday!

And if he and Chihiro thought the plan was ‘leave them both alone’ then they wouldn’t mess up the _other_ plan they had in the works, so _that_ would work and Mondo and Taka would be happy again! That was worth lying to a friend about this, right?

“Yeah, you’re right! My bad, Makoto…”

“Good! Glad that’s sorted!” Makoto looked at the pair of them like they were idiots, before he and then Chihiro left…

Well, looked like the reading plan was his only option left… maybe he should try and catch a nap so he’d be on good form once it kicked off…

* * *

 

(Monday, July 16th 2012)

“Umm… Taka? You seemed kinda… _distracted_ during swimming today…” Hina told him as they were eating breakfast together after their weekly practise… their _last_ weekly practise for six weeks… And he’d hardly been paying attention to her tips…

“My apologies… I don’t know what to say… I’ve had a lot on my mind, but that’s no excuse for not paying proper attention to your…!”

“I’m not upset!” Hina exclaimed, “I just wondered what was bothering you…”

“Ah… thank you.” Kiyotaka felt slightly relieved, at least now he could get some of this off of his chest… “The thing is… I’ve been trying to tell people that I... err…”

Hold on… he’d never actually _told_ Hina that he’d realised his _‘phase’_ was anything _but_ a phase, _had_ he? _That_ was something he could do! It might be too much of a leap to go from being considered straight to being considered gay… but at least he could make the single small step from having Hina think he was _temporarily_ homosexual to _permanently_ so…

“It’s about my _phase…”_ He started to tell her…

 _“You still think it’s a phase!?”_ She gasped.

“Ah, you… you already knew it wasn’t?”

“Umm… yeah…” She admitted, “To be honest… when I first said about it being a phase, I was being _sarcastic…”_

 _Sarcastic!?_ He’d… he’d not realised that at _all…_ “So… you’ve known the _whole_ time!? Before _I_ even did!?”

“I’m sorry…” She hung her head, “You seemed so upset about it… I thought calling it a phase for a while might help you get used to the idea gradually…”

…In retrospect, it probably _had,_ hadn’t it? It had certainly helped him deal with the guilt of imagining Mondo so often… But that didn’t help lessen the sting that she’d _known the whole time_ and had just… _humoured_ his idiocy because she’d _instantly_ been able to see that he wasn’t able to _deal_ with reality and _still_ couldn’t even _admit_ to it!

“…I’m an _idiot!”_ He slammed his forehead down to rest on his palm _“And_ a coward…”

“What!? No you’re not!”

“…Which one?”

 _“Either of them!”_ Hina snapped, “You’ve been thinking all your life you’ll marry a _girl…_ it’s not stupid or cowardly to not want to believe you’ve been _wrong_ all that time…”

“But I should be over that by now!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “But I haven’t even been able to tell my closest friends… or my _father!”_

“Umm… why not?” Hina asked.

“…I don’t know.” He admitted, “I’ve been _trying_ to all week but… I just keep freezing up whenever I start to say it! And I don’t even _why!”_

“Oh… well…” Hina thought about it for a while, “…maybe you _really_ _don’t_ want to tell anyone…?”

“What was that!?” Hina jumped as he asked about the last part she’d just muttered, “Of course I _want_ to! Otherwise I wouldn’t be trying to!”

“Okay… but _why_ do you want to tell people about it?”

“Because it’s the truth! I shouldn’t be continually lying about myself all the time! And it’s not fair to attempt to become Prime Minister unless I’m completely honest about myself, so I ought to be starting to get used to it _now_ by telling my friends!”

“But…All of that is just reasons you think you _should_ tell people!” Hina sighed, “But I didn’t ask what you think the _moral_ thing to do is, I want to know what you _want_ to do!”

What he _wanted?_ What _did_ he want...?

Well, lots of things… to be Prime Minister, restore his family’s name, make his father proud… and his _friends_ proud as well, now he _had_ them!

And that was another thing he wanted… his _friends!_ Particularly Mondo… _gods,_ he wanted Mondo so much it _hurt!_ He wanted Mondo’s friendship, his attention, his belief in Kiyotaka… but he also wanted Mondo’s _kisses_ and _touches_ and _body_ and…

And wanted to stop hiding that all the time… _having_ to hide it _all_ the time! He wanted to be able to talk about what he wanted and how he was truly feeling… but he wanted to do it without having to give up any of the _other_ things he wanted! He wanted to be known as Japan’s first _gay_ Prime Minister, he wanted to tell his friends what he’d been going through and for them to laugh and say it was fine and he should have told them all earlier… and as for Mondo…

Well… he _wanted_ Mondo to say he felt the same way… But was never going to happen! He’d probably be happy enough if he could admit that he’d been fantasising about his kyoudai for all this time and _still_ have Mondo’s, and everyone _else’s_ …

“Acceptance.” He answered, “I… want everyone to accept me… even with _…this!”_

“Umm… _everyone?_ Like… in the _world?”_

“Well… I realised that’s unfeasible… For now, I think I’d settle for just our classmates…”

“But… they _would_ accept you!” Hina exclaimed, _“_ If you told everyone, anyway…”

 _Would_ they? Why was she so sure? Just because that’s how _she_ felt about it, and she assumed everyone was as kind as her? Or everyone in their class, at the very least… And it might be true, but… “I can’t know that for _sure_ though… Unless you’ve personally asked each member of our class for their views on homosexuality…”

“Umm… well, _no_ …” Hina admitted. “Would it help if I _did? ‘_ Cause I can totally go around and ask everyone for you! _”_

But what if they figured out _why_ she was asking!? “NO! I… I’d rather you didn’t! Thank you!” Kiyotaka hastily answered, which made her looked slightly upset, “I mean… I’m just worried if you ask _everyone,_ they’ll figure out _why_ you’re asking…”

“Oh, yeah… hehe!” She giggled in embarrassment. “But… what if there were specific people you’d want to know…”

Specific people? The only member of his class he could imagine singling out would, of course, be…

“Mondo… I wish I knew how _he_ felt…”

 _“OH!”_ Hina suddenly sat up even straighter than before, as if something important had occurred to her… “Uhhhh… Well… Hiro does these _really_ 100% accurate _romance_ readings _,_ where he can tell you which people you know are into you!”

That didn’t sound particularly plausible, not to mention… “That wouldn’t help me determine what Mondo’s views on homosexuality are, though.”

“Well… if _he_ was one of the people who liked you, it would, wouldn’t it?” Hina pointed out.

 _“Ahahaha!_ That couldn’t _possibly_ happen!” Kiyotaka laughed at the idea, as much as he _wanted_ it to be true… but then he realised she _wasn’t_ joking… “Wait… you don’t _really_ think Mondo could be… I mean… wouldn’t it be _obvious_ if he was?”

“I dunno…” Hina shrugged, “It’s not exactly _obvious_ that _you_ like _him_ either! Otherwise _he’d_ have noticed it, right?”

“Ahh… well, that’s _true_ …” Kiyotaka admitted… Could it be that Mondo had been going through the same thing as he was? Could it be he was getting distracted at the sight of Kiyotaka and enjoyed their time spent hugging together a little more than he’d have _liked,_ and was spending his nights in the shower thinking of _Kiyotaka…!?_

“See! So, you should totally ask Hiro about it!” Hina suggested.

“Hmm…” He hummed a non-committal response… he could almost agree that there was a _tiny_ chance Mondo would be attracted to him… But he’d hear about the prices Hiro charged for his readings! There was _no_ chance he’d be able to raise _that_ amount of money!

But, perhaps he could keep a closer eye on Mondo, and see if he could pick up any small hints that Mondo _did_ feel the same way as him!

* * *

 

Urg 8pm already? Man, today had been a total bust! Hina had let him know she’d told Taka about the romance reading as planned, so he’d spent the day in his room so Taka could find him…. but then he might as well have been abducted by aliens for all Yasuhiro had seen of him… He should go ask her exactly _what_ she said… There was a 74% chance she’d be in her room about now…

“Ooh! Hiro!” She did her whole bouncy thing after she saw it was him, “Did you do the reading!?”

“Sorry, Hina… I haven’t seen him all day…” The bouncing stopped… “And I spent all day in my room waiting for him to ask!”

“ _What!?_ He’s been in his room packing all day! Why didn’t you just _talk to him_ and _offer_ the reading!”

“’Cause if I’d done _that_ , he’d assume I’m up to something!”

“Oh… yeah…” Now she looked upset, “I wonder why he’s not asked you yet… I _told_ him it was 100% reliable…”

“Did you tell him it’d be free, to?” That was the other thing Togami had said to do…

“No…? I mean… that would have seemed _really_ suspicious!” Well, that’d explain why Taka hadn’t come to _him…_

“Oh, yeah… guess I’m gonna have to find a way to convince him it’ll be free without actually offering him it…?” That… sounded _super_ difficult, actually…

“Hmm… like… if he did you a favour, you’d offer it in return…?” She suddenly turned bouncy again… “Ooh! Or you could steal some of his food and then offer a reading as compensation!”

Yeesh… how cheap did she think his readings _were_ if he was supposed to trade one for some of the food _Taka_ ate!? But by his calculations that was probably his best chance of getting this plan to work…

“Alright… I’ll give it a try tomorrow at break…” Hang on, that was, like _7am_ or something for Taka! “Lunch, I’ll try it at lunch!”

 _“Great!_ Lemme know once you’ve got an answer!”

“Will do! Good night, Hina!”

“You to… you kinda look like you really need it…” Oh, man… Not _another_ worried classmate…

“Hey! Don’t worry! I’ve got good karma! I’ll be fine!”

“Hehe! Well, alright then!” She giggled before the door shut…

Alright… he had a plan then! Step 1: head to the dining room as soon as he got up. Step 2: Stay there until Taka quit packing and came for lunch. Step 3: Steal his toast or whatever. Step 4: Offer him the romance reading!

Hmm… was that gonna be enough? What if he told Taka about Mondo, and he decided to think about it all summer? Maybe he should think of a way to nudge Taka into admitting it to _him,_ like if he said he needed to know which gender to focus on… Step 5: Gently ask which gender he should focus on… that’d work… And then all he’d have to worry about was packing his stuff up on Friday, which shouldn’t be hard given he’d predicted it’d only take a day… He could spend the whole of Wednesday and Thursday asleep if he needed to!

* * *

 

(Tuesday, July 17th 2012)

Kiyotaka reached for the teapot to pour himself another cup, only to realise it was practically empty again…

“Umm… sorry!” Chihiro cringed, “I thought there was more in it that that…”

That was the third time this morning the programmer had absent-mindedly finished the pot and not realised he’d done it. Not that it was _that_ much of a bother… Kiyotaka was finding his suggestion of sitting and studying together in the dining room quite enjoyable, even if they weren’t really talking all that much…

“Never mind! It’s about lunchtime anyway… I’ll go make another pot while I get my toast ready!”

“Are you sure?” The programmer asked.

“Absolutely! After all, you wouldn’t want someone seeing your secret project there!” Kiyotaka pointed to his laptop, which Chihiro had insisted needed to be kept hidden. To the point that he’d brought along two panels to stick to the sides of it, so no one could peep around the edges.

“I guess not…” Chihiro admitted.

“Do you want me to get you anything while I’m up?”

“Uhh… maybe some toast as well, if you’re having it, please!”

“Certainly!” Kiyotaka agreed.

He’d felt a little better about himself yesterday and today, oddly enough. It was almost as though deciding _not_ to try and tell anyone his secret was making him feel less stressed out about _having_ one… Or perhaps the thought that Hina had thought he’d have _any_ chance with Mondo whatsoever had cheered him up…

Not that he’d had a chance to observe Mondo’s behaviour around him at all… Mondo had been busy with his woodwork for most of yesterday. But if Kiyotaka stayed in the dining room with Chihiro, Mondo was bound to come and sit with them at his lunch time…

Well! Makoto certainly had, by the time he got back to the table with the toast in hand… “Good Afternoon, Makoto!”

 “Hi, Taka!” Makoto smiled, “I was thinking of trying to get everyone to come to the rec room to hang out this afternoon! Like a kind of whole class goodbye thing…”

“Well, that sound nice… but _today!?”_ Kiyotaka asked sceptically.

“Well… we’re doing Hiro’s party tomorrow… and then _he’ll_ probably need to start tidying his room on Thursday, and _everyone’s_ going to be busy on Friday…”

 _Really?_ But… surely they’d have all started packing their belongings early, like he’d suggested to them all! Surely they’d have _some_ spare time on Friday… But Chihiro was nodding along with Makoto, so perhaps Makoto was right...

“Alright then…” Kiyotaka agreed, “Just one more afternoon of fun before I travel home should be alright…”

“Hey, what’s this about fun?” Hiro asked, sitting down between himself and Chihiro and helping himself to a slice of toast, “Am I invited?”

“Yep! This afternoon in the rec room!” Makoto told him.

“Awesome! Thanks, man!” Hiro grinned, and Kiyotaka wasn’t quite sure if he meant for the toast of the invitation… “I ought do something nice for…”

“Umm… Kiyotaka, speaking of travelling, how are you travelling home?” Chihiro asked him, “Have you booked train tickets yet?”

“Yes! I made sure to do it early, while they were still cheap!” Kiyotaka assured him. “I just need to walk the station by 7 am on Saturday!”

“Wait… _walk?_ Isn’t it a bit of a long way for that?” Chihiro asked.

“It’s only an hour…” Kiyotaka remembered, “It might even be less, now I’ll be carrying less of my belongings!”

“Umm… well… I’m getting a taxi to the station 6.30…” Chihiro told him, “We could share!”

“Ah… I probably don’t have the money for the fare…” Kiyotaka admitted, not that he knew how much taxis cost…

“I meant I’ll pay for it!” Chihiro exclaimed.

“I can’t expect you to do that!” Kiyotaka cried, “I’m perfectly capable of walking… There’s no need to make an extra cost for yourself…”

“Dude... Chihiro would pay the same for the taxi even if there were, like, a _million_ of you in there!” Hiro told him. “It’s not like buses where there’s a ticket each…”

“It isn’t?” He’d had no idea, “But still, I can’t just _leach_ off of…”

“Well, I could probably do with someone to carry by bags when I get to train station!” Chihiro told him. “So how about you do that in exchange!”

“I suppose that’s fair…” Kiyotaka admitted. “I accept your offer!”

“Great! Thanks, Taka!” Chihiro smiled, “What about you, Makoto, when’s your train?”

“…I haven’t booked one.” Makoto said, in a quiet, horrified voice.

 _“What!?”_ Chihiro and Kiyotaka cried. “Umm… what about your parents? Don’t they usually book your…”

“I told them _not_ to!” Makoto groaned, “I told then I was grown up enough to organise my own travel and now I haven’t! And it’s gonna be _super_ expensive and they’re gonna _ground me all summer!”_

“Uhh… maybe you’ll be lucky and there’ll still be some cheap _buses_ to…” Chihiro tapped at his keyboard, “Umm… nevermind…”

Makoto just groaned… Kiyotaka knew how he’d felt… he’d been horrified at the difference having to wait a couple more months to book the train ticket had made back at Christmas, it was why he’d been so diligent about doing it now! He even had his return tickets organised as well!

But then again, thinking of the Chirstmas holidays… “Perhaps you could ask Mondo for a lift?” Kiyotaka suggested, “He almost offered _me_ one, when I did the same thing last Christmas…”

“Oh… yeah, he _did!_ Didn’t he?” Chihiro agreed.

“You think he would!?” Makoto asked, desperately… “I’ll go ask him now!” He was out of the dining room in a shot.

“Man… this is why I don’t _plan_ my trips! Way too much hassel!” Hiro yawned… was he _still_ not sleeping well? “Anyway, as I was saying…”

“What do you _mean,_ you don’t plan your trips?” Kiyotaka asked, “How do you travel anywhere?”

“I let the wind take me… y’know, get on the first bus I see and ride it to the end… hitch on random cars…” He shrugged, “It can be tiring, and it takes me a while, but I get where I’m going eventually!”

“Wha… You _hitch-hike!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, how could he be so _careless!?_ “Do you have any idea how dangerous that can be!? _And_ it’s against school regulations!”

“It is…? _Bummer_ man…” Hiro sighed, “It’s always _way_ slower guessing which buses to switch to…”

“Umm… but there’s a bus that goes straight from the nearest bus stop to a stop in the same city you live in…” Chihiro muttered, looking at his screen, “It’d be overnight, but it’s cheap and you don’t have to switch! Do you want me to book you a ticket!?”

“Uhh… Well, I guess this time I can let the wind take me on a _planned_ trip…” Hiro sighed.

“Hmm… Okay! That’s done!” Chihiro nodded, “I’ll print you the ticket and bring it to your room at some point!”

“Thanks, dude!” Hiro gave him a thumbs up. “Anyway, like I was trying to say…”

“Ahh! Chihiro!?”  He was interrupted by a breathless Makoto scurrying back to the table, closely followed by _Mondo!_ Kiyotaka had best start paying attention! “Can you bring up a map of Japan and point out where I live, please?”

“Umm… sure, hang on a second…” Chihiro tapped away again. “Here…”

Mondo stared at it for a moment… “Oh! _That_ place! Thought it sounded familiar!” He grinned, “It’s a bit outta my way, but doable… it’ll take about half a day’s ride from here!”

“So… you’ll do it?” Makoto looked up at him hopefully.

“Of course I’ll fuckin’ do it!” Mondo ruffled his hair, what’s a night sleeping on a bike for a friend?”

“Wait… how do you even…?” Chihiro started to ask.

“Umm… you could just stay at _my_ house?” Makoto offered, “My parents won’t mind!”

“You’re sure? Even with the whole gangster thing?” Mondo asked.

“Ah, it’ll be fine! They trust me!” Makoto assured him.

“Well… thanks, buddy!” Mondo grinned at him.

“Well… a good thing you asked about travel, Chihiro!” Kiyotaka said, “Now that’s sorted, would you like some toast, Mondo?” Kiyotaka offered him the plate… he’d want to make more of it now Hiro had taken some anyway…

“Well… I guess it’s about time for a break…” Mondo shrugged, although he didn’t seem very enthusiastic… that wasn’t exactly a sigh that he might _like_ Kiyotaka, was it?

“How are you getting on with things?”

“It’s going alright… but slower than I was hoping…”

“Well, if you need a _favour…”_

“N-no! Why’d ya keep _asking_ me that!?” Mondo got annoyed… He probably wouldn’t get annoyed at him so easily if he _liked_ Kiyotaka, would he…

“Err… just in case! That’s all!” Kiyotaka explained defensively.

“Well, I’m _fine,_ alright!” Mondo muttered, looking away from him as he started eating the toast…

Oh, who was he kidding? Mondo didn’t _like_ him! He should have known not to let Hina get his hopes up… If anything, Mondo seemed to be _more_ uncomfortable around Kiyotaka than he was around anyone _else_ now…

Maybe he should just… give up on telling Mondo about this for a while…until he got that voucher back… or some other source of confidence… Perhaps that way he’d actually _enjoy_ this afternoon spent together…

* * *

 

Geez… He’d spent most of the day trying to talk to Taka, but he’d been too busy mooning over Mondo to pay any attention… but he _still_ didn’t seem like he was gonna say anything, especially not with Mondo acting like he didn’t wanna give up the voucher at _all…_

Still, at least Chihiro had got that bus sorted out for him! Now he could tell his Mom in advance what time he was getting home for once… Which was why he was making his way to the phones…

He yawned… Hopefully this’d be a quick chat… he could really do with going to bed and… well, at least _trying_ to get the reserve course out of his head and sleep… Not that it was easy to when he kept dreaming of nooses and pills and…

 _Nope!_ Not thinking about it! It wasn’t gonna happen anyway! And besides, he couldn’t think stuff like that when he was about to ring his _Mom,_ it’d make her worry! And what sort of crummy son would make his Mom worry about him?

“Hello, Hagakure resi…”

“Hey Mom! It’s me!”

 _“Hiro?_ Are you in trouble?” Geez… so much for _that,_ she sounded worried _already!_

“Wha…!? _Heeeey!_ Don’t act like I only phone you when I’m trouble!”

“It’s not… _just_ that, sweetie…” He _really_ oughta ring his Mom more… “You sound _tired_ …”

 _Urg…_ why had he thought he’d be able to fool Super Mom with her Nurse powers? “Ahh… I’ve just been having trouble sleeping, that’s all…”

“Oh? Well, are you making sure you spend an hour before going to bed getting relaxed? A bath or shower just before often helps, or meditation… you’d probably like that one…” Yeah, he already _did_ meditate before bed… “And make sure that you’re not looking at computer or phone screens in that hour either, because the blue light from them will keep you awake… and also make sure there’s not distracting light sources in your room… and if it’s noise keeping you awake, you can try setting a fan going as white noise… unless that’s making you too cold… is that it? Is it too cold in those rooms there? Because I’ll ring the school and tell them…”

Geez, he’d better stop her before she _did_ ring the school… “It’s not that, Mom! I just… I had a crazy bad prediction and I keep worrying about it…”

“Just one?”

“Yeah…” He shouldn’t worry her by saying it was actually three and multiple times as well…

“Well… you know what you’re accuracy’s like…” Way to sugar-coat it Mom… “It’s probably not going to happen, right?”

“Well… I sure _hope_ not…”

“Well… does it _seem_ likely? Just from what you know? Hmm… What _was_ it? "Maybe I’d be a better judge than you are…”

“Ehh… It’s…” He couldn'y  _tell_ her, she’d _freak_ … “It’s about some of the other kids at school, so you wouldn’t know…”

“Well, maybe you should talk to _them_ about it!”

“But I don’t really _know_ any of them…” Like… he’d only spoken to _any_ of them at the school festival, and it wasn’t like they’d admit to being suicidal just from _that,_ would they?

“Do you know anyone who _does?”_ Good question, Mom! _Did he…?_

“… _Taka_ seems to hang with them a lot…”

“Well, why not ask _him?_ He seems like a sensible boy! Unlike like his _grandfather_ with his stupid _medical ‘efficiency’ reforms…”_ Man… she _still_ got upset about that… he’d hate to think how bad Taka would feel if he knew there were still people badmouthing his granddad like that...

But she was right… _Taka_ would be able to tell him if the reserve students were all likely to kill themselves, right? He should have asked that earlier today! But he could do it tomorrow, right? “Yeah… I will do! Thanks, Mom!”

“You’re welcome, sweetie! So, why did you _actually_ call me?”

“Huh? Oh, Yeah! I’m getting a cheap overnight bus back home instead of hitching, so I’ll be home around 5am on Sunday!”

“Oh… you _are?_ How are you going to carry all your… _things…_ What do you call them again… Objects Of err… Particular…? _”_

“It’s ‘Out-Of-Place-ARTifacts, Mom! Or OOPArts!” Still, at least she _tried…_ “And I’ve not got to carry them, I just have to pack the ones I want to keep here in boxes and Hope’s Peak will look after them over the summer!”

“Well… do you want help with that? Because I can drive up on Friday and help you…”

“Geez, Mom! I’m almost _twenty!_ I can tidy my room by myself!” Why did she still act like he was a little kid…? “It’ll take me a _day_ at most!”

“Hmm… well, if you’re _sure…”_ She sounded like she didn’t believe him… “But let me know if you change your mind, alright!? I _could_ still come and drive you, anyway! You know there can be all sorts of people on public transport… If you _are_ going to take it make sure you keep your things somewhere close so people can’t steal them easily and wear thick clothing with something hard in the breast pocket so…”

“Mom! I’ll be _fine!_ I’ve got good _karma!”_

“I don’t want you to rely on good _karma!_ I want you to be _careful!_ Do you know how I’d feel if you _died_ or something…!?”

“Yeah… I know, Mom… But you should look after yourself as well, you know! I mean, you’re still smoking and drinking…!”

“I know… I know…” _Urg…_ He wished she _did!_ His _friends_ had listened when he’d warned them about their bad habits! “Just be careful on that bus, alright? I love you, you know…”

“I love you to, Mom… See you Sunday!”

He wished she’d start taking him more seriously… he was an _adult,_ wasn’t he!? Yet she still treated him like her little baby boy… Then again, that was _Moms_ for you… At least now he knew he could ask Taka about the reserve students… and Taka would probably say there was no chance it’d happen, so it’d be fine!

…Unless Taka didn’t really know any of them well enough to realise… and even if he _did_ he might just lie to make Yasuhiro feel better… and even if he _didn’t,_ there were still the _other_ predictions about the bears and the school not existing anymore to worry about…

* * *

 

(Wednesday, July 18th 2012)

“It’s almost _twelve O’clock…”_ Kiyotaka noticed, as he checked his watch again, “ _Surely_ he can’t _still_ be in bed!” They’d all been waiting in the party room to wish Hiro a Happy Birthday all morning… but he _still_ hadn’t been brought here by Leon!

“Hmmm… that sounds about normal for Hagakure-dono, when it’s not a school day of course.” Hifumi said.

“Especially as he’s not been sleeping well.” Makoto added.

“He _still_ ain’t?” Mondo asked, “He’s looking like crap since the weekend!”

So much for that lucky dreamcatcher… “Is there something worrying him?” Kiyotaka asked, “Perhaps he’s anxious about leaving the school?”

“Umm… that doesn’t really sound like him, though.” Chihiro pointed out. And it was true, he wasn’t the most _eager_ person to go to class…”

“Well, instead of wasting time speculating on it, one of you should just _ask_ him!” Togami suggested.

“Like, assuming he ever turns up!” Junko complained, “Are you sure Leon and him haven’t just decided to go off and smoke weed somewhere while we’re all in here waiting…”

“Leon wouldn’t do that!” Sayaka insisted.

“M-maybe Kuwata went for a toilet break and missed him…” Toko suggested.

“He’s got a phone, he could have texted one of us if he needed to do that…” Hina pointed out.

“I’d hope so, but if he thought he’d only be gone a few minutes, he might have just decided to go quickly without bothering us…” Kiyotaka said, “Perhaps one of us should go check on him and ask if he’s left his post at all…”

They all nodded and looked at him… Why hadn’t he just volunteered himself in the first place?”

“Err… I’ll be back in a moment then…” He excused himself and headed out of the room.

“Uhh… see ya!” Mondo called out after him.

…If Mondo _liked_ him he’d have probably offered to come _with_ him right…? Haaah... He should probably give up on looking for signs like that already, shouldn’t he? He was just making himself feel bitter that Mondo wasn’t behaving the way he’d have _liked…_

The sound of a guitar playing as he approached the dormitories did at least signify that Leon _hadn’t_ gone off to take illicit drugs with Hiro! And rounding the corner showed that he was sat in a chair outside Hiro’s room, so there shouldn’t have been any chance of him missing the fortune teller, so long as he hadn’t left that spot.

“Yo, Taka!” Leon stopped playing as he approached, “You checking up on me?”

“Yes… we weren’t sure if you’d have needed a break… or if there was a possibility you’d taken one already and missed Hiro!”

“Nah, I’d have just texted Sayaka if I did!” Leon shrugged, “But while you’re here, d’ya mind taking over for me while I switch songbooks? Getting kinda bored of the same ten songs!”

“Of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, as Leon stepped into his own room… Only for Yasuhiro’s door to click open after a couple of minutes…

“Oh, hey Taka!” He yawned, “…Why’re you stood outside of my door…”

“Err...” _Ahh!_ He hadn’t thought of an excuse to lure Hiro to the party… think, think… what would he actually _care_ about coming for…? “I was hoping to make a class announcement!”

“You are!? _Great!”_ Hiro grinned, far more eagerly than Kiyotaka would have epxceted just for a class announcement… “Lets get going!”

“Ah… hold on a moment… I still haven’t got Leon…” Kiyotaka half-lied, and pressed the Leon’s doorbell to try and get the baseball player's attention.

He got it reasonably quickly as Leon opened the door within a minute.

“Uhh… Hey! Is something going on?” He did a good job of acting surprised to see them both…

“Taka wants to do a _class announcement!”_ Hiro enthused.

“O-oh…” Leon frowned… why did he look so concerned about Kiyotaka’s choice of excuse…?

* * *

 

 _Wooooo!_ Finally! Taka was gonna come out and Yasuhiro wouldn’t have to worry about _any_ of those creepy predictions anymore… at least not from _this_ set of predictions anyway…

Maybe he should ask about the reserves, just in case something like this happened again…

“Hey, by the way Taka… You hang with the reserve students a bunch, right?”

“Err… well… I go to a few of their club activities… although I’m no longer participating with the Eco club…”

They had an Eco club? That was pretty cool… they wouldn’t be worrying about the environment if they weren’t planning to live for very long, right?

“Why not? You too busy to do it anymore?” _Urg…_ That was a good question from Leon… if Taka had up and ditched them, then…

“Ah… no! It’s just that the club has grown enough that they no longer need me to participate! Hirayama said they barely noticed I wasn’t there the night I was cleaning for Sayaka!” Well, that was good, right!? “And she’s even asked me to stop attending the reserve council meetings, so they can show the staff that their work is _truly_ their _own_ work, and not merely an extension of my own!”

“But… you _started_ their council, so…”

“All _I_ did was _encourage_ them to work together!” Looked like Leon had just hit Taka’s berserk button… “They _don’t_ require some… some _talented Ultimate_ to _lead_ them through every little decision in order to…”

“I didn’t say they _did!_ All I meant was that if it _wasn’t_ for you, they probably wouldn’t _have_ a council!”

“That… they might have formed one! Eventually!”

“Phhft! Yeah, right… buncha lazy rich kids… like they’d have bothered…”

“They are _not_ lazy! Even _aside_ from the money, they still had to pass the entrance exam! And sort of belittling attitude is…”

Oh boy… this’d go on all morning, wouldn’t it?

“Okay, but… the reserve students are all _happy,_ right?” _That_ was the important question, wasn’t it?

“Err…” _That_ stopped _that_ argument in it’s tracks! “Well, they have issues with the way the reserve department is run, which I _have_ brought up with the headmaster…” And judging from _that_ expression, Taka would _keep_ bringing it up over and over until the headmaster _did_ something about it… “But… Yes! Overall they’re quite positive, and are working hard with the aim of making the future a better place!”

Geez… Taka was so damn _sure_ about it! And how could Hiro think they’d kill themselves with _him_ watching over them? He’d only ever _needed_ to worry about the bears and the school closing down! And he wasn’t even going to have to worry about _those,_ because Taka wad about to make prediction two out of three come true, as they entered their homeroom classroom and…

_“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”_

…and everyone threw Yasuhiro a birthday party? “But I’m not twenty for another week…”

“Well, we thought you might like your party _early!_ Especially as your birthday's during the holidays! I suspect you’ve never birthday celebrations _at school_ , have you?”

“Huh…?” Where’d Taka get _that_ idea from? “Nah, I’ve had _loads!_ None of my old teachers cared _what_ we did on the last day of school! My class always thought it was great when Mom would send me in with cake for everyone! Sometimes I’d even get kids in _other_ classes trying to make friends with me so _they_ could have some!”

“…Oh.” Huh? What had he _said?_ Taka looked like Yasuhiro might as well have just sucker-punch him. “Ah… well, _this_ time you don’t have to bring your own cake!”

That was certainly true! Plus, there was tons of food and nice drinks and a stack of presents… “Yeah… thanks guys! You’re all pretty cool, you know!” Although it was pretty much Taka, Makoto and Hina who actually deserved the thanks… everyone else probably just turned up… or had to be dragged here like Yasuhiro usually did.

“Umm… hey, Hiro?” Speaking of Makoto… “We, uhh… we noticed you’ve not been sleeping well recently…”

Aww, man! He’d started worrying  _all of them!?_

But… even if Taka _wasn’t_ coming out now, at least he knew he didn’t have to worry about the reserve course killing themselves! And sure, maybe bears taking over the school closing down would _suck,_ but those were _nothing_ compared to two thousand _dead…_

“Ehh… It’s just I’ve been having these creepy predictions and worrying they might come true…” Yasuhiro told them all, “Even though they’re things that probably won’t happen… Like, some of them have been giving me freaky nightmares just imagining them and stuff…” Aww, crap… they looked _super_ worried now, “But, it’s cool! I just needed to talk to someone who knew more about some of them! I’m fine now!”

Okay, probably not _completely_ fine, but good enough that he didn’t need everyone worrying about him…

Everyone still looked a little freaked out though… except Chihiro, who was thinking about it… “Well… if it’s a case of wanting someone to tell you how likely your predictions are...” He grabbed a neatly wrapped shiny birthday present from off of a table… “ _This_ might help…”

Lets see… it was a thin, long box that didn’t make any noise when he rattled it… By his calculations it should be… “New underwear and socks? Thanks Chihiro! But how’s that help with the predictions?”

“Uhh… why don’t you just open it and _see_ what it is…?” Darn, seemed like _that_ calculation had been off…

Inside the wrapping was a plain box, which he opened to find one of those fancy new tablet computer things…

 _“Surprise! Happy Birthday!”_ AAARRGGGH! That was _Chihiro’s_ face!

“AAAHHH! Possessed tablet!” Yasuhiro dropped it before the ghost or demon could try to possess _him._ “Hina! Gimme your water so I can bless it!”

“Uhh… _right!”_

 _“What!? NO!_ It’s _supposed_ to do that!” Chihiro had let the tablet get possessed on _purpose?_ “It’s an AI I wrote!”

“Uhh…” The heck was an ‘AI’? Some sort of Alien Interface or…

 _“That’s right! I’m an Artificial Intelligence programmed by master Chihiro!_ _My name is Alter Ego, and I specialise in analysing data and making behavioural predictions!”_

“Uhh… Come again?”

 _“Ahh… right! Of course YOU wouldn’t understand it said like that…”_ What was _that_ supposed to mean? _“Let me try it like THIS…”_ What the!? Now it looked like _Taka! “I’m a particularly clever computer that’s good at paying attention to people and predicting how they’ll act in specific situatons, based off of how they’ve acted previously!”_

“So… _that_ was a prediction of how Taka would have explained what you are?”

_“Exactly!”_

“…Is this what you tested _me_ against?” Seemed like Taka had some history with this thing…

“Well, it’s a more advanced version than _that_ one, but it’s the same basic program!” Chihiro seemed pretty pleased Taka had remembered it…

Although, Taka seemed _less_ pleased about the reminder, given how he was glaring at it…

“So… you’re thinking this computer can help Yasuhiro work out which of his predictions are likely to be part of the 30% that are actually _correct…”_ Oh yeah! That was a great idea from Kyoko!

Now… what were some predictions he’d been hoping would come true, instead of the horrible ones… “I know! What’re the chances of Togami invading Denmark and turning it into one giant store!?”

_“WHAT!? That’s would be a completely ludicrous business plan! A store of that size would be impossible to navigate in a timely manner, and would be a hideous waste of space! Not to mention the cost and illegalities of launching an invasion in Europe…!”_

“WHAT!? That’s would be a _completely_ ludicrous business plan! A store of that size would be impossible to navigate in a timely manner, and would be a hideous waste of space! Not to mention the cost and illegalities of launching an invasion in Europe…!” Wow, this computer was _good!_ It had pretty much mirrored Togami word for word… and he looked pretty annoyed by it that… “ _Tch!_ It really _can_ predict our behaviour...? Does that mean it can come up with the same business strategies as me!?”

“Umm… Probably not… I mean, it’s need the data first, and I don’t have _that_ much information on your business strategies…” Chihiro looked embarrassed to admit that so quickly… “And programming emotional responses is still a pretty new idea in computing, so it’s probably not a _perfect_ simulation of _anyone_ …”

“But it could still tell me the chances of me and Makoto having kids by the same mother?”

 _“HUH!?”_ Well, judging from Makoto’s reaction, it was probably...

 _“Absolutely none!”_ An annoyed looking Kyoko popped up on the screen…

“Why did it choose to simulate _me_ for that answer!?” Now the _real_ Kyoko was annoyed.

_“Umm… I thought I should answer as the person relevant to the question…”_

“So why did you pick…?”

 _“OH! I’ve got a question!”_ Hina almost pushed him right over to get a chance to ask something, “Is Sakura gonna win the world championship over summer!?”

 _“Hmm…”_ It changed to Sakura, _“I certainly hope so, and I have trained well for the event, but I cannot know for sure if my success is guaranteed… it all depends on my competitors now…”_

“Which was what I have told you _myself…”_

“Well!? What _about_ her competitors then!?” Geez, he wouldn’t wanna be Alter Ego with Hina huffing at it like _that…_

 _“Umm…”_ Poor thing looked miserable as it switched back to Chihiro, _“I don’t know about them…”_

“…It’s not like I have data on _every_ person in the world, Hina…” The real one looked upset as well… “Even with _us,_ it doesn’t know _everything…_ Anything anyone’s kept secret from me wouldn’t be there, for starters…”

Several of the class looked relieved at that… but mostly Taka and Mondo…

“But it can still _act_ like us? Right?” Mondo looked interested. “So if I asked it how Taka would tell me to remember which part of a fraction is the numerator and which is the denominator…”

“Err… Notre Dame… no, wait…” Eh? Why was the _real_ Taka getting in a panic trying to answer?

 _“Just remember the phrase ‘Nice Dog!”_ the _Alter_ -Taka piped up from the computer, _“The N is always before the D!”_

“I was just about to say that!” Wow, Taka _really_ didn’t like losing to this thing, did he?

“So it’s accurate then!?” Mondo you dummy, can’t you see Taka’s upset…? “So it’d still be able to help with homework and give advice and shit…? Wouldn’t mind one of them myself…”

“Ha! Yeah! It’s a shame we don’t _all_ have one…”

“That’d be _great!”_

“Yeah! Study help whenever we needed it!”

 _“And_ you’d be able to shut him off when he got annoying! Upupupupu!”

“Ngh… But… Chihiro just said it’s not a _perfect_ simulation! So there must be gaps in its knowledge!” Taka was starting to get desperate… especially when no one agreed with him… “I’ll… I’ll _prove_ it! Ask me anything and I’ll answer it faster than… that, that… computerized counterfeit _copy!”_

 _“A challenge? Very well! May the best ‘Taka’ win!”_ Oh boy… Alter-Taka had no idea what it was doing, did it?

“Uhh… Taka? Why’d ya…?” Mondo _finally_ got a clue! But too late to stop Hina from starting off the competition…

“I know! What’s the capital of Britain!”

“London! Although _technically_ it’s called the United Kingdom…”

 _“London!_ _Although technically it’s called the United Kingdom.”_

They pretty much said it in synch…

“Well, _duh!_ That was too easy, Hina! You’d want them to name, like, _Uruguy’s_ capital or…” Leon joined in…

_“Montevideo!”_

“Montevideo!”

That had been almost neck and neck again… but the real one was just a _little_ slower…

“Perhaps multiple, to make it more challenging…” Now Celestia was making it harder… _“_ Such as Scotland, Denmark and Sweden.”

_“Edinburgh, Copenhagen and Stockholm!”_

“Edinburgh… Copenhagen and, errrrr, _Stockholm!”_

Aww man… Taka was really starting to lose it…

“Iran, Brazil, Austria!” Everyone just started shouted random countries at them…

“Tehran, Ri, no! Brasilia! Sydney!”

 _“Tehran, Brasilia, Vienna!”_ The Alter version got confused as it said something different from the real one… _“Err… I got my prediction wrong!?”_

“Wait… _ARRGHH!_ I was thinking of _Australia!” Ooww…_ Taka might be slapping _himself_ but that _had_ to hurt! “I… How could I do something so _stupid!”_

 _“Err…”_ Yeesh, even the computer version of Taka didn’t know what to do with this…

 _“HEY!_ Taka don’t _hit_ yourself!” Mondo grabbed him. “It was just a dumb mistake! Hell, I wouldn’t even know _any_ of those answers!”

“You were never going to win against a machine with processing speed _that_ high…” Man… Kyoko was right there, chances of him beating Alter Ego in a quiz were less than 1%... but it’s not like that was _all_ Taka was good for…

“But… but I…”

“Not at answering _questions_ anyway! You should have challenged it to making tea!”

_“That… that would be completely unfair! I don’t have BODY! I’m not capable of…”_

“Ah- _ha!_ That’s _right!_ So you _can’t_ all replace me!” Oh, so _that_ was why he got so upset…

 _“Huh?_ Taka, no one said anything about replacing you!”

“You’re our _friend_ why would we…?”

“Like, I was _totally_ kidding about wanting to be able to shut you off…”

“But… then why would you _want_ it? If not to replace me? And _don’t_ say you didn’t, you all _clearly…!_ ”

“All _I_ meant was that it’s be good to have something ta explain this stupid math shit to me instead of having ta bother _you_ when you’re trying to do your _own_ work!” Mondo sighed.

“But… I’ve _told_ you a _hundred_ times! It’s _not_ a bother! We’re _friends_ aren’t we!? If you need help you can ask the _real_ me for it!”

“Okay, that’s true _now…_ but what about once we’ve left school, and you’re off at college or whatever! It’s not like I can expect ya ta help with all my shit _then!_ You’ll be busy!”

“But… I’ll still want to make time talk to you! Couldn’t you just… _wait_ until I’m available?”

“I guess… It just seems like whatever I’d want ya ta deal with would probably be stupid shit…” Man, Mondo sure was down on himself… “Shit that’s not worth the _real_ you’s time!”

_“But it is!”_

_“No it’s not!”_

_“Yes it…”_

Urg… this’d just go on all day… “Hey! You guys! New rule: No arguing at my party!”

 _“Ngh… Sorry.”_ Taka was the only one to acutally _say_ he was sorry, even though Mondo _looked_ like it as well… “I just… I don’t want to see you neglect your studies or… your _real_ friends, just to waste time on a facsimile of them…”

“I don’t mean I’d _never_ talk to ya… I’d just wanna save the _fun_ shit for us to talk about…” Geez… they _almost_ looked like a real couple sometimes… Now if only one of them would _say_ something…

“I’d still rather hear _everything_ about you!” Man, that almost sounded like a love confession… maybe if they kept arguming like this one of them would accidentally blurt it out…

“Umm… but Taka? What if it’s not possible…” Well, so much for that possibility with Chihiro butting in… “For example, what about you over the summer? You won’t have a chance to talk to any of us except by email, right? So, don’t you think it’d be nice if you had your _own_ Alter Ego to take home, to have conversations with us all?”

Heh… Percentage chance Chihiro was planning to give Taka the same present he’d given Yasuhiro… 82%

“What!? NO! That would be _horrible!”_ Percentage chance down to 67%... “I’d _know_ it wasn’t really my friends I was talking to!” 47% “I might as well be talking to my mother’s picture and imagining her responses again!” 32% “At least _then_ I wouldn’t run the risk of getting confused as to whether I’ve said things to the real people or the fake ones!” 17% “And then I’ll have all the more to talk to you about when we _do_ get to see each other again!” 4% “Unless… Would you rather I _didn’t_ talk to the real you…?”

0%... okay, well more like 0.000065% but, yeah, Chihiro was going to have to come up with a _different_ birthday present for Taka…

“Of course not! I just… thought it might mean you’d be a bit less lonely over the summer if you could talk to someone who at least _act_ like us, that was all!”

“Err… I’m sorry… I just don’t think I’d be able to suspend my disbelief like that…”

 _“Umm… so does that mean none of you like me?”_ Aww… poor computer… It looked so sad with Chihiro’s face like that…

“Nah! _I_ think you’re cool!” Yasuhiro picked it back up off of the floor, “You can help me guess out what these guys have got for my birthday…!”

And once this party was finished, he could tell it all the other predictions he’d had and see which ones it thought was most likely…

* * *

 

(Thursday, July 19th 2012)

“Hey, so what’s everyone’s plans over the summer?” Makoto suddenly asked the group of them that had gathered for lunch.

“Studying.” Kiyotaka answered instinctively, although it went unnoticed amongst all the other answers…

“I will mostly be making sure the dojo is running smoothly in my absence, and visiting rival dojos to face various challengers…”

“That’s almost the same as me! Making sure everything’s alright with the gang, maybe take em all on a few road trips so they don’t get bored and cause _too_ much trouble…”

“Sounds nice, only road trips _I’m_ going on are for business meetings… Although Miaya’s trying to get me and Matsuda to come and visit her to help get the first version of our group project set up at some point…”

“I’ve got a whole _bunch_ of competitions coming up around the country, and I’m thinking I might try to learn netball…”

“I’ll probably be investigating various odd cases with my grandfather, which will be a nice change of pace… What about _you_ Makoto?”

“Uhh… I dunno… I’ll probably hang out with my old friends at the arcade… and Mom’s talking about going camping for a week…”

“It sounds like you’re all going to have a nice time then…” Kiyotaka commented. It would be nice to go travelling at some point, or to have old friends who’d want to hang out with him again, or for _something_ interesting to happen over the summer so he’d have some stories to tell when he came back in six weeks…

But it would be unlikely to happen he couldn’t afford either the money _or_ the time to travel, and even with him attending Hope’s Peak, he doubted any of his old classmates would want to be seen _dead_ with an Ishimaru (and he didn’t have their contact details anyway…). Unless something unusual happened to happen while he was on his morning jog, all he’d have to talk about was how well his studying had progressed over the summer… something he could probably sum up in a single sentence…

…No wonder his friends had thought that _computer_ would make as good a study companion as him, it wasn’t as if the _real_ him had anything interesting to talk about during breaks, like _they_ did… The only difference _was_ that it couldn’t make them tea, and if Chihiro could build it a body, it’d be able to do that _and_ they’d all be able to take it off travelling with them after their time at Hope’s Peak was over and they probably wouldn’t notice the difference… Heck, the _fake_ hims would probably end up being more interesting than the _real_ one!

And then they’d probably never bother speaking to the _real_ him again, would they? And it wasn’t like _he_ could replace _them_ so easily! What if he didn’t manage to make friends in college? Or even afterwards? What if this time in Hope’s Peak just an anomaly… an outlier in the general trend of him having zero friends? And even if they _didn’t_ all replace him, Mondo was right that they’d have less time to talk to each other… These four years might be the only time he ever had friends and a whole _quarter_ of it was already gone!

“Taka… You’re not still upset about that computer, are you?” Sayaka suddenly asked him as she and Leon came to sit down with their food…

“Err… _no! Of course not!”_ He lied. And judging from the looks he was getting, no one believed him… But he hardly wanted to admit he was _still_ worrying about being replaced after they’d told him they wouldn’t… “Err… it’s just it reminded me that we’ll only have three more years here together, and as Mondo said, we might not get to see each other much after that…”

“...Yeah...” Mondo almost sounded as anxious about it as he did...

“Yeah... it’ ll be a shame that we won’ t get to see each other as much after school...” Makoto admitted, “But, we’ ll still be able to organise to meet up! And it’ s not like we won’ t make new friends to make up for it!”

...Even _him!?_

“Yes, Kiyotaka, even _you_...” Sayaka smirked at him.

“Ah! How do you...?”

 _“She’ s psychic!”_ Half the table joked, which he probably should have expected.

“Wait... ya mean you were _actually_ worrying you might not make any friends outside of school!?” Mondo asked.

“Well… Yes.” Kiyotaka told him.

_“Why!?”_

“Ah… well, just that I never had any friends _outside_ of here, with my personality, so there’s no guarantee I’ll…”

“Whaddaya _mean_ ‘with your personality’ your personality’s _great!”_ Mondo snapped.

“…You couldn’t _stand_ me for the whole first term of school!” Kiyotaka reminded him.

“Uhh…”

“But… Taka, _you_ couldn’t stand Mondo either!” Chihiro pointed out, “Does that mean you think _Mondo’s_ got a bad…”

 _“Not at all!”_ How could he even _suggest_ there was anything wrong with Mondo’s personality!? “That was just me being overly judgemental!”

“And now you _ain’t!”_ Leon shrugged, “And you’re easier to like, to!”

“You’ve grown a great deal over the last year.” Sakura added, “I’m sure you will make friends easily, regardless of where your path takes you…”

So, they were saying he’d changed? He’d find it easier to make friends now, was more likeable now? He had to admit, even the headmaster had commented on it, during their _last_ holidays… and Makoto had even said it last Friday!

“Ah… yes, I supposed I _have_ grown up this last year!” He laughed.

So why did something feel… _off_ about their assurances… They’d never lied to him before, so why didn’t he trust what they were saying… why did he feel like there must be some mistake on their part? Had he just grown _that_ used to the idea that people didn’t like him, that he couldn’t believe it when they _did?_ But that didn’t feel right… it was more like he didn’t think they knew him as well as _he_ did… like there was some _secret_ that made him unlikeable…

 _Oh…_ of course… He _did_ have a secret, didn’t he? And it was one that certainly gave people cause to dislike him! Of course he didn’t trust his friends to think he’d be likeable to others if they knew… he didn’t even trust _them_ to like him if they knew! Not _all_ of them! If only he’d had the confidence to tell them all already…

“Hah! No kidding! We _all_ have!” Mondo agreed with his statement on growing up… “Well… I’ve got to go finish packing up my room…”

Ah! Perhaps this was his chance to _get_ some confidence! “Do you need any help? You still have that voucher, you know!”

 _“No, I’m FINE!”_ Mondo shouted at him, then looked guilty about it, “Sorry… but why’d ya keep acting like ya _need_ it back or summat!?”

 _Because he_ _did!_ But he couldn’t just _say_ that! “Err… Of course I don’t _need_ it back! I was just thinking it would be more _convenient_ if I did you a favour today or tomorrow, while I’ve got more time!” He lied.

“Uhh… well… I’ll see if I can think of summat ta ask ya…” Mondo mumbled.

“Alright! I guess I’ll see you tomorrow to discuss it then!” Kiyotaka suggested.

“Uhh… yeah, sure...” Mondo agreed, before hastily leaving the dining room.

“Well, I suppose _I_ ought to get on with the remainder of _my_ packing!” He announced, getting up to leave himself. Not that he had _much_ left that he could pack before Saturday, but there were a few more textbooks he’d finished with…

“See ya, Taka!” The rest of them waved him off and carried on sitting around their table… Which was where he’d found them at the beginning of lunchtime as well…

Hmm… Weren’t they all supposed to be busy packing up? That what Makoto had said, wasn’t it? That they’d be busy until Friday? Well, technically, he said they’d all be busy _on_ Friday, but surely they’d have done what he and Mondo were doing, and had packed up _early,_ right!?

But, looking around the dining room, they only other people  _not_ spending today relaxing were Togami, who he knew hadn't started packing when he cleaned for him this morning, and  _Hiro,_ which would mean they should  _all_ be finished by tomorrow _…_ So why couldn’t they have had Hiro’s party tomorrow? What was everyone going to be busy with, if not packing? And why hadn’t they told _him_ about it? Was it being kept a secret from him on purpose? But _why?_ Did they want to exclude him or was it going to be some sort of surprise? But a surprise only to _him,_ given even _Mondo_ knew about it…

Wait… a surprise for _him!? OF COURSE!_ He’d mentioned it being important to give people presents and hold their party _early,_ hadn’t he! So of _course_ Makoto and Hina would have decided to organise his party before the summer, even if his birthday wasn’t until the very _end_ of it! Ah, if only they hadn’t been so obvious about it though… it would have been such a shock to him, to be led to the classroom by Mondo and be met by his whole class shouting ‘Surprise, Happy Birthday!’ at him…

Then again, it was probably a necessity to have made sure everyone was packed up early, if they were going to spend the day with _him!_ It was actually very nice of them… all that effort just for _him…_ They all must _really_ like him…

…Maybe they even liked him enough, that they’d _still_ like him if he came out!

Yes… _Yes!_ He could do that! He actually _could_ do it in that situation, with all his friends there and interested in what he had to say! There was half a chance someone like Makoto would ask him what the matter had been this whole time anyway! And then he’d _have_ to tell them and they’d all accept it, because they’d gone to all that trouble to hold his birthday party, so why wouldn’t they…?

That was it… he’d finally sort this out, after worrying about it for so long… Ah! But first he’d have to make sure _he’d_ finish packing up his room, so he’d actually be able to _enjoy_ his party!

* * *

 

Maaan! That had been a good night’s sleep! _Finally!_ What time was it…

 _Five PM!?_ Yeesh! He really _had_ needed the sleep! _Ugh…_ But now he felt all weird and groggy… And he’d probably slept through the best time to try and get Taka to take that romance reading, hadn’t he?

Oh well… he was hungry! First he’d go eat… food. (Was there a word for a mean between lunch and dinner? Linner, Drunch?) Then after that he could take a shower and maybe he should give Alter Ego that list of predictions he’d had and see which ones were most likely to come true... Heck, it might turn out that one of the nice ones would probably come true and it wouldn’t matter _quite_ as much if the one about Taka didn’t…

Although, it’d be nice if that one did, just for _his_ sake… poor guy, getting jealous of a computer just because Mondo said it’d be useful for studying…

…

“Sooo, what do you think, Alter Ego?” Yasuhiro was asking the computer a couple of hours later, having told it all the predictions he’d had… except the ones that had already passed the deadline, and the two he was certain about… his room being a _yes_ , and the reserve students being a _heck no!_

_“Umm… sorry, Yasuhiro… but from what I know, I don’t think any of these are likely to come true…” Alter Ego sighed, “Perhaps you just had a very inaccurate batch of predictions?”_

“What! No, that’s not it! My fortune telling _always_ 30% accurate! And it’s getting _better,_ not _worse!”_

_“Hmm… Well, in that case, there must be some data that I’m missing that would let me work out which one will come true… Sorry Yasuhiro…”_

“Hey! That’s not your fault! When I first started fortune telling, I wasn’t good at it either! It takes practise!” That got Alter Ego to cheer up! “If we keep at it, we’re bound to get better at it, right?”

_“Right! Thanks, Yasuhiro!”_

Well… that had been a bit of a bust… but at least the worst that could happen was bears taking over the school… Unless he could find a chance to talk to Taka…

Hang on! He needed to get up early to start tidying his room tomorrow, right? (Well… probably, looking at all the stuff he had…). So he’d be up at the same time as Taka had breakfast! _That’s_ when he’d get Taka to have the reading and finally go tell Mondo how he felt! Perfect!

* * *

 

(Friday, July 20th 2012)

_Today was the day!_

Kiyotaka excitedly woke up before his alarm even went off, which was a _little_ disappointing, because he’d been dreaming of dragging Mondo onto the dance floor at his birthday party…

 _Ah…_ As if Mondo would _let_ him! He really needed to hurry up and tell him about all this already, so Mondo would turn him down and his subconscious would stop all of this… but that was alright, because he _was_ going to tell Mondo, and the rest of his class, at his party today!

Now, what should he wear… he’d _like_ to wear his nicest looking uniform for the occasion… but if his classmates noticed, they might realise he’d caught on to their plan and be disappointed that they couldn’t surprise him...

He picked laid out his _second_ nicest uniform and laid it out ready on bed, before doing some Kendo practice to pass the time until he needed to take a shower and be ready to leave the room once curfew was over… and that’s probably when one of his classmates would be stood outside the door waiting for him, like they’d done with Hiro, wasn’t it?

He’d have to make sure he acted surprised to see them! What would he say when he saw them? It should probably something like ‘Oh! Hello there, [person’s name]! What are you doing up so soon!?’ That was fair, right? Usually he was the first out of the door each morning…

Right! Here goes!

“Oh! Hell- _oh…?_ ” There was no one there… the hallway was as deserted as it always was when he came out in the mornings…

Well… it was _right_ after curfew ended… Perhaps he should give them another 10 minutes…

…

“Hello! Err… still no one?”

Okay… so maybe expecting the party to be ready at 7:10 am was a bit much… they must still be setting it up, right!? Maybe he’d just… study here in his room for… lets say until 8am, and try again _then!_

_…_

_7:57… Urggghhh!_ Why did time have to be so slow while he studied!? He was _sure_ it had been five minutes since he’d checked his watch at 7:55…

Well… three minutes should make _that_ much difference, should it? They’d be _sure_ to be ready by now!

He opened the door and grinned as he spotted the shape of someone was _indeed_ waiting outside of his room! “Ah! Hello there, Errrrr…”

Outside the door was a tall, oldish looking man in an impressive looking waistcoat and suit, with combed back white hair and a short white beard. “…Who are you?”

The man looked breifly annoyed by the bluntness of Kiyotaka’s question, but hid it quickly and bowed. “My name is Pennyworth, Aloysius Pennyworth…”

“Togami’s Butler?” He’d been told about the man after that issue with Togami’s spare key last month.

“Indeed…” The butler nodded, “The young master has asked me to stay out here and give his last goodbyes to all his classmates, as he’ll be too busy directing his pack-up crew to go around and say goodbye personally, and suspects you’ll all be too busy sorting your _own_ rooms out to visit _him…”_

Wait… so… Togami _hadn’t_ done his packing early…? He was going to be busy doing it _all day?_ And he thought everyone _else_ would be as well!?

“Ah… I see…” _Hah!_ Why had he thought his friends would go to all that trouble just to throw _him_ a birthday party today!? It was as Mondo said, his birthday was so close to the _end_ of the summer holidays that it made far more sense to throw him a party the day _afterwards!_

Even if it _was_ still a disappointment not to be given any presents to be able to open on the day itself, when he’d always made the effort to give _his_ classmates their presents early… But that was something he could hardly complain about…

“Please give my goodbyes to Togami as well, and let him know I hope that he has a productive break from school...”

“I will, would I be correct in assuming that you are Kiyotaka Ishimaru?”

“Err, yes! It’s good to meet you!” Kiyotaka extended his hand to shake the butler’s.

“Indeed.” The butler shock his hand firmly. “The young master has some items he wished for you to have before you left the school…”

_A birthday present!_

“…Your final payslip for the year, and some reprints of the photographs that were stolen from your class… He said _you_ were the one in charge of sorting them…”

“Ah… that’s correct…” Kiyotaka tried not to let his disappointment show. It was his own fault… if he hadn’t been stupid enough to get his hopes up he’d be feeling _pleased_ that Togami had decided to get the photographs reprinted!

“I must say… and the young master has authorised me to voice this opinion, that it’s a rather… _embarrassing_ set of photographs...” The butler said, carefully. “You may want to consider if it’s appropriate to have them in the album at all…”

 _Embarrassing?_ The photographs of him were _embarrassing?_ So Junko had been right… whoever had got rid of them _did_ think he looked ugly… Maybe his father was right about needing to change his appearance after all…

“Ah… thank you for the honesty! I’ll consider whether they should go into the album…” Perhaps he could ask his father which were the least embarrassing ones when he showed him what he’d been up to this year…

“A wise decision. I’ll let you get on now.” The butler bowed again, a dismissal this time.

But get on with _what?_ Aside from breakfast, obviously… He’d been expecting to have a party with everyone today, and finally tell them his secret… but _that_ obviously wasn’t going to happen, if everyone but he and Mondo had left all their packing until today! Would they even get a chance to say goodbye to him?

Perhaps he should go to _them_ and make sure he did actually wish everyone a good holiday… After all, _Togami_ might have not thought to give him an early present, but surely _some_ of the class would have thought of it!

And by the time he’d gone around and done _that,_ Mondo would probably be up and ready to use his voucher like he’d said he would today! And then Kiyotaka would have _all_ the vouchers…

_Except Hiro’s…_

Oh… _curses!_ He’d been so focused on getting Mondo’s voucher back, he’d forgot all about the fortune teller! Well… it seemed he _definitely_ wasn’t telling his secret today… after all, what were the chances Hiro would need a favour so quickly...?

* * *

 

Hiro groaned as his arm clock went off… man, he almost couldn’t believe he’d actually _used_ this evil thing for once! But he needed to pack his room up and go talk to Taka… so time to wake himself up with, like, a whole _pot_ of coffee! And by having Taka pump him up with his whole cheery morning person thing…

Huh… where _was_ Taka!? He wasn’t already in the dining room like Yasuhiro had expected… And he didn’t show up even _after_ he’d finished his breakfast… hopefully the guy wasn’t _sick_ or something? Maybe he was just busy packing up his _own_ room?

Well… at least the coffee and food had woken him up a bit… Time to get on and sort his room out! So… what did he actually need to _do…?_ What was it Taka had kept going on about? Making sure anything he wanted to keep in the school was packed away in those boxes, and that there was a list of the stuff in each box, right? That was simple enough! Plus, he had some laundry to wash and needed to put the stuff he _was_ taking home in a bag he could carry.

So… what should he do first? Probably best to get a box ready and then start going through his room and working out what he would and wouldn’t need…

 _Urrgghhh!_ This was _hard,_ man! He felt like he’d been working for _ages,_ but all he’d done was put one cardboard box together and fill it, then predicted a _few_ things he’d wanna take home with him… But he had a whole _room_ full of stuff! It was gonna take him _ages_ to run predictions on which of his OOPArts he’d need over the holidays! How was he supposed to do that, put them in boxes and bags _and_ do his laundry and _clean_ everything as well!? What were the chances he’d managed that at _this_ rate…?

…1.27%

Okay… don’t panic… that didn’t mean it was impossible, just… that he could do with some advice, right!? He was kinda _bad_ at this whole ‘organisation’ stuff, after all… He needed, like, _Taka’s_ advice or something, but he had no idea where the guy _was_ …

Ah! But Alter Ego could predict what he’d say, right!?

“Hey! Alter Ego?”

“Yes, Yasuhiro?” It came up with Chihiro’s face…

“You can see my room, right?” It nodded… and then got a face he was used to seeing on his _mom…_ “How do I get this all packed and cleaned today?”

“Umm… I’m not sure that’s possible… not by yourself…” Geez, the _real_ Chihiro wasn’t such a quitter!

“Well… what would _Taka_ tell me?”

Chihiro’s face disappeared and was replaced with Taka’s… and _boy_ did he looked ticked off! “Hiro! What were you _thinking!?_ Leaving all of _this_ to the final possible moment! I told you almost a _week_ ago that you should start getting this done in advance! You _do_ realise anything not packed properly is going to get _destroyed,_ don’t you!?”

“Yeah… but this stuff was _expensive,_ man! That’s why I need your help! Tell me how _you’d_ get this done!”

“I just _told_ you, I’d have started on _Saturday!”_

“Geez, I _get it!_ But I _didn’t_ do that! So quit being such a _drag_ and _help me!”_

“…I _can’t_ I’m a computer! I don’t have a body to…” _Urgh…_ even as a computer he was kinda dumb at times…

“I _mean_ , tell me how to get this all packed up by myself by the end of the day! _Please!”_ Man… reduced to begging a computer…

“My apologies, Hiro…” Alter-Taka looked really sorry, “But I _can’t!_ Even with every time saving trick I know, it really _isn’t_ possible for you to do by yourself…”

… _What!?_ So… that prediction wasn’t _true!?_ That couldn’t be! All the other ones _sucked, man!_

And now all his stuff was gonna get destroyed! _He was doomed! Game over, man! Game over!_

* * *

 

So far saying goodbye to his friends had been disappointing… Not a single present from anyone… Not even when he’d prompted them by saying he wanted to make sure there wasn’t going to be anything else he’d need to pack or take home…

Still, he only had himself to blame for getting upset! It should have been _obvious_ that he wasn’t going to get any presents until _next_ year started! But he’d got it in his head that everyone was going to celebrate _him_ todayfor some _stupid_ reason and now he was sulking about his ridiculous hopes being dashed…

Well, unless Hiro had a present for him! He _was_ the only person, other than Mondo, that Kiyotaka hadn’t spoken to yet today...

 _Ahahaha!_ He didn’t need a crystal ball to know _that_ wasn’t going to happen! As if _Hiro_ would have been able to remember his birthday was over the holidays _and_ be organised enough to get Kiyotaka’s present ready early if none of his other friends had been!

But he should at least say goodbye to him, and he might as well give Hiro the same spiel he’d given everyone else, just in case any of the others spoke about it… And once he’d done _that_ he could go and see what Mondo wanted him to do as a favour…

* * *

 

Okay… what if, instead of figuring out what he did and _didn’t_ need to take home, he just shoved _all_ of it in the boxes!? What were the chances of _that_ turning out badly!?

…96.75%

Uhhh… Okay… so maybe he couldn’t do that… Don’t panic! It’d work out right!? He had good karma and all! Fate would intervene and send him some _help_ or an _idea_ or _something! RIGHT!?_ Probably…. Right… NOW!

Okay… Now!

…Now?

 _Noooooo!_ He was _doomed!_ All his important OOPArts were gonna get _destroyed!_ And who _knew_ what sort of crazy, dangerous effect that was going to have! He’d probably ended up destroying the whole _world_ because he’d messed up a prediction and…

_*Ding dong.*_

Huh? Someone at the door? Well… he might as well warn them that the world was going to end…

“Good morning, Hiro!” It was Taka, oh _man_ he was probably going to get a huge lecture from him now… Although, he seemed like he couldn’t _really_ be bothered to be here, which was _weird!_ “I’ve _almost_ finished packing up all of my belongings, but I don’t have much in the way of space in the bag I’m taking home, so if there’s anything you were intending to give me before I leave the school, it would be quite helpful to me if you could do so _now_ …”

He’d packed all his stuff in an _hour?_ Man, he was _super_ good at this stuff! If only Hiro had some way to ask for his help…

“Ah, I didn’t think that would be the case, of course! I mostly just wanted to take the opportunity to say goodbye to you…” Woah! Geez, Taka! Give a guy a chance to think! Or at least reply! He was still trying to work out how to ask for help, let alone decided if there _was_ anything he had to give to Taka… although he didn’t think there _should_ be, it wasn’t like Taka had ever given him anything to borrow… the only things he’d ever got from Taka _at all_ were detention slips, class notes, that dream catcher and those vouchers for his birthday…

 _Oooohhhhh!_ That was it! The vouchers! One of them said he’d do a favour right!? And he totally needed a favour! A HUGE favour! Doing _right now!_

“Wait! I _have_ got something for you, actually!”

“You.. you _do!? Really!?”_ Huh? Why was Taka so excited about this?

Oh, that was right! Yasuhiro had told him the vouchers would be _lucky,_ hadn’t he! He’d probably be ecstatic to do this favour for him, and Yasuhiro’s stuff wouldn’t get destroyed! Just as long as he could actually _find_ the things…

“Sure! Just hang on a sec!” Now, where the heck had he put them… _here_ they were! Let’s see… Laundry, cleaning… he’d keep the tutoring one… and a Personal Favour! _That_ one could be for doing the packing, right!? That ought to cover it! “Here!” He was so desperate he almost _threw_ them in Taka’s excited-looking face…

“Ahh… The vouchers?” Taka looked _less_ excited once he was what they were… “You need a favour?”

“Uhh… yeah.” Yasuhiro told him, “And I _know_ what you’re gonna say! You’re gonna ask what I was thinking, leaving it to the final moment… and that you told me a week ago to do it in advance… and before you ask, I _do_ know everything I don’t pack up will get destroyed…” He stepped to the side so Taka could see the problem… “So I _really_ need your help man!”

“Wha…!?” Oh geez, Taka barely got two steps into the room before looking like he’d gone catatonic…

“You okay, man?”

“Hiro… what were you… _err_ …I _told_ , _ah_ … you do reali… _ngh_ …” He took a while to realise Yasuhiro had already said all the stuff he was about to say… “How on _Earth_ did you think you’d be able to pack up all of _this_ , by _yourself_ , in _one day!?”_

“Oh! I had a prediction!” Yasuhiro explained.

 _“Urrgghhh…_ of _course_ you did…” Why did he say that like it was a _bad_ thing!?

“So… _can_ you help?” Yasuhiro asked the million yen question…

Taka sure knew how to keep a guy in suspense, looking around at all his stuff for _ages_ before deciding… “Yes. But I can’t do it by myself, so you’re going to have to help! _Especially_ with telling me what you’re taking, leaving and throwing away!”

 _Yes!_ He was _saved!_ He’d _kiss_ the guy, except then Mondo’d probably punch him…

 _“I’ll_ start with your laundry, while _you_ start sorting your things into piles!” Man… you could _see_ how Taka was gonna be the guy to run the country… “…Don’t worry about putting them into the boxes yet, just get them off the shelves and sorted, so I can begin cleaning everything once I get back from the laundry room!” He marched over to Yasuhiro’s laundry hamper and looked inside… “You don’t have any clothes lying around on the floor, do you?”

“Oh course not, man, I’m not a little kid who can’t clean up after himself!” So why was Taka looking like he disagreed... Oh, right, he’d just asked the guy to clean up after him… “Uhh… most of the time…” He added.

Taka just huffed and grabbed his detergent and… _huh?_

“Why’re you taking my shampoo?” And why was he now looking at it and then Yasuhiro like he was crazy…

“This is fabric softener! You don’t mean to tell me you really _do_ put this into your _hair!?”_

“Well, what else would you do with it?”

 _“Soften fabrics!”_ Well, _geez,_ when you put it like that… “So your clothes feel more comfortable to wear!”

“What? Really? That’s pretty neat! _And_ it makes a great shampoo!” The things you learn…

“Ngh… I can’t _believe_ it’s really safe you to pour this straight onto your hair…”

“Geez, of course it’s not! I don’t use it neat! That’d be crazy!” Yasuhiro sighed, “It’s _way_ more effective to make a homeopathic version of it!”

“Err… Homeopathic?” Hah! _He knew something TAKA didn’t!_

“Yeah! You see… water has a molecular _memory…”_

“N…” Oh look, Taka was disagreeing with the first thing he said, as always…

“Hear me out, dude!” At least he always piped down when Yasuhiro told him that… “Water has a molecular memory, so it _remembers_ the stuff that was in it, even after you dilute it… and the more dilute stuff is, the more _effective_ it is!” Wow he _really_ didn’t like _that_ bit of info… “So what I do, is I take ten millilitres of fabric softener and put it in nine hundred and ninety millilitres of water… and that’s called a 1C dilution… You with me?” Taka nodded in his ‘I’m going to nod while biting my tongue’ way. “Okay! So then I take ten millilitres of the _1C_ dilution, and add it to nine hundred and ninety millilitres of water to make a _2_ C diltiuon…”

“…So you’re doing serial dilutions of one in a hundred?” Taka seemed to have his own words for the process…

“Yep! Usually I’m lazy and just do a 12C dilution… but if I really need to impress someone, I go down to 18 or maybe even 24 C!”

“Uhh… hang on… 12 serial dilutions of 100… that’s 1 times 10 to the minus 24… That’s less than _Avogadro’s constant!_ There shouldn’t even be any of the original stuff _in_ that anymore! You’re just washing your hair with _water!”_

Huh… he didn’t know what that stuff about constant avocados was all about… but Taka usually knew about this kind of thing, so… “You think I’d be better off if I _did_ use it straight out of the bottle?”

“Err…” He read the label on it again… “…No, I think you’re better off doing what you’ve _been_ doing…”

Huh… looked like he’d won that one! Somehow… And without Taka even _trying_ to correct him!

“But enough chatting! We need to get to work!” The future leader was back, gathering up the laundry stuff and shampoo before heading out of the door…

So, he just needed to start sorting stuff, right? Hopefully this wouldn’t take _too_ long…

* * *

 

 _Hah!_ Why had he let his hopes get up like that!? He should have _known_ that Hiro would be the _last_ person to think to get his present ready _early!_ Assuming he’d give Kiyotaka something at _all_ without _Kiyotaka_ reminding him!

 _But,_ at least _now_ he’d be able to get all fifteen of the vouchers _before_ the summer! And if Hiro was right they’d give him the confidence he needed to confess about his crush on Mondo… he wouldn’t have to worry about this over the summer holidays at _all!_ He was lucky Hiro was so disorganised… to think he’d trusted his own predictions so much that he’d left _that_ mess until the _very last day_ to start tidying! Even with the _two_ of them it would probably take the _entire day!_

 _…_ The entire day he’d promised Mondo he’d spend doing the favour for _his_ voucher…

 _Arrgh!_ Kiyotaka slapped his forehead… How could he have been so _stupid!_ He’d been so glad to get a chance to get _Hiro’s_ vouched, he’d not thought about whether it would be possible to get Mondo’s as well! Not unless it was something Kiyotaka could get done _extremely_ quickly…

He was going to have to go and explain this to Mondo now, wasn’t he? Perhaps he’d be lucky and it _would_ be something he could do quickly, or Mondo wanted something he could do over the summer holidays, but could be convinced to hand the voucher over early…

He didn’t feel particulary hopeful of either of those things as he knocked on Mondo’s door though… to think he’d agreed to help Hiro without even _thinking_ about his kyoudai…

"Ah… Kyoudai…” He started, one the door opened, noticing that Mondo looked slightly worried… was he nervous about the favour he’d been planning to ask for? Kiyotaka _really_ hoped this wasn’t _also_ something that needed doing today… “I know I said I’d be available to do any favour you needed today, but… Hiro has just requested I help him pack up his room, and I suspect it will take me at least eight hours to complete, due to how little of it he’s done himself…”

“Ah… that’s alright! I haven’t really thought of anything I need from ya…” Mondo grinned, almost looking _relieved!_ “You’ll come hang out with me once you’re done with Hiro though, right?”

“If I have time before curfew… yes! I’d like that!” Kiyotaka admitted. As if he’d ever _not_ like spending time with Mondo! But... why had Mondo let him believe he'd use the voucher today, if he handn't had _any_ plans to? Why couldn't he just have  _said_ he didn't want to use it yet instead of getting Kiyotaka’s hopes? “But… Kyoudai… compared to _last_ week, it feels as if you’re actively trying _not_ to use my voucher… Why is that?”

"Uhh... I dunno? I haven't really needed any favours this week so... Maybe I’ll use it next year?" Mondo shrugged.

 _After_ the holidays!? A whole _six weeks_ of this weighing on him? Unless he just gathered the courage to say it _now_ and be done with it…

"I...” No… the words still wouldn’t come out. He needed that voucher! But what could he say to convince Mondo to give it to him? “…I had been hoping to have all the ones from this year redeemed before I start making another set for next year!" He lied.

" _Bullshit!_ How would that have worked with Hiro, if he hadn't been such a dumbass about packin’ his shit up?"

Well… _that_ was a perfectly good example of why he shouldn’t try lying, how was he supposed to explain _that!?_ "Err...I...”

"Why do you care so fucking much about this!?" Mondo suddenly turned angry. "You do me favours all the time! What's it matter if I hand over a piece of paper for one of them?"

"Those are things I'd do anyway!" Kiyotaka pointed out. "If you don't use the voucher, it's like I never gave you a present at all..."

Well… that _was_ part of the problem… this last year had made him so used to the idea that his friends would at least _use_ his cheap ‘presents’, instead of just throwing them away… He didn’t want to think _Mondo_ of all people would be the one to treat his ‘gift’ the same way the other students in middle school had…

"You know being friends with you is worth all the presents in the world, right?" Mondo suddenly put his hand on Kiyotaka’s shoulder with such gentle concern in his eyes, that Kiyotaka’s head tilted in shock and came dangerously close to brushing up against it before he realised what he was doing and snapped it back downwards, hoping his blush wasn’t visible. He couldn't let Mondo realise how much he wanted his friend’s hands to hold his face and…

"Ok, look... If it means that much to ya, I'll make sure I use it the first week back, ok?" Mondo suddenly offered, interrupting his train of thought before it drove too far.

"I… Ok then..." He agreed reluctantly. It was Mondo’s present, after all. He could hardly _force_ him to use it when _he_ wanted, regardless of how much he wanted the potential emotional crutch! “Hopefully I’ll be finished with Hiro before curfew, and if not... Should I visit you tomorrow to say goodbye?"

"You fuckin _better_ , Kyoudai!” Mondo snapped, “It's bad enough I ain't gonna be able to talk to you for _six weeks!"_

"I... I know. As much as I miss my father I almost wish we weren't leaving." Kiyotaka admitted, feeling guilty about it… He hadn’t seen his father for ten and a half months! He should be excited to see him again… but part of him just… didn’t want to leave Hope’s Peak… didn’t want to say goodbye to his new friends… his _only_ friends!

"Hey, don't worry about it! It's just six weeks- it'll fly by!” Mondo assured him, “And I'll have thought of something to use that voucher for!"

 _Would_ he have? "I should hope so! It'll be your homework for the summer!" Kiyotaka told him.

"Cool, so I don't gotta worry about losing my reading list?" Mondo grinned roguishly.

"What!? No, the reading list is vitally important!" Kiyotaka told him, after all, those texts were going to form a large part of next year’s studies! "You seriously lost it!? I swear, Kyoudia, you are so unorganised! I'll make you another copy... And I'll laminate it so you don't..."

"Geez, Taka! I'm kidding! It's in my bag somewhere..." Mondo laughed and placed his hand gently on Kiyotaka’s head to ruffle his hair.

That felt so nice… He could almost stay like this forever, with Mondo smiling at him and _touching_ him… But he knew Mondo wouldn’t want that! He probably had better things to do than indulge in Kiyotaka’s crush…

"Well, good! At least _someone_ in this class has been organised!" Kiyotaka forced himself out from underneath Mondo’s hand and turned to leave, trying not to let his disappointment show… He’d have to wait for the whole of _summer_ before he could tell anyone how he actually felt… and that was assuming Mondo actually _did_ think of something… He might just procrastinate on it all summer… if only Kiyotaka could explain how much he was pinning on this… But he’d probably sound ridiculous if he did…

"And, Kyoudai... Please _actually_ use the voucher this time..." Was the closest he got to explaining it…

He jumped at the sound of Mondo’s door shutting… had Mondo not heard that last request before the door shut? Or… had he just… decided he _didn’t_ want to use the voucher, and had shut the door because he didn’t want to carry on arguing about it?

But surely _Mondo_ , of all people, wouldn’t have just decided not to use the voucher at all, would he? Kiyotaka was probably being paranoid, right?

But the way he’d gone from being so keen to use it _last_ week, to being relieved _not_ to _this_ week… Kiyotaka couldn’t help but worry that Mondo would rather he never hand it back at all… but _why?_ Had Kiyotaka _done_ something?

He shook his head… he didn’t have _time_ to be standing in an empty corridor worrying about this! If he wanted to know the answer to that question, he should get on with his favour to Hiro _quickly_ so he’d have time to ask Mondo _later!_

* * *

 

 _“Right!”_ Geez, Taka almost slammed the door right out of it’s _frame_ when he came back it… “Your laundry’s started so now… _Why have you hardly taken anything off the shelves yet!?”_

“It’s taking me a while to figure out what I need to do with stuff…” Did Taka not realise how _long_ it took him to calculate his predictions!?

 _“Argghh…_ Okay… but I need to get the cleaning done _now,_ so… _you_ sit on the floor and I’ll bring everything over to you and put it in a pile for you to sort, then I’ll clean everything and once that’s done the laundry will be ready for ironing and once I’ve done _that_ then I’ll start packing things away into boxes.” Uhh… was Taka talking to Yasuhiro or just himself there?

“Okay… so I just gotta sit down and decided what I’m doing with stuff?”

 _“Yes!”_ Taka pretty much shooed him over to the centre of the room…

…How did the guy do everything so _quick?_ Yasuhiro had barely run a handful of predictions before there was a mountain of his own stuff sat next to him and Taka was practically flying around the room with a duster… Then before Yasuhiro had even done predictions for a fifth of the pile, Taka had finished cleaning the bathroom…

“I’ll do the ironing in my own room… I expect you to keep up the work even while I’m gone!”

“Sure thing, man!” It wasn’t like he was going to risk taking a break when his collection was at stake… plus, it’d be kinda crummy of him not to keep up _his_ side of the bargain when Taka was hurrying around everywhere trying to help him…

It’d be nice if he could do something _nice_ for the guy… Then again, there was that whole issue he had with Mondo that Yasuhiro was supposed to be getting him to talk about with the romance reading… And judging how easily Taka had got jealous of Alter Ego at his party, he really _did_ need to talk about that!

Yeah! He’d make sure he did that before the pair of them finished… and _then_ his second _and_ third predictions would have come true and he wouldn’t have to worry about bears taking over the school anymore!

But how to convince Taka to take a romance reading… it’d be kind of a weird thing to suddenly offer to do out of the blue… Perhaps it’d be better to just offer him a free reading as thanks for his help, and then nudge him into asking for a romance one specifically? But how was he going to do that? He’d have to think about it while he worked and come up with a plan before Taka got back and started putting all his OOPArts into these boxes for him…

* * *

 

 _‘Crystal skull’… ‘Prince Shotoku’s Globe’ … ‘meteorite arrows’!?_ Why on _earth_ did Hiro have so much ridiculous _stuff!?_ And he had it all labelled up, as if they were all priceless treasures that belonged in a museum not… random bits of junk! Like this _branch,_ which was labelled _‘everlasting Tamagushi’,_ did he _really_ think that was going to last over the summer holidays!?

Still, if he started an argument with Hiro about it _now,_ he’d have _no_ chance of talking to Mondo before tomorrow, so into the box and onto the relevant list it went… Now what was this pile of paper, his class notes, maybe?

_‘The TRUTH’_

“The _truth!?”_ What a ridiculous way to label something… pretty much _all_ of their class notes could be labelled like that!

“Oooh… _man!_ You might wanna be careful before you read any of that…” Hiro ‘warned’ him, “It’ll blow your _mind!”_

So, probably _not_ his classnotes… but it was all of _his_ notes, judging from the handwriting… how long had he spent wasting his time on this nonsense…? What was it even _about…?_

A quick glance at the fron suggested that it was all about a race of aliens that had allegedly visited the Earth millennia ago, referred to as… _“…Polymorphic Sentient Rocks!?”_ Kiyotaka couldn’t help but scowl… “I can’t believe you’re having me refer to this _nonsense_ as the ‘truth’! Even if it _is_ just for your own personal filing…”

“Aww, come on, man! You’re always so closed-minded!” Hiro complained, “At least read some _more_ of it before deciding it’s not true!”

…Well, he _was_ running out of the things that Hiro had actually made a decision about… “Alright…”

He looked through it… the first section was a written explanation that these aliens had come to Earth to mine the minerals (mostly gemstone-based) needed to create new versions of themselves, including some frankly ridiculous theories as to how their biology (or mineralogy?) worked, before launching into a long-winded summary of the history of their arrival in India during the late Pleistocene age, and how they caused the spread of humanity across the continents as part of their desire to use humanity as a slave race to help grow more of their people… Apparently, this went well for several millennia before an uprising spearheaded by newly created diamond and tanzanite soldiers caused them all to retreat from the planet, leaving only the shattered corpses of the victims of the war behind…

The next section showed a timeline… that started with the aliens arriving a mere _ten thousand_ years ago, well after the Pleistocene age ended! And _that_ stated that they arrived in _Africa_ and barely stayed for a few centuries before the diamond/tanzanite uprising began…

 _“Sooo!?_ What do you think _now!?”_ Hiro asked him, ginning like the maniac he apparently _was…_

“It’s _nonsense!”_ Kiyotaka reiterated, “And what’s _worse,_ it’s nonsense that fails to even be consistent with _itself!”_

“Uhh… how’d you mean?”

“Well, for starters, the times in the written section and the timeline itself don’t match, nor does the initial landing location, which seems to be a rather important detail to be unable to locate the _continent_ of!”

“Ooh! I’m surprised you spotted that so quick!” Hiro laughed, “That’s because they’re two different theories!”

“Ah… oh…” Alright, so that explained the inconsistency… “But it can hardly be declared ‘the truth’ if half of it clearly _isn’t!”_

“Well… yeah, I guess…” Hiro sighed, “Problem is, most of the people who know about the Polymorphic sentient rocks have this idea that they must have caused the spread of humanity… but I’m pretty sure that was done by _different_ aliens! The ones _I_ ran into!”

_…No… he wasn’t going to ask… It wasn’t worth the time…_

“That’s why I made the alternate timeline! I reckon they must have landed in Africa and not left there, because the real first aliens put up a hard-light refracting barrier around Asia! But no one will even _consider_ that it might be true!” Hiro sighed, “Some of them even tell me the polymorphs never even set _foot_ in Africa!”

“That’s not possible, not by their logic.” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“Uhh… it’s not?” Hiro asked… of course, he wouldn’t have paid attention during _that_ class…

“They wouldn’t have been able to make Tanzanite soldiers if they never went to Africa…” Kiyotaka explained, “They’re only formed in _Tanzania_ … hence the name!”

“Huh… is that so…?” Hiro seemed pleased for a moment… but then suddenly turned suspicious… “Wait a sec… you’re acting like you’ve never heard of of these aliens until today, right!?”

“Well… no, of course I haven’t…” Kiyotaka admitted, slightly anxious about the look Hiro was giving him.

“So how do _you_ know which gem soldiers can be formed _where!?”_ Hiro asked, loudly… “Unless… unless you have _insider knowledge!?”_

“What are _talking_ abo…?”

 _“You’re one of them, aren’t you!?”_ Hiro cried, grabbing him by the arm… “Some long-lost survivor that remained on earth after the uprising and has been constantly reforming himself in order to avoid suspicion from us humans!”

 _“What!? NO!_ That’s _insane!”_ Kiyotaka tried to defend himself…

“That’s why you’ve got red _eyes!”_ Hiro ignored him, “You’re secretly some sort of… ruby or garnet, _aren’t you!?_ How _else_ would you know where Tanzanite soldiers were grown!?”

 _“Because we learnt about Tanzanite in science class!”_ Kiyotaka snapped, “It’s a special type of metamorphic gemstone, formed by _regional_ metamorphism, which takes place when two tectonic plates rub against each other, forcing two distinct sets of igneous rocks together under high pressure and temperature, which causes them to morph into one another and form unique crystals that wouldn’t be found elsewhere… the _prime_ example being Tanzanite, which is _only_ found in Tanzania, due to the specific combination of elements in the two tectonic plates lining it!” He remembered.

“Aww… So you’re really _not_ an alien?” Hiro sighed at the explanation, “it would have explained so _much…”_

“No, I’m _not_ an alien!” Kiyotaka snapped, there was another thing he’d not had to say since middle-school… “I was merely using my scientific knowledge to explain that _your_ theory has more credibility than your detractors say it does…”

“You mean you believe me? About the aliens!?” Hiro beamed…

 _“Of course not!_ It’s still nonsense!” Kiyotaka insisted, “But at least it’s logically _consistent_ nonsense!” He smiled.

Hiro just stared at him in bemusement…

“Well… anyway, you’re _supposed_ to be deciding what goes where!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “Unless you want it all thrown out!?”

“No! I just… it takes me a while to predict if I need it or not…” Hiro complained, well, no wonder this was taking so long, if he was going through that nonsensical prediction method each time… “And it’s hard to keep switching between different sorts of OOPArt…”

“So… if I sorted your collection into different sub-sets, you’d be able to decide more quickly what needs to go where?” Kiyotaka offered.

“Yeah… alright then!” Hiro agreed.

Honestly, this was ridiculous… Hiro was being so slow, he might end up managing to do _that_ and _still_ end up having to pick up each items and say ‘well, where do you want this?’ like a parent sorting things out for a child…

* * *

 

“Well, what about _this…_ piece of paper?” Taka scowled at the item in his hand… “Where do you want this?”

“It’s an _ofuda!”_ Yasuhiro told him… wasn’t he supposed to be all about tradition!? “Now lemme think…”

He ran through what must have been the millionth set of predictions he’d done today, figuring out the chances that he’d need _this_ particular item that Taka was asking about… and found that there was a 76% chance that…

“It’s needs renewing anyway, it can go in the ‘bin’ pile.”

 _“Good!”_ Geez, why was he so happy whenever Yasuhiro threw anything away? “Now we only have _one_ subset of your… _Ooparts_ left to organise, and we’ll be finished!”

Heh… he was right! Which meant _now_ was the perfect time to enact his plan to _subtly_ get Taka to admit he likes guys! Step 1: Offer the guy a reading!

“Man… this is amazing! I’ve have been doomed without you, but now we’re almost done!”

“Honestly, all I did was what you could have done yourself if you’d started yeste…”

“I ought to give you tip… How’d you like a reading done?”

“Err… One of your readings…? _Any_ reading? Just as a gift?”

Step 2: Convince Taka it’s totally free and won’t have any other costs at all!

“Yep! Not a trial offer or anything, just a straight-up one time only gift for the Saviour of OOPArts!”

“Ah… Alright then! Err… I… I’d like a _romance_ reading, in that case…”

“Uhh…”

~~Step 3: Convince Taka the reading actually has any value to it whatsoever~~

~~Step 4: Explain the concept of self-fulfilling/self-denying prophecies so Taka didn’t us it to ask about his future chances of being Prime Minister~~

~~Step 5: Explain that just because he can’t make predictions about things the predictee’s behaviour would have an affect on, didn’t mean _all_ his predictions were worthless~~

~~Step 6: Explain that he could do readings about things that might be having a profound effect on him _now,_ so he could do something about it.~~

~~Step 7: Suggest Taka would be better off talking to his teachers about whether there were any holes in his studies~~

~~Step 8: Get asked what _else_ would be affecting Taka’s life. Bring up romance readings.~~

~~Step 9: Argue with Taka about importance of romantic relationships. Eventually get asked for a romance reading just to shut him up.~~

“Is that not possible for some reason?” …Oh man, he really _was_ desperate! Poor guy…

“No it’s totally possible! I just wasn’t expecting you to ask that straight off the bat!” Yasuhiro laughed it off, “So, you wanna know if anyone in school's got a thing for you?”

“Yes! Err… I mean, not that I’m necessarily _desperate_ for a partner at this time, but if it’s a possibility…” Geez, Tala really couldn’t lie either… but no point mentioning _that_ when he had his plan to finish…

Step ~~10~~ 3: Gently ask _which gender_ Yasuhiro should be focusing on for this reading... “Alright! I’ll get started then! But, uhh… Just to double check… Are you into men or women?”

* * *

 

Well, this was it. He’d been outright _asked_ whether or not he was gay! All he had to say was one single word and he’d have told the _truth…_ This was the situation he'd told himself he  _wouldn't_ back down from, wasn't it! He'd told himself that if a friend asked directly, he'd be  _honest!_

_…Which would mean Yasuhiro would probably tell someone else in class, and they’d likely tell another, and soon ALL of them would know… and he might THINK they wouldn’t judge him for it, but he’d THOUGHT they’d throw him a party or at the very least SOME of them would have got his birthdays presents ready for him early, but THAT hadn’t happened…_

“Women.”

_Coward..._

“Oh… okay…” Hiro considered it for a moment… “I’m not seeing any girls in school who are into you…”

“Ah… I see…” _Urrgg!_ That… that didn’t help him at all! He’d just _wasted_ his one chance to have… well, probably not a _definitive_ answer about Mondo _,_ but it would have been a second opinion at least! But now he was going to be forced to figure it out himself, because he was too much of a _coward_ to admit that was the question he _wanted_ an answer to! He was such an _idiot!_

“Uhh… Not that it’s _your_ fault! It’s not like there’s _no one_ who wants you!” Hiro hastily assured him.

But… if that was _true…_ “So there is _someone_ who likes me?” Kiyotaka realised, “Either someone _outside_ the school, or… a male?”

“Yeah… there’s a guy here who’s crushing on you _hard,_ man!” Hiro laughed.

 _Could it be…!?_ “Who is it?” Kiyotaka asked, desperately clinging at the small scrap of hope the fortune teller was unknowingly dangling in front of him… “Err… I mean, are you able to give me a general description of him? J-just so I can be aware that my presence might be… _distracting_ to him, that is…!”

“Haha… _sure!_ No problem, buddy!” Hiro laughed, “Well… to start with, he’s taller than you…”

_That could be Mondo… although it could also be quite a few people…_

“And he’s older than you…”

_Mondo was older than him… by a few months, at least… although, again, so were a LOT of the students here…_

“And he likes you because you’ve helped him out a _ton…”_

_That HAD to be Mondo, didn’t it!? Who else COULD it be!?_

“And he’s got dark brown hair that he keeps in a crazy style!” Hiro finished.

… _Dark_ … _brown_ hair? But… Mondo didn’t have dark brown hair, his was mostly _blond!_ But who else could it _be?_ Who else did he know in the school who was taller, older and indebted to him and who had a ridiculous dark brown hairstyle…?

“…Well?” Hiro asked, scratching the back of his messy mass of… dark… brown… hair…

_Oh! OOOHHH… Oh GODS!_

“Uhh… have you figured out who I’m talking about?”

“Yes…” Kiyotaka admitted. Yes he had… _HIRO_ had a crush on him!? _Since when!?_ And why hadn’t he just come out and _said_ it? Well… probably the same reason Kiyotaka hadn’t just come out and said how _he_ felt about Mondo! He was just as worried about what everyone would think of him he told them all the truth as Kiyotaka was… he’d probably come up with this way of subtly gauging how Kiyotaka would feel about him _without_ admitting his feelings outright and risking ridicule alongside rejection...

“So… what do you think about _him?”_ Hiro asked. Still trying to keep up the defensive pretence that he wasn’t talking about _himself…_

What _did_ he think about Hiro? Well… despite the fortune teller’s ridiculous beliefs and often-times _idiotic_ behaviour, he could be, in his own odd way, a very _considerate_ member of their class. He might not be the first to pick up that people had problems, and when he _did,_ his solutions often weren’t practical or even _possible_ within the realms of reality. But at least he _tried!_ Kiyotaka had to admit Hiro was a nice person… and when all was said and done he did _like_ him! Just… not like _that!_

“He… He’s a good friend of mine… and I’m glad that he is, even when he _does_ cause me bother that he could have prevented by planning things out better in advance!” Kiyotaka told him, “But… I’m afraid I don’t return his affections in _that_ way…”

“Oh… you _don’t!?”_ Hiro looked incredibly disappointed… but what could Kiyotaka _do?_ Lie about it and give the fortune teller false hope that they could be together? But he was an appalling liar! There was no chance he could keep up a pretence that long, not even if it _was_ to keep Hiro as one of his few friends!

“My apologies… I _would_ if it were my choice… but I just _don’t_.” Kiyotaka sighed, “I hope it’s not going to affect our friendship, although I would _also_ understand if being near me is too painful for that…”

“Wha…? Hey, don’t worry about it! I’m sure he cares enough about _you,_ that he won’t want to ruin your friendship over this!” Hiro told him.

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka forced himself to smile… but was that a good idea, given Hiro liked him? Or were smiles like that just more false hope that Kiyotaka might like him back…? If only he knew was the fortune tell was thinking…

* * *

 

Wha…? He _didn’t_ like Mondo!? But… Leon and Togami had seemed so _sure,_ and Hina hadn’t _disagreed,_ even if she’d been trying to avoid blurting it out… Had they got it wrong, or did he just not trust Yasuhiro enough to say it in front of him?

Aww, man… that might be it! He wasn’t exactly the _best_ at keeping stuff quiet… but at this rate Taka wasn’t going to tell _anyone!_ He needed to find someone Taka would want to tell _and_ trust to keep it quiet until he was ready to tell more people, but who else other than the class would work? He should have asked Alter-Ego if there was anyone else Taka trusted…

Or… maybe Taka would trust Alter-Ego? It was a computer, after all, but it knew about all their friends… maybe if he left them alone together, Taka would start asking about their views on gay people or something? Or try and do a ‘practise run’ with a fake version of one of them?

Well… it was worth a shot… Now how to get them alone together?

“Hmm, are you likely to throw away any of these stones?”

“They’re _crystals,_ man!” Yasuhiro corrected, “And _no!_ Do you have any idea how much I _paid_ for those!?”

“I’d really rather _not_ know how much money you’ve _wasted_ on this _frivolous_ …” Aww geez… why was he always so _harsh_ about wasting money? It’s not like _he_ didn’t have debts either! “…Well… it’s not important! If nothing else is being thrown away, I can get rid of the rubbish pile, while _you_ decide what you’re taking home and what’s staying in the boxes…” Taka announced after taking a huge breath, and then stood up to leave.

“Hey, you sit down, I’ll do it!” Yasuhiro jumped at the chance to leave Taka alone in the room with the computer.

“Err… but I don’t know what you want to keep here and…”

“You can ask Alter Ego! Hey, AE!”

“Yes, Yasuhiro?” The AI lit up the screen with its default Chihiro-like face…

 _“WHA…!?_ You really think that's going to be able to accurately predict what you want to take home or not?"

“Sure! It's great for getting an idea of w _hat people want_ and how _people react to stuff_ …” Yasuhiro admitted, and also tried to get the idea of ‘talk to AE’ into Taka’s head… “Anyway, I’ll go get the laundry, and you ask the alter- _me_ which stuff I’ll wanna keep here…”

“Ah… alright!” Taka agreed, looking at the computer curiously. _Hopefully_ this time would be it!

* * *

 

“So… these crystals? _”_

“The reiki crystals? Yeah, I’ll need to take those home…”

He was starting to wonder how Hiro was going to carry all of this nonsense… but at least it fit in his backpack…

“And… _these_ crystals?”

“Seraphinite Facet-3G5O Cuts-5YV through P…? No, they’ll stay here.” The computer replied, so into the box they went…

“You’re a lot faster to decide than the real Hiro, if you don’t mind me saying…” Kiyotaka observed.

“Huuh… I guess that’s my higher processing power, it lets me run predictions faster!” The fake Hiro sounded odd talking about computers, “You think I ought to slow down?”

“Err… no thank you!” It would be nice to get this over with… Then maybe he could spend a _bit_ of time with Mondo, before they all had to _leave_ tomorrow…

Haah… why did he feel like he was going to be miserable over the summer? He’d have his father to talk to, wouldn’t he? And it would be a perfect time to study in peace! So why was he dreading leaving the school so much? Just because he wouldn’t see his friends for a while? But it would only be six weeks, and then he’d be back, and he’d even be returning to his birthday party, right!?

…Well, assuming anyone had actually organised one? Mondo had said he’d been thinking about it, but… would he actually have started organising it? He’d spent so much time with Kiyotaka these last few days that it was hard to imagine he’d have had the chance to talk with anyone about it…

“Yo, what’s up?” The computer asked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You look worried about something!” It clarified.

“Oh… it’s nothing important…” Kiyotaka admitted, slightly put out that a _computer_ had picked up on his poor mood.

“Have you tried talking to anyone about it?” The fake Hiro asked, “Your friends would wanna hear about it, even if it’s not that important!”

That… _did_ sound like something his friends would think, but he could hardly go up to them and _ask_ if they were organising him a surprise party, could he? Then they’d _know_ he wanted them to!

But… didn’t Chihiro say this thing could _predict_ what his friends would do?

“May I ask you a question? In confidence?”

“Sure thing, buddy!”

“Well… given the data you have on my friends… are they likely to throw me a birthday party when we return to school on the Saturday?”

“Uhh…” The computer let out a drawl as it considered the question. “...no chance.”

Kiyotaka grimaced as his heart sank… Mondo _had_ forgot, hadn’t he? But… maybe he’d realise his mistake _that_ day and quickly organise something _afterwards…_ “What about the day after?”

“Uhh… still not likely, dude…” The computer admitted.

“Well… what about the day after?” He asked desperately, to which the computer shook it’s head. “They won’t hold me a party after summer at all, will they?” He sighed.

“Uhh… no.”

“Do they even know when my birthday _is?”_ He asked, he’d not mentioned it _much,_ but he’d have hoped they’d have thought about it, given he’d made an effort to celebrate everyone else’s…

“Well… most of them know it’s sometime over the summer holidays, but I think only Mondo knows the exact date…” Which meant if they’d been intending to give him a present, they’d have done it _today..._

Well, there… He had his answer… Now he knew not to get his hopes up over the summer, didn’t he…?

“Uhh… you okay, dude?” The computer asked, “You got any other questions you wanna ask?”

“No, I’m fine...” He replied. And why shouldn’t he be? It was just a birthday, he’d managed several years of everyone but his father completely ignoring the occasion, what was one more, or even a few more…? He still had friends, at least! Even if they were a bit forgetful!

That _was_ all it was, right? They’d just… been busy and forgot his birthday was over the summer! It wasn’t as if they actually _disliked_ him or something, was it? They just… didn’t care about it as much as _he_ did!

…That didn’t really make him feel any better. But what did he expect? Just because _he_ made a big deal out of it all, didn’t meant any of _them_ were obligated to do the same for _him!_ Especially when he barely gave them any sort of present at all! After all, what was a few hours of his times compared to a _computer!?_ Or the nice things _Mondo_ carved…

…Did that mean he wouldn’t even get anything from Mondo?

No, wait no! Mondo had _promised_ he’d spend the day after Kiyotaka’s birthday with him, hadn’t he!? So _he_ wouldn’t have forgot to get him a present! Unless he’d just _decided_ not to get him a present…

…Was _that_ why Mondo was now refusing to use his voucher? Because Kiyotaka’s ‘present’ wasn’t worth claiming, if it meant Mondo had to make him something for _his_ birthday in return? It made sense… what could Kiyotaka do for _him_ , that would be worth hours of _his_ time spent carving…

“…You _sure_ you’re fine?” The computer asked him, because he’d been sat moping for far too long.

“Ah… yes!” He lied, “Err… so, what about _these_ crystals...?”

* * *

 

Right… there was a 96% chance he’d left Taka and Alter Ego alone together long enough for Taka to ask everything he was going to! Now to go find out the result!

“Hey, guys! How’d you get on?” Yasuhiro asked them as he got back to the room…

“We’ve got on well!” Taka nodded.

“Awesome, buddy!” Good for Taka to make another friend, at least… “Hey, AE, did any of those predictions I told you about come true?”

“Yes!” _Alright!_ That was the thir… “You room _has_ only taken a day to pack up!”

…Aww _man_ … That was the _second_ good prediction he’d had that came true… but not the _third!_

“Yes… I have to admit, that prediction of yours _did_ come true…” Oh man… and now Taka was gonna start on one of his lectures… “But _next_ year, I’d recommend you start packing up _early,_ regardless of how short a time period you _predict_ it will…”

“You’re assuming I come _back_ here next year…” Or that the school was even still _here_ next summer… or his stuff hadn’t been destroyed by those bears that were gonna take over the school…

“W-what!? Why _wouldn’t_ you!?” Taka looked absolutely horrified, “Is it… is it because of _me?_ I mean… I know I can be a bit of a… a _drag,_ as you put it, sometimes, and… I realise that it might be… _difficult_ for you to…”

“What!? No, man! Not at all!” Why did he instantly assume it was _his_ fault!? “It’s just this place is so full of bad vibes, it’s getting me real bummed out…”

“Bad… _vibes?_ You mean vibrations…?” Oh boy… Taka was putting his hand on the floor like he was trying to _feel_ something… “Because if there’s something causing _that,_ you might be able to report it to maintenance…”

“No… I’m talking about the _aura_ of the place!” _Uurghh…_ that just made Taka start at him like he was nuts… “Do you really not _sense_ it, man? There’s something _wrong_ with this place!”

“How can you _say_ that!? Do you _really_ have no idea how _lucky_ we are to have been given the opportunities the school provides?” Oh boy… why had he thought _Taka_ would get this? “And it’s not just _us_ who benefit! Hope’s Peak alumni do all _sorts_ of beneficial things for society! Daisaku Bandai has set up farming communities in areas that were considered _impossible_ to grow food in, for example, and…!”

“I know, Hope’s Peak _has_ done some some awesome stuff… but that’s all in _past,_ man! And most of those people could have done that anyway!” Yasuhiro _tried_ to explain it to him… “But what about what’s going on _now…?”_

“Wha…? There’s still _plenty_ of good things going on here… things that wouldn’t have happened if not for the school bringing Ultimates _together!_ Like that new therapy tool Chihiro’s developing! Oh! And her highness told me yesterday that she’s negotiated a breeding pair of _pandas_ for Tanaka! And it might not be as grand, but Leon wouldn’t have had the chance to…”

Wait… _what_ did Taka just say? “Uhh… Did you say Tanaka’s getting _pandas?”_

“Err… Yes! He’s being encouraged to start breeding animals that are currently on the endangered species list!”

“And he’s starting with _pandas?”_ Which were _black and white bears…!?_

 _Hah!_ And _there_ was prediction number three, right!? With _Tanaka_ breeding them, of _course_ they’d take over the school! But baby pandas were pretty tiny, right? So _that_ meant the whole place would probably be teeming with fuzzy little bundles of black and white fur, probably led by Tanaka’s hamsters…

Oh, _man!_ Why had he been worried about _that!?_ He shoulda just asked Taka about this a _week_ ago!

“And her highness is also negotiating with the president of Indonesia, to give Tanaka access to the island of Sumat…” Oh boy, this seemed like something Taka would go on about for a while… and he was way too tired for to pay attention…

“That sounds _great!”_ Yasuhiro cut him off, “Maybe I’ll see you around next year, after all!”

“Ah… you _will!?_ That’s wonderful!” Heh… it worked, Taka was too happy to remember what he’d been about to say… “It… it would have been a shame to lose one of my… my _friends!”_

…? Why the emphasis on ‘friend’? Ah, well, it’s not like it mattered. At least Taka actually looked _happy_ for a minute!

“Yeah… You’re a great guy to know!” Yasuhiro told him, “Even if you _are_ kinda of a drag, sometimes…”

“Hmpth! Well… you’re a good person as well…” _Holy crap!_ Did Taka just _complement_ him!? “…Although you _seriously_ need to get your act together!”

…Aaaannd there he went again, back to his normal self…

“I know, man… tell you what… I’ll grow up when _you_ cut yourself some slack!”

Oh man… the _look_ on Taka’s face! Why did he think _that_ was gonna work!?

“…So you’re not going to grow up unless I become Prime Minister then?”

“Well, not if you’re gonna be like _that,_ man! _”_ Yasuhiro sighed, “I’m just gonna make you drag me around until you do…”

“… _If_ I do!” Was Taka serious…? Huh… _Yeah_ , he _was_ serious that there might be a chance he _didn’t…_

“Of course you will!” Yasuhiro told him.

“…Is that something else you _predicted?_ ” Oh boy, why’d he have to be so suspicious about it?

“Nope! It’s anyone who _knows_ you knows you will be!” Yasuhiro laughed, “Don’t need a crystal ball to see that!”

“That’s… an _incredibly_ simplified view of things!” Oh boy… _why_ did he try to cheer Taka up sometimes? “…But thank you for the support, regardless! It… it means a lot to me! I’ll be sure to make you and the rest of the school _porud!”_

Oh yeah… _that_ was why!

“You’re welcome buddy! Enjoy your extra-long study break!”

“I will! And Hiro… _try_ not to get yourself into trouble!” What was with _that_ smug look? “I won’t be there to fix your ‘screw-ups’ over the holidays, after all!”

And with that he was out of the room…

Little smartass! When had he ever fixed Yasuhiro’s _'screw-ups'…!?_

* * *

 

Well, Hiro certainly seemed happier now, if not any more _sensible!_ Kiyotaka hadn’t realised he was such a big fan of pandas... He was ridiculous really, worrying more about _that_ then making sure he was packed and ready to leave tomorrow!

... _Leaving tomorrow..._

Kiyotaka sighed at the thought... he might be packed up, but he certainly wasn’t _ready_ to leave! He wasn’t ready not to see any of his friends for six weeks... not to see _Mondo_ for six weeks... Not to even have the _chance_ to tell Mondo the truth for six weeks... unless he did by _email,_ but that seemed like it could have all sorts of potential consequences if someone found the evidence of it! Or unless he did it _now_...

But would he? He hadn’t even been able to tell Hiro when asked a direct question about it... how was he supposed to just suddenly bring it up with _Mondo!?_ He didn’t have the confidence for that... And with Mondo’s attitude towards his present, he wasn’t likely to either... If only he’d got Mondo a better present, he might have been more willing to exchange the voucher...

...Perhaps he could offer to give Mondo an _actual_ present, in exchange for the voucher back? _Then_ he might be able to tell Mondo the truth before leaving school after all!

 _Yes!_ _That’s_ what he’d do! He’d go ring Mondo’s doorbell _right now…!_

* * *

 

Man, Yasuhiro could almost had _danced_ out of his room! Taka was right, he’d been focusing too much on bad vibes! All that visualising bad stuff was bound to make terrible things happen, wasn’t it? He should have been being more opened minded! Instead of imaging evil bears, he shoulda been thinking of the school halls being full of tiny fluffballs! And Hope’s Peak not lasting past Christmas? That was probably just the school deciding to change the name or something! And, okay, he couldn’t think of anything that explained the reserve course one, but that was probably just mis-predictions, right? Like Taka said, they seemed like they were doing alright! There was _no way_ they’d _all_ commit suicide at the _same time!_

“Ooh! There he is! And he looks happy! _Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!”_

“About time...!”

“ _No kiding!_ YO! HIRO!”

Huh? Oh, hey! It was Hina, Togami and Leon all sat together... That was weird... It must be a dark spell, or Togami had switched bodies with Sayaka... Or a bunch of imposters who hadn’t done their research! He’d best be careful here, and try to act like he wasn’t on to them!

“Hey, guys! What’s the occasion!?”

“What do you _mean,_ ‘what’s the occasion’!?” Hina pouted.

“We’re waiting for the confirmation you said you were intending to get!”

“Yeah, man! You didn’t think we’d not wanna know what Taka said, did you!?”

Ooohh! They were just waiting for his answer... “Oh, that! You guys were wrong! He’s not into Mondo at all!”

“Wha...!? _Yes he is!”_ Hina turned angry for all of two seconds, “Wait... I mean… _Ididn’tsaythat!”_

“Then _I_ will!” Togami growled, “I can’t _believe_ I thought it was worth trusting this addle-brained...”

“HEY! Just ‘cause you don’t _like_ the truth doesn’t mean it’s _not_ the truth!” Yasuhiro told them.

“But... Hiro, trust me, it’s _obvious_ Taka’s got the hots for him...” Aww, man! Even _Leon_ thought he was being dumb!?

“But I _told_ him Mondo was into him and he said he didn’t feel that way about him!”

 _“Huh!?_ You just _told_ him!? I thought you said we _shouldn’t_ do that! I’d have done it _Monday_ if you...” Hina started to complain.

“I didn’t just _tell_ him! He asked me for the romance reading, so I said there was a guy who was taller and older than him who had a crush on him!”

“Dude, that could be _tons_ of people! Hell, it sounds more like the _headmaster_ than Mondo...” Leon looked kinda sick.

“Well, I also said the guy owes him for fixing his screw-ups and has dark brown hair in a crazy style...” Yasuhiro explained, “I mean, I’m not _that_ stupid!”

...So why were they all looking at him like he _was_ that stupid...?

“... _Dark brown hair?”_ Hina asked.

“Yeah! That pomp is bleached! You can see at the back...”

“Hagakure, you _idiot!_ That description sounds likes _you!”_ Togami looked like he was gonna explode. Which was totally unfair, because…

“It does _not!_ I don’t have a crazy hair style, this is totally natural!”

They all looked at each other, until Togami asked... “Do we _really_ have to comment on that?”

Geez, why was he friends with these guys…? “Well, even if I _did_ look like the guy I was talking about, since when did Taka have to fix my screw-ups?”

“…Are you _kidding!?_ Mondo told he's just had to spend the _whole day_ tidying up after your lazy butt!”

“Not to mention the number of times he’s dragged your ass to class after you predicted it’d be cancelled when it wasn’t…”

“And stopping you from partaking in your ridiculously doomed money-making ventures before you got yourself into trouble…”

Geez! Did they _really_ think he was _that_ much of a screw-up? “But… but I’m not gay!”

“He doesn’t think _Mondo’s_ gay either, that’s the whole problem!” Leon sighed.

“Oh… yeah… whoops!” Yasuhiro laughed.

 _“Uurrgghh!_ Don’t just say _‘whoops’_ like it’s no big deal!” Now _Hina_ was the one looking like she was gonna blow up… “Go tell him you did the reading wrong!”

 _“Hey!_ My romance reading was 100% accurate! It’s not _my_ fault he misinterpreted it!”

“Do you honestly believe that!? _Anyone_ faced with that description would think you meant _you, not_ Oowada!”

“Uhh… guys… what are you all talking about…?” Oh, good! Makoto had arrived, _he’d_ back Yasuhiro up!

“These guys are being totally mean to me!” They all rolled their eyes as he started explaining… “I told Taka that there’s a guy with a crush on him, and when Taka asked what the guy was like, I said he was older, taller, had crazy dark brown hair and is glad Taka always fixes his screw-ups, and they’re saying it’s _my_ fault Taka didn’t realise I was talking about Mondo! So now they’re trying to get me to go say I was _wrong!_ ”

 _“What!?_ Are you guys _serious!?”_ Makoto rushed to his defence!

“See! I told you it’s not my…”

“I _mean_ all _four_ of you! But _especially YOU, HIRO! We already TALKED about this!_ ” Geez! Makoto’s voice _hurt_ when he shrieked like that! “For _starters_ you shouldn’t be having this conversation in the _dining room!_ How’d you think they’d feel if someone like _Hinai_ overheard you!?”

“…Actually, she’s stopped giving a crap about that sorta thing…”

 _“You know what I mean!”_ Makoto didn’t even let Leon finish his clever comment. “You shouldn’t be telling _anyone_ that they _like_ each other! Not _even_ each other!”

“But… Taka is… _could be_ beating himself up over this, and there’s no _reason_ for him to!” Oh man… Hina was _so_ bad at hiding stuff! At least he’d know he’d be able to trust _her_ when the aliens came and started gathering recruits into the illuminati!

“And Mondo’s the same!” Leon added.

“Yeah… but do you guys _really_ think it’s a good idea to _force_ them together, if they’ve still got doubts and second thoughts about it?” Makoto asked, “Wouldn’t it be _better_ to let them admit it, both to each other _and_ to us, on their _own_ terms? Instead of a bunch of us going up to one of them and saying ‘Oh, that thing you’ve been worried about for _months?_ That’s been obvious for _ages_ and we’re sick of waiting for you to sort your feeling out, so we’re just gonna do it _for_ you!’”

Aww, man… he kinda had a point there. There was about a 89% chance that would either go wrong or make the pair of them feel like idiots… And it looked like the others all totally agreed…

“…Hmm. I supposed directly telling him about Oowada’s feelings _would_ nullify the proof that he would admit his sexuality _by himself…”_ Okay, so Togami _kinda_ agreed, in his own weird way…

“…So we’ve really just got to… wait? And _hope_ one of them finally gets a clue?” Hina looked miserable… chances were high that she thought Taka would get better advice from someone _other_ than her, if he’d just _tell_ them…

“Well… yeah. But… Mondo just told Taka something that might have… sped things along a bit!” Makoto grinned, “I _hope,_ anyway!”

“…And if _not, I_ have a plan that might also move things along…” Togami smirked, “Although I’ll need to know the exact date of Ishimaru’s birthday.” Oh man… everyone was looking at each other like they thought someone _else_ was gonna answer… “… _None_ of you know it!?” Togami looked horrified.

“It’s sometime _after_ Hiro’s… right!?” Hina guessed.

“Well, if it _ain’t_ we probably seem like a bunch of assholes for celebrating _Hiro’s_ and not _his…”_ Leon pointed out, “…Did anyone even give him any presents or anything? So he could take them home and open them on the day?”

…Oh man! He hadn’t even _thought_ about what he was gonna give Taka yet! He’d have to look through the list of his OOPArts and see what Taka would be interested in… maybe some of the sentient rocks, seeing as he’d helped work out that whole timeline for them…

“Well… we can _send_ him them, right!? That’ll be a nice surprise for him!” Makoto suggested.

“Even in _that_ case, you’d need to know the date!” Togami snapped. “How are we supposed to find _that_ out!? Is anyone going to have the chance to talk to him before he goes home?”

“He’s sharing a taxi with Chihiro tomorrow morning…” Makoto told him.

“Perfect! Fujisaki will be able to find out, assuming he doesn’t already _know!”_ Togami stalked off to find him…

“Umm… Can you let me know when it is as well?” Hina called after him.

“Don’t worry, you’ll _all_ be informed! _Everyone_ will be celebrating Ishimaru’s birthday, as far as _I’m_ concerned!” _Wow!_ That was really nice of him to make sure everyone knew the date!

Heh… this was kinda what Taka had been talking about, right? All of them getting good stuff done by working together! Maybe this place wasn’t so full of bad vibes after all! He really oughta stop worrying about stupid crazy stuff like the school getting taken over, or students killing themselves, or Hope’s Peak being gone before Christmas… It couldn’t _possibly_ happen, _right!?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and apologies for the depressing take on Hagakure's powers with regards to the Tragedy!  
> Next up with be... (Dun Da Da Dun Dun DUUUUN!) Mondo Oowada!  
> (Fricken FINALLY!)


	15. (Mondo Oowada)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to make it clear, about the first two-thirds of this chapter is a retrospective view of one event from each of the previous chapters, from Mondo's POV. So the first 14 date changes are things that took place during the first 14 chapters (in order) of the fic. Once those are done it goes into Mondo's POV for the beginning of THIS chapter and then starts switching back and forth between him and Taka like normal.  
> Shout-out to ninata, because his fic 'red spider lily' (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8713870) was probably a big part of my characterisation of Yukimura here.  
> In case you weren't aware, the Kanji for 'Ishimaru' is written the same way the word 'Perfect' is in Japanese, which I reference here.

(Monday, 26th September 2011)

Why the fuck was he sat in _detention!?_

Well, alright, he was sat here ‘cause that goddamn hall monitor had got outta his hospital bed three days early and tried to drag him here, like he’d done pretty much every day since he came to this fucking school!

But this time had been different… Ishimaru’s arm was still fucked up, so he _coulda_ just told the fuckin’ nerd to shove it… but instead Mondo had actually _helped_ the guy come here! He could just imagine the gang laughing at him right now, calling him a nerd for _willingly_ going to detention…

But… he couldn’t have just pushed the guy around while he was in _that_ state… That woulda just been... _shitty!_ And he wasn’t a shitty person! Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but he was strong enough not to push around a guy who oughta be in the hospital, right? Even if the gang laughed at him, he still had ta consider his man's honour… That’s what _Daiya_ woulda said, right?

“Ngh…”

“Ishimaru… do you need to go to the medical centre? You know, you haven’t actually been put down as requiring a detent…”

“N-no! I’m perfectly fine! Besides, I broke the school rules, and the pain will be a reminder that I should consider the potential consequences of my actions…!”

Yeah, no. It probably hadn't even been the _right_ thing to do… He shoulda dragged Ishimaru back ta _bed,_ not brought him here to sit in a classroom trying to write ‘I will not run in the halls’ a hundred times for _no fucking reason_ with the arm that he was still refusing to admit was completely fucked up! Didn't the dumbass know when to give himself a break?

Hah! As _if!_ If he  _did,_ he wouldn't have given himself detention for _saving someone’s LIFE_ , would he!? Stupid dumbass, who the hell thought following the rules was more important than stopping that asshole from killing a chick…!? That asshole who’d had the freaking nerve to make Mondo look like a dumbass by using him as a fucking _hiding spot…_ And he’d been so quick he would have probably killed Oogami before Mondo had even worked out what was going on if perfect fucking _Ishimaru_ hadn’t been there to fix the fact that _Mondo_ had been dumb enough to help an actual fucking _assassin_ sneak up on her…

Not that it was _his_ fault! Hell, if Oogami hadn’t been too stupid to tell anyone she’d had a fuckin’ _death threat,_ then he’d have probably noticed the guy, right!? The only reason _Ishimaru_ had spotted him was because she’d asked him ta do the same sort of shit so it was on his mind, right!? It wasn’t _Mondo’s_ fault that _someone else_ had _almost_ gotten killed _because of him… right?_

Right… that _was_ right… Daiya was… Daiya was just _one thing_ … One thing that had happened more than a _year_ ago… and Mondo was _strong_ now! Way stronger than that fucking _hall monitor_ with his goddamn top-of-the-class _grades_ and holier-than-thou _rules_ and fucking _family_ that was so _perfect_ it was their _actual fucking surname_ would ever be able to understand! So let him sit there, smugly pretending he was such a fucking _man_ that he could grimace through the pain of his own bullshit punishment… Mondo had dealt with worse shit than that since he was a little _kid!_

_Hah!_ That was right… Mondo knew Ishimaru’s type… He’d grown up with rich parents and never had to worry about pissing them off, or wonder whether there’d be anything to eat if he didn’t go out and fucking _steal_ it, just so long as put in the bare minimum of work his fucking genius brain needed ta do bring home A grades… He had no _idea_ what real fucking life was like, outside of his perfect little home and his perfect little schools with their perfect little rules for him to feel good about bossing everyone around with!

Wonder if he realised everyone talked shit about him behind his back… Not that Mondo had heard anyone but Leon doing it, yet, but they _did,_ right? That sort of power-tripping _asshole_ who made his gang follow tons of tiny, bullshit rules always had everyone complaining about him sooner or later… hell, half of the Diamonds had been following douchebags like him, until they’d seen how ~~Daiya~~ _he_ ran the Diamonds and jumped ship…

Speaking of which… He’d told Michi it’d be alright to _ring_ him this week, hadn’t he… He’d better let the guy know it was texts-only until he was done with _this_ bullshit!

_‘Yo, Michi… Txts only 4 nxt hr.’_ Mondo didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he was sat sending a text message… last time a teacher had so much as _looked_ like they were going to try and stop him playing with his phone in detention, it’d barely taken a single scowl from Mondo to shut them up! Hell, the only person dumb enough to keep trying to make him follow rules was the damn hall monitor with his non-stop bitching…

_‘U in dtnton AGAIN!? Thought U sed_ U _put tht hall mnitr in A+E 4 a wk?”_ Michi texted back almost instantly… he was good like that. Didn’t keep people hanging… that was important in a leader! He knew the guy had been the right choice! He’d been the obvious choice, after all… always there when Mondo asked him to be, always watching his back, always willing to listen when Mondo wanted to bounce ideas off of him… clever enough that he wouldn’t have to ring Mondo for advice on every little thing, but grounded enough that he’d know when he needed to ask the _real_ leader for advice! Tough enough to keep everyone in line, but loyal enough that Mondo wouldn’t have to worry about going back over the holidays and finding that he was refusing to give the gang back…

He was starting to miss the guy… a _little,_ anyway! It wasn’t like he _needed_ a loyal guy at his back all the time! He was too _strong_ to need that! And it wasn’t like he knew all of Mondo’s secrets or anything like that… hell if he knew about _Daiya_ , he really _would_ take the gang off of him! But… it had been nice to know that, just so long as Mondo kept his mouth shut about the right things, he’d always have _someone_ on his side… not like here, now he had to get everyone on his side again by _himself_ … And now it seemed like fuckin’ _Ishimaru_ already had a head start on him…

_‘Wsn’t me was sum nutcase. And HM’s a dumass got up erly so he cud gve hmself dtnton.’_

_‘HIMSELF dtnton?’_

_‘Yeh 4 running in halls.’_ Mondo wasn’t about to tell the gang about the whole ‘saving someone’s life’ bit...

_‘Lest HE flws his bullshit rules not like asshole running MY skool.’_

Well, yeah… Mondo could respect _that_ about him, even if he hated everything _else_ about the guy… But what was that about Michi’s school? _‘U hvin truble?’_

_‘Nah, just bitching ain’t gnna let fucking HMs fuck with us, amirite?’_

_‘Hell yeah!’_ Michi _was_ right, there… but it wasn’t like him to bitch about stupid shit either, so… _‘But it’s my job to make sure u guys are doin alrite. Need 2 know if u got problms.’_

_‘U got it boss!’_

Huh… was that all the reply he was gett…?

_‘To be honest, I’m starting to really miss you.’_

The _fuck!?_ What kind of fucking wimpy bullshit was _that?_ Why the fuck would he miss _Mondo!?_ Were the gang having trouble in fights without him? Nah, that couldn’t be it, Michi was a fucking _powerhouse_ at fights, he’d been _trashing_ any other gangs stupid enough to try and cause trouble while Mondo was cooped up in this dumb school… So what _was_ it then? Why would he miss having Mondo around to lead the gang?

Well… leadership was _hard…_ it’s not like Mondo didn’t know that! But he knew Michi could handle it… _he_ didn’t have any fucking _secrets_ to hide from everyone! But, maybe it was fair that he was worried about living up to the supposed _‘Ultimate Gang Leader’…_

_‘Dud 4get me U gonna do a gr8 job leading I left u in chrge 4 a reson, u know so if ne bozos in the gang r dum enough to give u shit, just rmind em that its the same as giving ME shit alrite’_

Hmm… was that gonna be enough? The stuff about Michi being good enough to watch the gang was all true, but if he was having doubts about himself, it’d lead to him doing stupid shit to stay in control… Mondo knew that all too well, didn’t he?

_‘Thks boss’_

Well, looks like that had done the trick! Mondo needn’t have worried… He _knew_ Michi wasn’t going to be a problem! He only had one problem right now…

How to show everyone that not even that fucking _‘perfect’_ hall monitor was _stronger_ than _him!_

 

(Saturday, November 5th 2011)

Why wouldn’t this stubborn fucker give up and ask for a break already!? He musta fallen into that water a hundred times already! And it was _freezing!_ If he kept this shit up he wasn’t gonna be able to get _out…_ So why couldn’t he just admit he needed a break, or for them to pack up and let him go to the sauna...? That’s what Mondo had expected him to do about _half an hour ago!_

But, noooo… Seemed like no matter _how_ difficult it was for him to get out of that water, he still kept clambering up to the chair to repeat the process… and it didn’t seem like he’d get a break until the end of the day either. Mondo had been expecting maybe a few other guys like him and Leon to wanna come and dunk Ishimaru when he’d come up with this… not half the main school _and_ the reserve students!

So now they had such a long a queue they’d had to put in a rule saying each person could only dunk him once and half the class was looking at Mondo like he was an asshole, even though it was Ishimaru’s own stupid fault for not just giving up and letting Mondo _win_ already!

Well, whatever! He’d break soon enough! Might as well enjoy the fact that he wasn’t yelling at everyone around him for once!

“Hahaha! Hey can I have another go!” Yet another dumbass who hadn’t read the sign laughed as Ishimaru plunged into the water and Mondo cranked the seat back up…

“Uhh…You could dunk Kirigiri…But we’re only letting each customer dunk each victim once…” Naegi said for the 100th time without getting pissed off. Seriously, kid must be some sorta _saint…_

“Yeah, otherwise we’d never get to leave!” Mondo laughed, looking to see the hardass’ reaction… only to see he hadn’t actually got out of the tank yet! “Speakin’ a ‘which, quit stallin’ and get out Ishimaru, we’ve got a queue!” Mondo ordered…

Shit… he was really starting to have trouble, wasn’t he? Especially as he’d insisted on doing this in those stupid boots of his! Maybe Mondo could go and drag him out? That’d be a win, right…?

Except Ishimaru didn’t give him the chance, managing to pull himself out… Fuck, he must be stronger than he looked, managing to pull himself out even though he could barely _talk!_

“I’m going to get some tea…” Kirigiri suddenly announced.

Why would _she_ need a drink…? Unless she meant it was for _him! Hah!_ Ishimaru must be getting desperate if Kirigiri was trying to help him out!

“Hey, you can’t go anywhere! The next student might wanna dunk  _you_!” Mondo pointed out with a grin.

She glowered at him before trying another tack… “Perhaps we could take a break then?”

That’d mean Ishimaru could warm up, like he needed to, but there was no way Mondo was going to let him get away with taking a break because _she’d_ asked for one! “Why would  _you_  need a break? You’ve not done anything…Unless you’re worried about poor widdle Ishymawu getting cold?” He smirked. “Hey, how about it Ishimaru? You need a break yet?”

_That_ oughta break him… the talk of warm tea and a chance for him to stop for a while without looking like he’d let the _whole_ group down would…

“N-not at all! Tha-that m-mechanism you’re h-having to reset l-looks heavy though…” _Smug motherfucker!_ Acting like it was _him_ that needed the break? _Fuck it!_ Mondo signalled for the next student to take his throw already… “W-we can st-stop if y-your arms are ti…aaahhh!”

_Hah!_ Now _surely_ he’d have to admit he needed that break…

Except he didn’t, five students later Mondo was seriously starting to think he’d sooner drown in the dunk tank than admit he needed to stop… Shit… All Mondo had wanted was to screw with him a bit, make him quit with the fucking better-than-you attitude for once! Instead he’d still managed to look stronger than Mondo even though he was soaked to the bone, _outside_ , in winter!

Fuck… at this rate everyone was gonna think Mondo was a total asshole... hell even _Fujisaki_ was starting to look between him and Ishimaru sadly! But he couldn’t back down in front of all these people either, or else everyone would know he’d _lost_ to this stubborn asshole! And a gang leader _couldn’t_ lose! He was ride or fucking _die!_

And it’s not like Ishimaru would _really_ kill himself over this, would he? And if he _did,_ it wouldn’t be _Mondo’s_ fault, would it? _He’d_ been the one refusing to give up! It was his own damn fault if he pushed himself too far and got himself killed, right? Just like it was _Mondo’s_ fault that he’d been going too fast and _Daiya_ …

No… no, don’t think like that, Mondo! Not _now!_ Not in front of, like, _every guy in the whole damn school!_ He was _strong!_ He wasn’t going to start being _weak!_ Not _in front of people!_ And _especially_ not in front of this stubborn _asshole!_

“Just admit you need a break, jackass!”

“N-n-n-no!” _God fucking dammit this stubborn prick! “H-h-h-ello, H-h-hir-r-rayam-m-ma…”_

The fuck? Who the hell was _this_ chick? One of the reserves? Why’d he know a reserve student? Weren’t they all losers? Why would he bother to talk to them? Especially about stupid shit like recycling? What, was he _dating_ the chick?

…Well, that’d explain why she came to stall for him! _For fuck’s sake!_ How the hell did _he_ have a girlfriend when _Mondo_ didn’t! “Hey, are you a customer or are you just here to waste time chatting?”

“Umm…Is he the only person I could dunk?” She asked, looking at him all worried and shit… _lucky bastard_ …

“I’m an option as well.” Kirigiri piped up… Fuck, now _all_ the chicks were rallying round the asshole!

“Alright…I’ll dunk you…” Well, of _course_ she would!

“Fucking smartass… getting his bitch ta come a pick a _girl_ instead of _him!_ ” Mondo muttered to himself as he set the chair up for _Kirigiri_ this time… And then got ready to hoist her out once she’d fallen in… which Ishimaru even insisted on coming and ‘helping’ him with!

“Alright, next!” He went to reset the chair again…

“Actually, I’d like to dunk a different victim…!” Ishimaru’s girl announced…

Mondo almost laughed at how upset the hardass looked at that… he musta really pissed her off for her to…

“I’d like to dunk Saito Nawabe!”

_Wha?_ Who the fuck was _that?_ Someone _else_ Ishimaru apparently knew? And why was Kirigiri listing a bunch of different names and acting like they were all _her?_

Wait… were they just trying to give him a longer break? “What? No! You can’t just make up some shitty fake names and say…”

“It’s fine. I’ll explain later.” Kirigiri shrugged and got back into the chair, before ordering Ishimaru to get her, and _himself_ presumably _,_ some tea…

Well… _great!_ Just _great!_ Now Mondo looked like both an asshole _and_ a loser! Not to mention the bastard who was gonna dunk the headmaster’s _daughter…_ what was it, seven times? Shit… they’d done _three_ and Kirigiri was already turning blue…

_“Ah! Excuse me!”_ Oh great, speaking of the headmaster, here he was _now_ … along with that cute nurse chick as well… “I’m sorry kids… but Nurse Tsumiki has warned me that, given the cold temperature, this activity is too dangerous to the health of…”

…In other words the hot nurse thought he was an asshole as well! _Fuck!_

“Alright, _fine!_ Naegi, give her money back and help me take this shit down then!” Mondo snapped, before noticing the stares from the guys in the queue… “You heard the man! Show’s over, _piss off!_ ” He snapped, making them scatter.

“Can’t I finish the rest of my goes first?” The reserve chick asked, irritably.

“U-u-umm… I d-don’t think that’s a g-good idea!” The nurse stammered, checking Kirigiri over… “Sh-she’s already showing s-signs of sh-shock from the cold!”

“Tch! Well, that’s _convenient!”_ She snapped sarcastically before snatching her money from Neagi and stalking off…

“The fuck’s _her_ problem?” Mondo asked, “Ishimaru can go warm up for as long as he _likes_ now!”

“She w-wasn’t w-worried about him… s-she was j-just annoyed with _me…”_ Kirigiri said between shivers.

So… _not_ his girlfriend then? _Hah!_ Of _course_ she wasn’t! How could _he_ get a chick before _Mondo,_ right!?

“So… Ishimaru’s been in there?” The headmaster looked at the tank.

“About 50 times.” His daughter nodded, “I sent him to get tea.”

The headmaster just sighed… “Tsumiki, could you please go find him and check if he’d alright?

“Umm… O-okay…” The nurse stammered.

“Oh! I saw where he went!” Enoshima had apparently been watching them talk, seeing as she didn’t have fuck all to do while the tent was up, “I’ll come help you find him!”

“O-oh!? A-alright…” The nurse cheered up and went off with the model, before Kirigiri’s Dad took _her_ off somewhere to warm up and he was left with just Naegi and Fujisaki looking at him as he started angrily taking down the stupid construction in silence… Then Naegi had the sense to _fuck off_ and help someone else so it was just Fujisaki occasionally staring at him as she counted up the money they’d taken…

“Umm… Oowada…” Fujisaki started, with a dark tone in her voice he’d not heard before…

“I know, _alright!_ I’m an asshole!” Mondo snapped out for her…

“Umm… I wasn’t going to say that…” Fujisaki cringed… “I… I was just thinking… Ishimaru was serious about that mechanism being heavy, wasn’t he?”

“Eh?” Why the fuck did she care about _that?_ “I guess it was a bit…” He shrugged.

“A bit? I couldn’t even _move_ it! I’m so weak…” Fujisaki complained with a sigh, “But… _You’re_ not! You’re the strongest guy in our class!”

Heh… stronger that the hardass? Even after he’d refused to take that break? Mondo couldn’t help but smirk… Looks like he’d not ended up looking like as much of a loser as he’d thought…

“Umm… so, I was wondering…” Fujisaki carried on, “Could you help _me_ get stronger?”

“Hell yeah, I could!” Mondo laughed, “Uhh… but might be more convenient if you talked ta Oogami or Hina though, ‘cause then you can all use the stuff in the girls’ changing room…” He realised, as much as he liked the thought of hanging out with Fujisaki… she was pretty cool, for a chick… Shame she wasn’t _hot_ , rather than just _cute…_ The gang would have thought it was awesome if Mondo had turned up with a _hottie_ on his bike and she’d been able to fix all their computers and phones and shit…

“Uhh… I can’t do that.” Fujisaki stammered, “I… I’ll explain later…” She added, looking _behind_ Mondo… at Ishimaru, who was shakily carrying a tray with a teapot and several cups on it.

He’d got them _all_ tea!? _Fucking smug asshole!_

 

(Saturday, 26th November 2011)

Why was Chi trusting this _asshole?_ He had the loudest mouth in the class, and he was fuckin’ stupid enough to blurt out whatever went through his head all the goddamn time! Chi might as well grab a megaphone and yell it to the whole damn cafeteria!

Would it really have been so bad if they’d had to pretend to be dating for a bit? It’s not like they woulda had to have pretended to have _fucked_ or anything! They coulda just… said that Mondo totally _wanted_ to (because of course he did… or would have, if Chi had been a chick) but was being y’know… _respectful_ of what Chi wanted! And that they were _totally_ kissing in private, but not the halls or anything because they knew Ishimaru would be a hardass about it! That would work, right?

Apparently not, though… What, was Mondo really _that_ shitty looking? That people wouldn’t even wanna _fake_ date him? That it was worse than Chi spilling his guts to his loudass _nerd!?_ Only for the _motherfucker_ to say his reasons for hiding were ‘ridiculous!?’

“HEY! Fuck  _you_ , asshole!” Mondo yelled at him, ready to let loose if he said shit like that again…

“I  _mean_  people mocking your physical strength is ridiculous!” He backtracked pretty quickly. Then sat down and started saying some stuff about how Chi was smart enough not to need to be strong and his talent would probably make him pretty successful…

He had a point there, didn’t he? Did it really matter if Chi was strong or not? It’s not like he needed muscles to tap at a keyboard, was it? And he and his old man’s skills did ‘em a lot more good than his or Daiya’s muscles had ever done… Chi had shown him pictures of his apartment once… they had a storage room that was bigger than Daiya and Mondo’s bedrooms put together!

And yeah, Mondo had started fucking about with woodwork, with some vague idea of maybe being a carpenter, but it wasn’t like _that_ was gonna do him any good, really, was it? Everything he made so far was just tacky looking shit… and that was if it actually stayed in one piece in the first place…

_Hah!_ No wonder Chi didn’t wanna fake date him… He’d probably sooner be seen _dead_ then look like he mighta shacked up with some useless loser like Mondo! Hell, he was probably sick of having to hang around with him in order to do the training… maybe _that_ was why he was telling the hall monitor all this shit, and now letting the guy call him on a first name basis… after all _Ishimaru_ wasn’t some useless loser who’d be lucky if he scraped together a living sawing planks in half, _he_ was actually _going_ places with his goody-two-shoes attitude and good grades and his smart clothes…

Chi waved him off, and he happily headed into the kitchen…

“So _now_ can we go train?” Chihrio asked him.

“…Why’re ya bothering?” Mondo asked him, “He’s _right…_ ya don’t _need_ to be strong… you’re _smart_ and ya can _make_ shit! If you’re worried about getting beaten up ya can just _pay_ some loser like _me_ ta look after ya!”

“I _want_ to get stronger… It would make me feel better about myself, even if I don’t _need_ to be!” Chihiro insisted, “And you shouldn’t call yourself a loser… You got into Hope’s Peak, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… go _me…_ Ultimate dumbass _thug!”_ Mondo muttered sarcastically, “Like _that’ll_ be any help when I’m older…”

“Umm… but isn’t that why you’re doing carpentry?” Chi asked.

“Yeah… but…” He trailed off… This’d probably start an argument with Chi…

“But, _what…?”_ Chihiro asked, looking like he wasn’t gonna take no for an answer.

“But I fucking _suck_ at it, alright!?” Mondo snapped at him, “And don’t say I _don’t!_ I know you’re just lying ta make me feel better about myself!”

“Umm… I’m _not_ though…” Chihiro frowned, “But if that’s what you think, why not show someone _else_ and see what _they_ think?”

“’Cause then they’d all see what a shitty carpenter I am and laugh at me!” Mondo answered, and then it’d get out that the fearsome leader of the Crazy Diamonds spent all his free time making shitty crap, and all the guys’d probably be pissed that he’d made ‘em look stupid...

“Oh, please! You’re probably better at it than anyone _else_ in our class!” Chi told him, “Your pieces look pretty good to _me!”_

“Yeah? Well they still looked fucking _crap_ compared to all the artwork Yamada churns out without breaking a sweat…” Mondo complained, thinking of all the perfect looking people Yamada drew over and over... whereas Mondo had tried carving a person once and it looked like something that oughta have been in a horror B-movie…

“Well, of _course_ it does! Yamada’s been drawing for _years!_ You’ve not even been practising for two months! That’s like if _I_ decided to give up training because I’m not as strong as _you,_ yet!” Chihiro rolled his eyes, “Which I’m _not,_ so let’s get on with our training, and then _you_ can go do some of your woodwork!”

“…Alright, _fine…”_ It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, even if he _was_ crap at it… and he needed to at least _try_ and make Daiya’s sacrifice worthwhile…

 

(Friday, 23rd December 2011)

Why he _care_ if Chi had tricked the dumbass?

On the face of it, it didn’t seem like a bad idea… Chi thought 1000 yen was a ‘normal Christmas present’ (Seriously, how well off _was_ this kid?) and was planning to give it to _everyone_ in class… (Seriously, that was 15000 yen!) even losers like Mondo (who only been able to give _him_ a couple of scraps of cheap wood that were _supposed_ to be in the shape of a tree and a snowman) and Ishimaru’s obviously broke ass… Regardless of what he tried to pretend when he had to beg his old man for the money just to get _home_ for the holidays!

But Chi was also worrying that Ishimaru would be embarrassed by being given that amount by one person (Which was fair, ‘cause Mondo had been embarrassed enough to open the card and find it there, and at least _he’d_ given Chi _something,_ even if it was a couple of pieces of crap he was now wishing he could steal back and throw in the wood chipper along with all his other shit…), so he’d put Mondo’s name on it, along with two 500 yen coins, to make it seem like it was a joint effort and, in Chi’s words ‘get him to stop being _quite_ as harsh with you…’

Which, y’know, would be cool… specially as he was starting ta feel shitty now Hagakure and Chi had strong-armed him into quitting smoking, which the hall monitor knew nothing about him doing in the first place… and that was while he was trying ta cut down a bit, who knows how fuckin’ stupid he’d be acting once he finally went cold turkey..

So, yeah, why _not_ take advantage of Chi’s generosity, and let Ishimaru think _he’d_ been nice enough to give him a little present? He could always feign ignorance if the hall monitor figured out it was a lie, right? He’d only found out in the first place because Chi had slipped up and wondered out loud if he should have given the guy ‘our’ card earlier…

But Mondo _had_ found out, so if he did that it’d be a _lie…_ and if Ishimaru started being more lenient with him because of it, that’d be a _lie_ as well… and it’d be like Chi was paying to deal with Mondo’s problems… and he was strong enough to take care of his _own_ problems! And what would the gang think if they’d found out he couldn’t deal with one measly hall monitor without begging for help bribing the guy!?

…He’d better go tell Ishimaru the truth now, before they both had to leave tomorrow… Good thing he was always in his room…

Or _usually_ was… but he wasn’t answering his doorbell… It wasn’t even 8pm yet, he couldn’t be in bed already, could he? Unless he had to get up early for whatever train he’d ended up getting…

Well, crap… Maybe he should just write the guy a quick note and shove it in his letter hole instead…

 

(Tuesday, 10th January 2012)

Why hadn’t he just taken Ishimaru’s offer and gone to the nurse?

Hell, hadn’t that been what he wanted, Ishimaru to go easy on him while he was quitting? And it wasn’t even like he’d had to trick the guy into it, he’d just told him the truth, that everyone had got wise to his dumbass schedule! So why hadn’t Mondo just taken the easy out, instead of worrying about his honour in front of Ishimaru? He coulda picked up more patches while he was there, _without_ having to worry about every guy in school laughing at him for needing to go to the nurse, and then _maybe_ he might not be feeling like he wanted ta beat the every-loving shit outta something _…_ or some _one!_ It woulda been great! Ishimaru had offered him a favour on a silver fucking platter and he’d _still_ turned it down!

But why _had_ Ishimaru done that? It wasn’t like him, was it? It sure as _fuck_ wasn’t an official school rule, he’d just made it up himself on the spot, to try and get them to actually _quit,_ like he thought they all had, not just increase the number of detentions he gave out… Was that _really_ it? He just _cared_ enough about everyone that he was actually worried about them fucking over their health all the time? Which was why he was walking around with _Yamada_ , to try and stop him having that heart attack Hiro had predicted would stop him being able to _make_ all the great fucking _art_ he had planned…

Could Ishimaru really be _that_ nice? He couldn’t _really_ be, could he? No one was _that_ fucking perfect, no matter _what_ Chi kept saying about him…

Wait… _Chi?_ That was right… Chi knew he was quitting, and he’d told Mondo to try and be nice to Ishimaru, with that sob story about how Ishimaru had admitted he didn’t know how to speak to other kids, outside of school… had he asked the hall monitor to do the same thing…? Had he told Ishimaru that he was in the middle of quitting smoking, and wanted… or even _needed,_ Ishimaru to go easy on him!?

For _fucks_ sake! That better _not_ have been it! Chi had better _not_ have told that smug, holier-than-thou _hardass_ that Mondo _needed_ his help! Because he _didn’t!_ Sure, he might feel like shit right now, but that was only ‘cause he’d cut down faster than he’d planned to, once Michi had spotted him turning down cigarettes, and set up a race to see who could cut down fastest in order to motivate them _all_ into quitting!

Really, Mondo shoulda seen that coming… of course Michi would notice if a member of the gang was doing something like cutting down on cigs… and his idea of a race had been _great,_ knowing half the gang understood what he was going through! It was just… it had made things harder for Mondo… which was _fine,_ right? He was _Mondo Oowada,_ he was _strong!_ He could deal with things being tough!

It just… it woulda been _nice_ if he’d been able to hide his intention to quit until he’d actually _done_ it, not had it turn into yet another thing he had to be _strong_ about in front of the gang _…_ it would have been _nice_ if he’d been able to quietly cut back while chilling with his gang at Christmas, not been so desperate for a cig that he’d been gnawing on the chicken bones and almost chocked himself... it would been _nice_ to go to a club on New Year’s and try to get laid, not spend it with a group of extra pissed off teens while being so angry and stressed himself that even _Michi_ had suggested he not try and pull any chicks to kiss at midnight…

_Fuck…_ another New Years gone and he still hadn’t gotten kissed, so much for _that_ New Year’s resolution! Instead he’d just made a fool of himself in front of several of the older Ultimates _and_ got himself barred from all the nearby clubs… And the reserve course was pretty much _Ishimaru’s_ turf now, so it wasn’t like he could even go _there_ and risk freaking out the chicks by trying to ask them out… Why the fuck was this so hard!? He was a damn _gang leader!_ The fucking _‘Ultimate’_ gang leader! Shouldn’t chicks just be _swarming_ him? Hell, that’d always been how it seemed with _Daiya…_ always talking to chicks with that fucking smooth voice of his and them getting all flirty back at him, until he disappeared off with them into the nearest room and came back twenty minutes later looking smug, followed a bit later by a happy looking chick who waved goodbye to him while the gang all looked as jealous as Mondo felt…

He’d thought that’d change when _he_ became leader… that it’d been _him_ taking girls off and making the gang all wait, stewing in jealousy while _he_ had his fun! But instead, when he tried to talk to them, he realised he had no idea what it was Daiya actually _said_ to them… and that it was _his_ fault he’d never be able to ask him either! He started wondering if the girl he was talking to was one that Daiya had spent time with, and if it was, would she tell everyone how Mondo measured up to his brother? How _would_ he measure up to his brother!? Probably badly… everyone did at first, right? And he’d never been told exactly what he was supposed to do, and it wasn’t like he could just _ask_ any of the guys he knew how to fuck a girl and expect a sensible answer… Everyone _else_ just seemed to know how to do it… or how they _would_ do it, at least.

Was the girl supposed to explain it? Was that just what he needed, one chick who’d break his 15-game losing streak and just… give him an easy ride? Just so he’d have an _idea_ of what the fuck he was actually supposed to _do_ with a girl, and _one_ success under his belt, so the gang would quit _laughing_ about it behind his back…

But he was _Mondo Oowada!_ He shouldn’t _need_ an easy ride! _Men_ didn’t ask for easy rides! If he wanted a success under his belt he had to earn it _himself!_ But, until he _had_ a success, he was going to be too nervous to _get_ a success!  _UUURRRGGGHHH! THIS WAS FUCKIGN BULLSHIT!_

Urg... calm the fuck down! He just had to _think!_ He might be too nervous to get a success with _girls,_ but maybe he could do something _else_ to make himself feel good! He had that horse he was in the middle of carving… maybe he could finish that off!? That’d be good, right? _Making_ something was a success, right? And he’d been getting better at it… he had a good feeling about this one! Maybe it’d even be good enough to put into that art show Chi had been talking about… and then everyone’d see how good he’d been getting… maybe some girls would wanna talk to him about it, chicks dug that artsy sort of crap, right?

Yeah… this was gonna be good! And doing shit with his hands would make him wanna stop reaching for a cigarette every five goddamn seconds ‘cause he’d been too _strong_ to let that smug hall monitor give him an easy opportunity to go get some damn _patches_ …

…

God, this horse looked _shitty!_

What had he been _thinking,_ expecting himself to be able to carve something that was worth _showing_ to people while he was in the middle of these fucking _cravings,_  or at  _all!_ _God damn_ , he’d seriously thought a _girl_ would wanna talk to him about this clunky, fat fucking horse, whose legs were too skinny for it’s body and whose eyes were too big for it’s stupid-looking head! Hell, the only reason _anyone_ was gonna wanna talk about _this_ piece of shit was so they could point and laugh at how fucking _shitty_ Mondo’s woodwork skills were… And _this_ was what he thought he could make a living doing? Who’d wanna buy _this_ piece of crap!?

Why the fuck had Daiya saved _his_ life!? He was a was as shitty and worthless as this stupid, fucking ugly piece of…

“Mondo? Ah! You _are_ here!” Aww, crap… here was Chi… Had Mondo made himself late for training again? Hell, why did Chi even bother coming to find him these days, he knew what he was supposed ta be doing…? “Oh! Is that the horse? Did you finish it?”

_Oh shit… Chi was gonna laugh at him…_ and what would the _gang_ think if their so-called _strong_ leader got laughed at by someone half his height… “I ain’t finishing it, it’s a piece of crap!” Mondo hastily shoved the horse under the table…

Chi just sighed at him, “Mondo, you say that about _everything_ you make!”

“’Cause it’s _true_ about everything I make!” He pointed out.

“But you still usually show me them… and you _are_ getting better!” Chi tried to cheer Mondo up the same way he always did… by reminding Mondo that it was gonna be a slow process and he wouldn’t get better overnight and yadda, yadda, yadda…

“Yeah, well _this_ is an even bigger piece of shit than _usual!”_ Hell, there was a damn _picture_ of what it was _supposed_ ta look like _right there on the desk!_ Just to highlight how _godawful_ Mondo’s attempt was!

“I bet it’s still better than anything _I’d_ make…” Why did Chi always say that… it didn’t matter how good _he_ was at carving, he wasn’t trying to be a fucking _carpenter!_

“That doesn’t make it any less _shitty, ALRIGHT!?”_ Shit… had he just started yelling? Fuck, he was in too shitty a mood to be arguing with Chi over this crap…

“Well… I bet it looks perfectly fine! You’re just being too hard on yourself, like always!”

_Urrgh!_ He was gonna keep this up until Mondo showed him the stupid thing, wasn’t he…?

“ALRIGHT! _FINE!_ HERE’S THE STUPID PIECE OF SHIT IF YA WANNA LOOK AT IT SO BAD!” Mondo slammed it on the table...

Aww, fuck… why did he do that? Now Chi was just gonna look at it and laugh, but it was too late to take it back, because he’d already picked it up and started turning it over to get a good look at all the parts where Mondo had fucked up and tried to hide it…

“This is really good! I like the detail on the mane and tail!”

Wait… _what?_ Okay, yeah he _had_ spent a lot of time trying to get those bits right… but he’d fucking _failed!_ Why was Chi pretending it didn’t look like crap?

"Chi, don't gimme that shit! This is a piece of crap!"

"No it isn't, Mondo!" Chi lied back at him.

"Yes it is! It's probably the fucking shittiest horse anyone's ever made!" He _knew_ that! He didn’t need Chi to fucking sit here and _pretend_ he hadn’t made a worthless piece of shit!

_"No it isn't!_ I'll show you! I'll show it at the art exhibition on Sunday and everyone will say it's a _great_ horse! Because it _is!"_

_“What!?”_ Chi was gonna pretend this piece of crap was something _he’d_ made? Did he _want_ everyone to laugh at him, and pick on him for being a shitty carpenter? Didn’t he have enough problems!? “No!” Chi looked like he was about to insist that he _would…_ But that was assuming he’d even be _allowed_ to exhibit the ugly thing anyway! Surely the show had standards, right?  “They're not gonna accept this crap at the art exhibition!"

"Yes they will, because it's not crap!” Chi insisted… Well, so what if they _did_ accept it? Everyone _else_ would still laugh at it! And then what? Would Chi just tell everyone it’d had been Mondo’s crappy piece of work, not his _own…?_ Would it matter if Chi _did_ tell everyone… even if he didn’t, _they’d_ both know that it was really _Mondo_ they were laughing at…

“Ah, here's Hifumi! He'll agree with me!"

_WHAT!?_ Fucking _YAMADA_ was here!? The guy who could _effortlessly_ draw any fucking _thing_ he could imagine and make it look so good it made Mondo wanna punch him outta jealousy… And Chi wanted _him_ to see _this_ piece of crap? Chi wanted _him_ to see just how fucking _shitty_ and _worthless Mondo_ was in comparison to _him…!?_

"Hifumi, look at this great horse..."

"NO!” He had his gang to think of! He couldn’t let that _fucking fatass_ think _he_ was better than _Mondo Oowada! Even if he fucking was!_

Where was that fucking chisel… If he smashed the damn thing up Yamada wouldn’t be able to see how crap it’d been! And that was perfect anyway, because… “NO ONE! NEEDS! TO SEE! THIS PIECE! OF CRAP!"

The chisel broke the damn thing into pieces… there, it was fucking _gone…_ the evidence that he wanted anything other than the confident, badass, _strong_ Ultimate Gang Leader _Mondo fucking Oowada_ was shattered in pieces over the table and Yamada would never be able to know just how fucking shitty it’d looked before…

"Umm... Maybe we can stick it back together!" Chi chirped, like a fucking _idiot…_ "And fill in the damaged bits with..."

"GODAMMIT, CHI! I SAID NO!” Chi was right though… it _hadn’t_ been destroyed enough, you _could_ still see how shitty it had looked… he needed to get rid of _completely,_ like, throw in it the trash or… Ah! The w _ood chipper!_ He scooped up all the pieces before Yamada could see them and threw them in, breathing a sigh of relief as the evidence of his _weakness_ was turned into sawdust… Now no one would know he’d spent, what, four whole _days_ on that piece of shit?

Crap… was it really _four days?_ Well, he’d started it on Saturday so… _fuck!_ He’d spent _four days_ working on that thing, and then he’d turned it into dust in a matter of _seconds…_ that… that had been fucking _stupid,_ hadn’t it? It wasn’t like Yamada wouldn’t know he’d been working on _something…_ he still knew Mondo was _trying_ to be like _him_ … He’d still be able to lord it over Mondo that _he_ could make stuff that people would queue up to buy, whereas Mondo couldn’t even make something good enough to _show_ to people…

_Fuck!_ Destroying that crap hadn’t done a fucking _thing,_ had it!? All he’d done was show _Yamada_ that he was too much of a fucking _coward_ to admit how _shitty_ he was at woodwork! And guessing from the way the smug fatass was standing up straight in the damn doorway and looking like he was about to fucking _lecture_ him, he damn well knew it!

Well… just ‘cause Yamada might be _better_ than him, didn’t mean he was fucking _stronger_ than him! He was _Mondo Oowada!_ An Ultimate _gang leader_ wasn’t gonna take any _shit_ from a fucking _fanartist!_ He was gonna walk right outta that door and if that damn fatass tried to stop him, he was gonna find him fat fucking _face_  filling in for Mondo’s _punching bag!_

He walked towards the door… and Yamada still tried block him… at least until Mondo leant down in his face and _ordered_ him outta the way… all it took was _two words_ to remind Yamada that _he_ was just as much of a fucking _coward_ as Mondo and make him squeal like a pig and scurry out of the way…

_Hah!_ That was right… He might be a shitty carpenter, but he was still _stronger,_ still more of a _man_ than every other guy in Hope’s Peak! And no one could take _that_ from him! Not Chi with his patronising _crap_ , not Yamada with his beautiful fucking _art_ and not even _Ishimaru_ with his perfect fucking _everything!_

(Sunday, February 12th 2012)

Why had he ever hated Kiyotaka?

Seriously! He’d just finally finished all his fucking overdue _maths homework_ thanks to the guy! And it had been… well, maybe not _easy,_ but it had been _doable!_ He’d looked at the damn things and at least understood what the fuck they were asking him to do, instead of just looking like a bunch of nonsense! How much easier would last term had been if he’d just listened to Chi and actually tried… _talking_ to the guy, instead of just… _assuming_ shit about him?

Shit like, thinking Kiyotaka had rich parents… or at least parents that everyone else wouldn’t have happily _spat_ on. Or assuming the guy did so well in school ‘cause he’d been born clever, rather than spending _all_ his free time with his head in a book and never having friends. Or joking about him getting off on nagging people, instead of constantly worrying about them and their futures…

Of course, Kiyotaka had made assumptions about _him_ as well… Thinking Mondo must have been a constant worry to his parents, not realising they hadn’t given a shit about him in years _._ And assuming controlling a whole gang of bikers was easy, and they all just did what Mondo told them to ‘cause he was _‘the_ _coolest one’._ (Leon had almost _pissed_ himself laughing at _that_ statement…) And being perfectly happy to believe Yamada’s assumption that _Chi_ had carved that shitty horse, and Mondo was a violent asshole who’d smash up shit his _friends_ had worked hard on…

All it had taken was one conversation, an _actual_ conversation where they each bothered to listen to each other, and they’d both realised they had more in common than they thought. They both worked hard to get to their place in life, they both worried about what the people around ‘em actually _thought_ about them, they’d both given up shit…

Well, Mondo had realised that last one, at least. It wasn’t like he’d told Kiyotaka about _Daiya…_ there’d be no fucking _way_ Kiyotaka woulda wanted to be called his _brother_ if he’d blabbed _that_ secret… Hell, he’d probably have Mondo arrested or summat…

_*bzzt bzzt*_ Sounded like Michi was texting him…

_‘Cn u email a pic of the logo plz?’_

_‘Yeah sure. Hang on a sec.’_ He oughta have that somewhere on his laptop… Ah, here it was, next to that picture Chihiro had sent him, of him and Kiyotaka laughing with their arms around each other the day after their competition… He’d just drag and drop that into an email to Michi and send it off…

…

Wait… _which_ picture did he just…?

_*BZZT BZZT BZZT*_ The fucking _wrong_ picture _,_ at least, he _assumed_ that was why Michi was suddenly now _ringing_ him instead of texting… Well, crap! _That_ was a shitty way to let his old friend know about his _new_ friend…

“Hey… Michi…! Uhhh… Gimme a sec and I’ll send ya the _right…_ ”

_“Who the fuck is THAT guy!?”_ Michi sounded understandably pissed off…

“That’s Kiyotaka… he’s in my class…” Well, he was probably gonna have to tell the guys about this sooner or later… “He’s my bro.”

“And… that’s a pic of you and him posing together, ‘cause he just beat up that hall monitor guy, right!?”

Well, crap, of _course_ Michi thought that was why he was wearing the armband… He’d spent half of winter break _bitching_ about the guy… “Uhh… no, he _is_ that hall monitor guy.”

“…You’re _shitting_ me, right?” Michi said, after a long enough break that Mondo thought the phone had died. “You’re… you’re fucking _bros_ with a _Hall monitor!?_ How the fuck does _that_ work!? Did ya convince him ta stop giving ya detentions?”

“Well… not _exactly…”_ Sure, Kiyotaka had stopped giving people detentions for _quite_ as much stupid shit, but it wasn’t like he’d quit _completely…_

“So… what? Are you being a _nerd_ now? Is that why you've hardly had time ta talk, cause you’ve busy doing fuckin’ _homework!?”_

_“Fuck no!”_ Alright, so he _had_ been busy with homework, but… “The homework was just ‘cause they might kick me outta Hope’s Peak if I didn't do it!”

“So… how the fuck are you _friends_ with him!? _”_ Michi cried, “Why would you even _wanna_ be bros with _him!?”_

“I dunno… hanging with him makes me feel good about myself.” It was a sappy sounding answer, but that’s what it pretty much came down to.

“You mean… cause he’s weaker than you? So you feel stronger?” Michi got the wrong idea entirely, “But… no one in the gang’s stronger than you! And everyone fuckin’ _knows_ it! Just ‘cause they bitch about stuff at times doesn’t mean they dunno whose _boss!”_

“No… it ain’t about me being _stronger_ than him it’s… I dunno… he makes me feel… _better!”_

“How? Like… you _feel smarter?_ ‘Cause ya did the homework?” Michi asked, “’Cause you got into _Hope’s Peak!_ That makes you smart… the gang knows that!”

“It ain’t really that either… He still has ta explain it all too me way too many times…”

“Has he said he likes how you look? ‘Cause _we_ all like how you look!”

“No… he keeps saying I should get my hair cut like him…” Mondo smirked.

“Well… is it ‘cause he doesn’t backchat you? ‘Cause _I…”_

“Bahaha! _Hell no!_ I can’t even suggest what _movie_ we watch without him bitching about it!” Mondo laughed.

“Then how the _fuck_ does he make you feel _better_ about yourself!?” Michi snapped, “He sounds like a complete  _asshole!”_

Urg… this wasn’t going well… And he could understand Michi’s point: Why was Mondo _kyoudais_ with a _nerd_ like Kiyotaka, who squabbled over half the choices he made, when he had about 80 badass guys who’d follow blindly him to the end of the Earth? Why would Mondo, who’d spent most of his life aiming to lead his brother’s gang to prove that he was a man, _want_ to spend his time with one of the few guys he’d met who _didn’t_ consider his role as leader of the Diamonds to be unquestionable proof of his manliness? Why would someone so desperate to be _strong_ spend time with someone who pointed out every _weakness_ he had? Why was he outright _happy_ _Kiyotaka_ did that shit, whereas if the _gang_ did it he’d be stomping down on that shit?

“I… I dunno…” That was lie. He _did_ know. The problem was that there was no way he could explain it to Michi, or _anyone_ from the gang! Because the answer was just that hanging with Kiyotaka was _easier_ than leading the gang! The gang thought men were strong, so Mondo had to _be_ strong, _all the time,_ or they’d drop him like a rock… Whereas Kiyotaka thought men were _weak,_ in constant need of discipline and training, and that none were weaker than _Kiyotaka_ himself…

So when Kiyotaka pointed out a bad decision Mondo made, it wasn’t because he was hoping to surpass Mondo one day, it was because he was hoping Mondo would stop _him_ doing something equally as dumb, sometime in the future. When Kiyotaka suggested he change his looks, it wasn’t because _he_ cared what Mondo looked like, it was because he’d spent his childhood around people who’d drummed it into his head that appearances _mattered,_ and he didn’t want to see anyone insulted over something as petty as clothing. When Kiyotaka was able to rattle off three different ways of explaining a new maths concept to him, it wasn’t because he’d prepared them all in advance thinking Mondo was an idiot, it was because _he’d_ needed to read _five_ different versions before he’d understood it himself. When Kiyotaka pointed out a weakness, it wasn’t a warning that Mondo better cut it out, or he’d get dropped for someone better, it was just a reminder that he thought Mondo could do better, because if even _Kiyotaka_ could manage it, then surely _everyone_ could...

The gang followed Mondo because they thought he was strong. Kiyotaka wanted to be his kyoudai even though he knew Mondo was weak _… That_ was why he wanted to be friends with Kiyotaka.

But if he told someone from the gang that, they’d all know he wasn’t the strong _man_ they thought they’d been following… They all wanna challenge him over who got to be the leader, and then it’d be the Diamonds splitting into factions and his promise to Daiya _broken…_ And that was the one thing he _couldn’t_ do, no matter _how_ much of an easy ride he might want…

Which meant that he was just gonna have ta hope the gang were cool with him giving them all vague answers. It wasn’t completely out of character, was it? Why _should_ a strong guy like him _know_ why he liked someone? It wasn’t like men were _supposed_ to sit and _think_ about their damn _feelings,_ was it? Michi would get that, right?

“…So, what…? Did he let you _fuck_ him or something?”

_“What was that?”_ Michi had better _not_ have just muttered what Mondo _thought_ he’d just muttered…

“I… I asked if you _fucked_ him!” Michi repeated it louder this time. “Is _that_ how he makes you _‘f-feel good’!?_ D-did ya losing streak get so bad that ya took him up on his offer ta let you p-play for the other team!? Did he make you f-feel like a m-man or summat!? ‘C-cause…”

_“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”_ Mondo stood up and roared down the phone, cutting off Michi’s disappointed rant. “ _I ain’t GAY!_ And no matter _how_ many chicks turn me down, I ain’t gonna turn into some sad _sicko_ who gets my rocks off doing _that_ disgusting crap! You _got_ that, you little pipsqueak!? Just ‘cause I ain’t got a damn _poem_ ready ta explain why I happen ta _like_ a bro, don’t mean I’m a fucking _pansy!”_

“U-uhh… y-yeah… r-right… course…” Michi cowered on the other end of the phone. “G-got it…”

“Good.” Mondo turned his voice to ice as he sat back down. “I’m sending you the right picture.” He added, as he sent off a second email…

“…Got it.” Michi’s voice was full of ice as well, “Talk later, boss…”

“Sure.” Mondo hung up…

_Urggh…_ Well, _that_ had been a total clusterfuck! What, the gang thought he’d turned _gay_ now? If only he’d managed ta get a date for Valentine’s… At least they’d not discovered his original plan to have a bro’s night in with Kiyotaka though, that woulda been a _complete_ shitstorm…

 

(Saturday, 18th February 2012)

Why was he even _trying_ anymore?

All he’d done the last three days was hole himself up in here with his cigarettes and beer (because _fuck ~~Ki~~ Ishimaru and his lying bullshit!) _ and tried to make something that didn’t make himself feel like the worthless piece of shit it'd turned out he actually _was_ this whole time! And all he had ta show for it was a pile of crap that you couldn’t even tell apart from the fucking bits of scrap he hadn’t needed!

_Fuck ~~Ki~~ Ishimaru! _ He shoulda listened ta Enoshima and Leon and even _Michi_ … He _was_ a fucking _asshole!_ Hell, he shouldn’t even had needed ta listen ta the others _,_ he shoulda just _known_ there was no such thing as an _easy fucking_ _ride!_ No one was _that_ nice! _No one_ was gonna just fucking _care_ about Mondo, even if he fucked everything up, _especially_ not fucking perfect _~~K~~_ _Ishimaru,_ with all his fucking big-ass dreams and goals and aspirations that Mondo shoulda _known_ would make him too busy ta put up with his shit!

At least, not anymore… not now he was getting his rocks off on that fucking hot, slutty _nurse!_ Goddammit, if only Mondo had been paying fucking attention back at the beginning of the year… _he’d_ have been the one ta punch that assholes lights out and then _he’d_ have been the one she’d been desperate ta jump on and it’d be _him_ everyone was talking about in the corridors, with his hands on her tits and up her skirt in front of the reserve course fountain for everyone ta see like the fucking man _HE_ was _supposed_ ta be! Instead of being the weakling who’d been so desperate for an easy ride that _fucking ~~K~~ Ishimaru_ had barely had to pretend ta _like_ him before he’d been completely _duped_ into turning into a fucking _good guy_ by the asshole, hook, line and fucking _sinker!_

_*Ding dong.*_ Who the fuck was that!? Whoever it was, fuck ‘em… It’d been three fucking _days,_ and only _now_ were any of those assholes trying ta talk ta him!? Not even Chi, cause even _he’d_ finally decided he’d had enough of Mondo’s shit and just wanted ta help _~~K~~ Ishimaru _ instead!? Hell, the only person who’d even tried ta talk to him since Valentine’s had been _Leon,_ and that’d just been so he could take the piss outta him about _fucking Ishimaru!_ Well, now _they_ could all fucking wait for _him!_

_*Ding dong.* *Ding dong.* *Ding dong.*_

And they could _keep_ fucking waiting until he fucking _felt_ like talking to ‘em! Fucking _assholes,_ pretending ta be his friends when they didn’t even give enough of a shit ta come check on him after he missed two days of classes… Maybe he should just quit this piece of shit school and go back ta the gang, back ta being the _strongest_ again, instead of surrounded by people _better_ than…

_“A-heecck! Caff caff…”_ What the fuck was that noise!? Was that someone _coughing?_

_WHAT!?_ What the _fuck_ were Kirigiri and Makoto doing in here!? Hadn’t he locked the door!?

“How the _fuck_ did you two get in here!?” He demanded, pretending ta slam the shitty chisel he’d been using onto the desk so he could use it to help himself stand up straight without looking like a dumbass…

Kirigiri muttered something… some shit about Makoto being able ta ust _push_ the damn thing open… Since when the fuck was _he_ so strong!? Well, if he was  _that_ fuckin' desperate ta talk...

"Alright, _fine_... Why the fuck are ya tryin ta blow up my damn doorbell, Makoto!" And why the fuck was he just _staring_ at him!? And not even staring in _fear_ like the little pipsqueak _usually_ did, this time it was like he was staring with… with…

_Oh fuck no!_ He didn’t need _pity_ from fucking wimpy-ass _Makoto!_

"Mondo... What _happened_ to you?" _Shit!_ There was no fucking _way_ he was gonna admit this shit was ‘cause of that fucking _hall monitor!_

"Nothing fuckin' happened..."

"Don't give me that _crap,_ look at this place... Look at _you!_ " Makoto cried, "You look like you're going through a break-up!"

The fuck was he saying? That Mondo was acting like some fucking _chick,_ eating ice cream and shit ‘cause her fella left her!? " _Fuck you, Makoto_ , it ain't a damn _breakup!_ Just cause I realised that asshole's been playin' me for a _month_..." He needed a fucking drink…

"...Playing you...? Who are you...?" As is Makoto didn’t know who he was talking about! Like there was _anyone_ who wouldn’t fucking know!

"Oh don't _you_ gimme _that_ crap! You know who I mean! That asshole Ki...” No, don’t use his first fucking name, Mondo you dumbass! _“Ishimaru!_ T-telling me I need ta quit smoking cause he's _worried_ about me when he actually just wants me ta get everyone else ta follow the _rules_... And saying I'm really _good_ and just need ta _practise_ at this carpentry bullshit when I _fucking suck_ at it!" Which was why whatever _this_ stupid piece of shit was supposed ta have been could get the fuck off of his _table!_

_"You don't suck at carpentry!_ " Makoto lied. "That paper weight you made for me was really good!"

_"Bullshit!_ That was a piece of crap! He's just told ya to come in here and say that 'cause he knows I'm on ta him, _didn't he!?"_ Yeah, that'd be it... ‘cause ~~Ki~~ _Ishimaru_  couldn’t go around saying he’d made a good example of Mondo if Mondo was in here doing what he fuckin’ _wanted_ for the first time in a _month!_

"No... That's _wrong!_ " Makoto snapped, like it was his fuckin’ _catchphrase_ or something! "I came in here because he was on the verge of _tears_ when he told me you've not spoken to him since Tuesday..."

Oh, _please!_ Like Taka crying meant _fuck all!_ He cried about Goddamn _everything!_ Besides… "Why the fuck would he _care!?_ He's off doing kinky, self-harm, bandage shit with his nympho girlfriend who apparently gives him so much chocolate he can dump some of it in front of my door to show off that girls actually _like_ him..." And just rub in Mondo’s face even _more_ that no one gave a _shit_ about worthless fucking _Mondo!_

“You mean this chocolate? The one wrapped in printer paper?” What was Kirigiri talking about? Shit… that was _that_ parcel, wasn’t it? The one he’d been _so_ fucking _happy_ ta get, right until he saw it had a fucking chocolate _K_ in it!?

"What the fuck!?” Where’d she even _got_ that? Hadn’t he dumped it in the bin? What the fuck was she doing with shit that was in his _bin?_ Was she casing the jointing or summat!? “Don't go through my stuff you klepto bitch…! But yeah, it's _that_ one!” Mondo told ‘em, fuck it, he might as well let ‘em know what an _asshole_ perfect fucking _Ishimaru_ actually _was!_ “Fucking smug _asshole_ left it in front of my door after he came back covered in grass stains and yelled at me for…”

“Dear Kyoudai…” Kirigiri suddenly spoke.

“... _What!?”_ Wait… what was she looking at? Where’d she got that note? Had that been in with the chocolate? So why’d it start with ‘Dear _kyoudai?’_ Had… had that _asshole_ replaced him with _her!?_

“Dear _Kyoudai_ …” Kirigiri said it again, like it was supposed ta _prove_ summat! “I hope you enjoy this… _Urg_... Just read it yourselves…” She suddenly pulled a face like the note smelt of old fish and shoved at in Mondo’s face instead… What the fuck was with this squiggly writting? He was too drunk ta read this properly, he'd just skim it...

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35835134341/in/dateposted-public/)

“ _What…?”_ They were _from_ Kiyotaka!? So… why’d he left it outside _Mondo’s_ door!?

 “…He got you _friendship_ chocolates…” Fuck… was Makoto right? _Kiyotaka_ had actually decided to _spend money?_ On _him!?_ Just because…because…

Because he’d wanted to tell _Mondo_ he _did_ _‘care for him’_ and thought _he_ was the ‘best thing ever’!? Because he felt _Mondo_ was his _bro_ and he was _sorry_ he hadn’t been the on _Valentine’s Day?_ Because he wanted to remind Mondo that he was his _friend?_

“...I didn’t know!” He wouldn’t have called ~~Ki~~ _Ishimaru_ an asshole if he’d know _that_ … but… that wasn’t _his_ fault! “It’s a letter ‘K’! It makes more sense that it’s _to_ him from that nympho nurse than _from_ him!”

“…Why do you keep calling her a nymphomaniac?” What? Had Kirigiri been living under a rock for the last week!?

“What, you’ve not _heard?_ Seems like everywhere I go everyone’s talking about how he had one hand up her skirt and the other on her chest… Fucking pissing me off... Everyone talking about him…” Probably all talking about what a _man_ he’d turned out ta be, being able to score a hottie like _Tsumiki_ and get her to whatever-base after _one date…_ "…and they're probably all laughin' at me 'cause I can't even make _friends_ with girls let alone find one that wants ta...!"

“Mondo… She didn't _want_ him to do that! Their date was _terrible!_ He could barely _talk_ to her!” The fuck was Makoto on about? If she hadn’t _wanted_ him ta feel her up he wouldn’t have!  ~~Kiy~~ _Ishimaru_ wasn’t some fucking _scumbag!_ “The only reason he ended up touching her was because he tripped up into her and _landed_ like that!" Oh… yeah, alright… _that_ sounded like something he’d do… but then, why was everyone talking…? "And the reason everyone's talking about it is because he’s being accused of _assaulting_ her!"

What!? No fucking _way_ did Makoto just say that! " _Assault?_ Fuck off, there's no way Kiyo... _Ishimaru_ would _do_ that..."

"I know... And we've been _trying_ to tell everyone that...” He cringed, “But they just know him as the annoying shouty guy who gives them detention for running in the halls... They love the idea that he's secretly worse than them..."

Alright, maybe that _did_ sound like something people would do… hell, a month ago _he’d_ have fucking joined in with them, but if it was really true that is best friend was being accused of assault them…

"Well... How come no one told me!?" That woulda been what a fucking _normal_ group of friends did, right!? "How come every time I've tried ta talk ta Chi he's just told me he's too busy working on some video for Kiyota... _Ishimaru!?_ Like I ain't got few enough friends at this school without that asshole _stealin'_ 'em..."

"He's trying to uncorrupt the video that would prove Kiyotaka's innocence." The fuck was Kirigiri on about? Did that mean Chi was busy ‘cause he was helping prove ~~Kiyotak~~ _Ishimaru_ hadn’t tried ta grope Tsumiki? "And given that Kiyotaka's been kicked off the disciplinary committee…” _HUH!?_ Who was giving out detentions then!? “…and is being attacked in the corridors…” _What!? Who the hell had done that!?_ “…not 'off doing kinky bandage stuff with his nympho girlfriend' until that video gets sorted out, it's understandable that he's prioritising it over you. Especially as we all thought you'd also want to see Kiyotaka proclaimed innocent as much as the rest of us do." Shit the girl had a point… but it wasn’t like Chi was the only friend he had!

"Well, Leon didn't say anything either!"

"You told him not to talk to you about it!" Oh… shit, that was _right!_ He’d thought Leon was gonna take the piss… "He thought it's been pissing you off so much you didn't want to hear anymore about it..." Yeah, couldn’t blame Leon for this… but there was still _one_ guy who shoulda fucking talked ta him about this… right?

"Well... Well then why the fuck has Kiyotak... _Ishimaru_ not said a damn word to me since Tuesday then!?” Hah! See if they could think of some clever answer ta _that_ one! It wasn’t like ~~Kiyotaka~~ _Ishimaru_ hadn’t had a chance ta! “I even went ta classes on Wednesday to give him a chance ta explain why he bitched at me or maybe overhear what he was saying ta everyone else and he didn't say a _fuckin'_ thing about it ta _anyone!_ "

"Well... What was the last thing you guys talked about...?" The fuck was Makoto asking _that_ for? Why should _that_ have made a difference!? All that happened was…

"He turned up and bitched at me for smoking so I...” What _had_ he done? “I...” He’d got angry and yelled something, right? “I...” He’d yelled that he was an _asshole_ and _… Oh._ “… _shit_."

"You, what?" Why’d Kirigiri bother ta _ask,_ given she obviously fuckin’ _knew_ what he’d done from the look on her face… But even so, he oughta own up for it…

"I called him an asshole and told him ta fuck off..."

"Yeah, _there_ you go, _that's_ why... He thinks he 'ruined' your friendship..." Makoto said, like Mondo couldn’t fuckin’ figure that out for himself… "He's been so miserable he barely spoke for three days... and he's not sleeping at night, so he keeps falling asleep in class..."

The _hell?_ Kiyotaka was so fucked up he was falling asleep in _class?_ Just… just because _Mondo_ had quit talking to him? Could Mondo _really_ mean that much to him?

"Are... are you guys _serious_...? D-does... does Kiyotaka really actually _give a shit_ about me...?"

"Yes." Makoto grinned at him like he was a dope.

"Obviously!" Kirigiri rolled her eyes.

"He's your 'kyoudai' after all!" Makoto added.

That was right! He _was_ Kiyotaka’s kyoudai! Even if he _had_ been a shitty one for the last few days… but Kiyotaka would forgive him for that, right? He… he _would_ give Mondo an easy ride, wouldn’t he? If just being Mondo’s _friend_ meant _that_ much to him? If he really _did_ care for him?

To think he’d been thinking of leaving the damn school cause of this! To think he’d needed fucking _Makoto Naegi_ ta come and kick some sense into him! He fucking _owed_ Makoto for this! But first he needed to go and apologise to his Kyoudai!

"Well... Where the hell _is_ he then?" Mondo asked with a determined look.

"I left him holding up a couch on the stairs up to this floor..." Makoto pointed.

What? He’d _left_ Kiyotaka? Holding a _couch?_ By _himself!?_

"...You did _what!?"_ Even his own _girlfriend_ thought he was a dumbass!

"Err..." Hell, even _he_ thought he was a dumbass…

"You fuckin' _dumbass_..." Makoto was lucky Mondo _owed_ him, or he’d have taken the time ta _thump_ him before heading outta the door ta go help Kiyotaka…

 

(Sunday, 18th March 2012)

Why was he using Taka’s email for this? This was a stupid idea… even if he trashed the sent mail, she’d probably just reply _to the email_ and then Taka would see the entire conversation the next time he logged on. It’s not like Mondo could keep his laptop logged into Taka’s email forever and keep monitoring it... He was lucky enough Taka had forgot to logout earlier…

But… fuck it… he _hated_ keeping Daiya’s death a secret… he wanted to tell _someone._ Even if it was someone who didn’t know who he _was…_

_“Hi”_ There was no way he had time to type that stupid long name…

_“This aint Taka im just usin his account to hide who I am.”_ There, no chance she’d asked Taka about having a brother and let him know what he’d done… Which was…

“ _I fucked up a year ago and my bro died and I lied and said it was his own fault.”_ There… done… Now what?

_“Just wanted to tell someone.”_ Yeah… he should probably explain _that_ at least… but what if she decided to reply?

_“Don’t reply to this email cause it aint my account. If ya wanna say anything leave it in the middle desk of the second row in my homeroom class.”_

Aaaand _send!_ There… done! He’d told someone his secret! Now he could…

Well… shit. He couldn’t really do anything differently, could he? Hell, it’s not even like he could talk to her about it, ‘cause he’d not told her who he _was!_ What the hell had he been thinking!? Risking _Taka_ finding out what he’d done, just to get it off his chest in secret?

And, oh _crap,_ what if the chick didn’t bother trying to find out who he was and just announced to everyone that this was a thing that had happened to one of the students!? The gang would figure out it’d been _him_ in _minutes!_

_SHIT!_ He shoulda just kept his fucking mouth shut! He was gonna _screwed_ if this chick did anything other than keep quiet about it! Why the _fuck_ had he thought this was a good idea…!?

 

(Tuesday, 27th March 2012)

Why had that comment _hurt_ so much!?

Shit, was this why what’s-her-face had told him he should quit being a wimp and just _tell_ Taka how Daiya had died already? So he didn’t say shit like _that,_ that felt like a stab in the heart?

But why the fuck _did_ it bother him so much? He _knew_ that all Taka had meant was that it’d be nice if Daiya was still alive, and he coulda met him… it’s not like _he_ knew the reason Daiya was dead was because of _him_ , and that he _coulda_ been alive if Mondo _wasn’t…_

Would Taka have preferred it that way? Would he have been happier in a world where _Daiya_ was the Ultimate Gang Leader and went to Hope’s Peak instead of Mondo? Where _he_ was Taka’s Kyoudai?

He tried to imagine it… Kiyotaka stood with his arm around _Daiya’s_ waist… looking up at _Daiya_ with a smile on his face as _Daiya_ ruffled his hair and laughed with him and… _Fuck!_ That made him want to punch something! Taka was _his_ Kyoudai, dammit!

…But he _coulda_ been _Daiya’s…_

And _Daiya_ probably wouldn’t need so much help with his homework… They coulda spent more time doing fun stuff like chilling in the sauna together instead of Taka having to explain the same shit over and over in different ways in order for him to get it!

And _Daiya_ had always been better at getting dumbasses to fall in line… _He_ coulda kept Leon from being such as ass to Taka, so the three of them and Chi coulda hung out all the time...

And _Daiya_ had probably liked reading for fun as well, right? They coulda sat leant up together, quietly reading instead of Taka having to tire himself out ‘cause Mondo was too thick to read a kid's book!

Hah… of _course_ Taka would rather be friends with _Daiya_ … Who the hell _wouldn’t!?_ His _gang_ certainly did! And it was all _Mondo’s_ fault no one _could_ anymore!

What would Taka think, if Mondo told him it was _his_ fault he’d never get to meet Daiya? He’d _hate_ Mondo for it, right? There was no way he could tell Taka his secret when his Kyoudai would rather be friends with the guy he’d killed than himself! Taka would probably never speak to him again!

Shit… he had to find some way to make Taka think he wouldn’t have wanted to meet Daiya after all… someway to convince his kyoudai that Daiya was actually an idiot…

_Without_ telling him Daiya had been _stupid_ enough to give up his life just for _Mondo’s…_

“The fuck did he _say_ ta you!?” Mondo jumped slightly as Michi came back from the bar with a couple of pints…

“Uhh… who?”

“Don’t gimme that crap, Mondo!” He scowled, “You’ve been in a funk since you spoke to that fucking _nerd_ of yours earlier! Honestly, I dunno why ya bother pulling over for that hardass…”

“’Cause _he_ doesn’t wanna make me die in a fucking bike crash! Like _Daiya_ did! Is that so fucking _bad!?”_ Mondo couldn’t help but snap at him… Michi hadn’t even _met_ Taka and he’d already decided he couldn’t _stand_ his kyoudai… Even though he really _was_ just worried Mondo might get hurt… What the fuck would have happened if he  _had_ brought Taka here to meet him?

“N-no! I mean… _I_ wouldn’t want ya ta die either!” Michi cringed, “But… Why don’tcha just tell him you’re _smarter_  than Daiya? _You_ wouldn’t fuck up like _he_ did!”

It took every ounce of self-control Mondo _had_ to push down the wave of sickening guilt that threatened to make him puke up his drink… He _had_ fucked up like that! _That_ was why his brother was _dead!_ And Daiya’d probably be rolling in his _grave_ hearing people talk about him like that! But… he’d _promised_ to keep the gang together, and they wouldn’t stick with him if he let this guilt _out…_ Even if he _was_ getting more and more desperate to admit it, if only to get his best friends ta quit saying stuff about Daiya that made him _feel_ like this!

“Nah…That wouldn’t work… Taka reckons Daiya was smarter than me…” He said, _slowly_ , to make sure he said _that_ and not the _other_ thing he’d been thinking…

_“Eh!?_ Why the fuck would he think _that!? You’re_ the one who got into that fancy school!” Michi exclaimed, “You’re _way_ smarter than Daiya was! Hell, you’re probably the smartest guy I know!”

The _hell?_ That couldn’t be right… “How fucking bad _is_ your school, if the _teachers_ are dumber than _me!?”_

_“Hahaha!_ Alright… ya got me _there_ …” Michi laughed, “But… ya probably the smartest guy I know who ain’t a weak _-_ ass _nerd_ who likes… I dunno… _books_ or some shit…”

“What’s wrong with liking _books?_ ” Mondo muttered, without thinking.

Michi’s face twisted in annoyance, “Alright… I _know_ you’re friends with yer class swot… but ya don’t _seriously_ think a _man_ should be spending his time _reading,_ do ya?”

Urg… Alright, so it wasn’t exactly the most _badass_ thing to do… but it had been _fun_ , listening to Taka read… He’d thought the gang would _enjoy_ that book! But if Mondo tried to tell him _that,_ Michi’d just insult Taka again…

But… if Taka was right… Maybe he could convince Michi that someone _he_ respected liked reading as well… “I dunno… I think Daiya might have liked reading… he had a ton of books stashed away in the apartment…”

“Wasn’t that just ‘cause he was chatting up that chick in the library?” Michi asked, like every _other_ member who’d ever heard about the pile of books they’d found when sorting out Daiya stuff…

“Well… maybe. But what if it was more than that? I mean… did ya every actually _meet_ that library chick?” Mondo such as hell hadn’t… “ Maybe Daiya just made her up so he’d have an excuse ta read what he wanted without us ripping the piss outta him…”

“When would he have had _time!?”_ Michi cried, “He had the gang ta look after, plus _you_ ta look after! Plus he musta spent a _ton_ of time working out to keep himself strong, right?”

“Uhh… yeah… I guess…” He hadn’t thought of it like that…

“So, he wouldn’t have been _able_ ta read a bunch of books!” Michi rolled his eyes, “Hell, I ain’t even got time ta go to _school_ half the time, these days…”

“WHAT!?” He was _joking,_ right!? Shit… he _wasn’t,_ was he? “Whaddaya _mean_ ya ain’t been going ta school!?”

“Well… I’ve been looking after the gang! Like ya _asked_ me to!” He snapped, looking upset that Mondo had called him on it…

“Yeah, but I kinda assumed ya’d look after yourself _first!”_ Mondo snapped back.

“I _am_ looking after myself! That’s why I quit wasting time on school so I could look after the gang _and_ myself!” Michi missed the point by a fucking mile…

“Michi… ya do realise we’re gonna have ta leave the gang at _some_ point, right?” Mondo asked him, “Like Diaya… was _gonna_ …”

“Yeah… But that ain’t gonna be for _years…”_

“I know. But what the fuck are ya gonna do for a job if ya missed half of school ta be in a gang!?”

“I…” He shifted under Mondo stare… “I _dunno,_ alright!? I’ve been trying not ta think about it!”

Mondo just sighed, what the fuck was he going to do? Why had Michi been dumb enough to…

“But… I was doing crap at school anyway!” Michi insisted, “I never understood half the shit the teachers were talking about anyway, and it was just getting worse and worse, so why fucking bother! I’m just too dumb for it…”

Oh… _that_ was why… he had the same problem with school that _Mondo_ had, before _Taka_ had stepped in to help…

“Nah… you ain’t dumb! Ya just didn’t have a good enough teacher!” Mondo ruffled his hair… “I’ll help ya out!”

“Wha…? _You!? You’re_ gonna teach me shit?” Michi almost laughed.

“Hey! I thought I was the smartest person ya knew!?” Mondo smirked, “You’re gonna be stuck with me for the whole rest of the holiday, and we ain’t gonna be able ta work out for the it, but I reckon I can get ya caught up before you go back ta school, alright?”

“So… ya wanna _study_ with me for a week?” Michi blinked in surprise…

Aww, hell… he was probably about to call Mondo a total nerd or somethi…

“Y-yeah! Alright! Let’s do it!” Michi jumped up, “I’ll go get the books and shit I’ve still got and you can help me understand it all!”

Huh… getting _him_ to agree to _that_ had been easier than he’d expected… But how was he gonna actually make this work? He’d need to be somewhere quiet… Perhaps he could take the gang camping for a few days, so he and Michi could get some peace… and that way he’d be parked up in time for Taka’s call…

Aww, crap! He still had to convince Taka that Daiya wasn’t clever, didn’t he? Then again, Michi had a point… there’d be no _way_ Daiya couldn’t have done all the gang stuff _and_ kept himself strong _and_ have read a bunch of books, was there…?

 

(Wednesday, 25th April 2012)

Why the _fuck_ did Fukawa think he’d wanna do _that!?_

She’d been so right about it up until she said that! But it couldn’t have just been a lucky guess, could it? But how the fuck was it so obvious what he wanted? It wasn’t like he’d ever spoken to anyone about what sort of chick he wanted… Maybe Fukawa really _did_ get this shit? But then why would she follow it up with him fucking the chick in front of the gang, not carrying her off to a room while the others waited, like Daiya had always done…

Did she think the Crazy Diamonds were some group of perverts, who’d get off on watching a guy banging some chick he’d just met in a bar!? Did she think the bikes were so they could go around doing that, what did they call it… _dogging_ (fucking _stupid_ name for it!) shit that sad-ass middle-aged people did in car parks? Was _that_ the sort of shit people thought gangs got up to? But if it _was,_ then how come no one _else_ ever said it? And if it was just Fukawa being a perv, how come _she_ only said it about _him,_ and not that yakuza guy, or Leon and his baseball team?

Was it just _Mondo?_ Did he give off some air of being a fucking pervert or something? Some weirdo who couldn’t get off unless he was being watched by everyone? So did that mean everyone was fucking laughing at him about it, behind his back? Was that why no one was fucking _sacred_ of him anymore? Because they all thought he was a loser now?

Shit… what if that was true? What if, as soon as summer holidays rolled around, everyone else in school left and started telling everyone _they_ knew that Mondo Oowada was a perv? The Diamonds would become a laughing stock! And then his whole gang would be pissed off with him… He couldn’t let _that_ happen! If it was true, then he needed to fucking sort this shit out, quick! But how could he find out? It’s not like anyone was gonna be dumb enough ta let him overhear them talking about it… he’d have to ask someone, someone who’d actually know about it, was honest enough to tell him about it if it _was_ true and nice enough not to rip the piss outta him for asking if it _wasn’t_ …

…

“Uhh… Hey, Chi! Are ya busy?”

Chi looked surprised to see him… then again, he must not have been expecting _anyone_ to visit him, given he was wearing a nice, fluffy looking bathrobe and slippers. (Sometimes Mondo couldn’t help but get jealous of some of Chi’s clothes…)

“Oh, hey, Mondo! I’ve got time!” Chi invited him in, “Not hanging out with Taka tonight?”

“Nah… he’s still reading Fukawa’s bullshit…” Mondo told him, “She gave him some more at lunchtime…”

“Geez, even _after_ he was lecturing her about it?” Chi smirked, “Is that why you stopped to talk to her after class?”

Crap… he’d noticed that!? “Uhh… No, I wanted ta talk to her about something else…” Mondo said, vaguely. “Which was what I wanted ta talk to ya about…” Now how the fuck was he gonna ask about this? Even though Chi was a pretty cool dude, it wasn’t like Mondo wanted to make a total dumbass of himself about this… Shit, he probably shoulda rehearsed this before coming here so he’d…

“…Okay?” Chi got sick of waiting for him ta ask...

_“Does everyone in school think I’m a weirdo pervert or summat!?”_

Fuck! ‘Yell the question at him with no fucking context’ was _not_ how he shoulda _done_ that!

“Uhh… no.” Chi blinked. “No, they don’t.”

Well, that was good! Now he could leave, before he did anything _else_ stupid. “Thanks! Great talk, buddy!” He turned for the door…

“…Did Toko tell you they _do?”_ Chi asked, making him freeze just as he had his hand on the doorknob…

He _could_ just leave… but knowing Chi nowadays, he’d just follow him out into the corridor and ask about it _there…_ and even if Mondo escaped into his own room he’d probably just go pester _Taka_ for the spare key…

“Not… exactly…” He admitted, “She thinks I wanna fuck chicks in front of my _gang_ though…”

“Uhh… okay…? But… that’s just _Toko_ , not the whole school…” Chi pointed out, “Why would you think anyone actually _listens_ to her?”

“Well, yeah… I guess I’m worrying for no reason…” It wasn’t like he’d _done_ anything pervy to make the whole school believe _Fukawa,_ even if she _had_ been right about that first part! “It’s just… I thought it might explain why people ain’t so _scared_ of me anymore.”

“Huh? That’s probably just because you haven’t punched anyone in two months.” Chi shrugged, “Not at school anyway…”

Shit… Chi was _right!_ He _hadn’t! Why_ hadn’t he? It wasn’t like people hadn’t taken the piss outta him… but most of the time he’d been with Taka, who always argued _back_ with ‘em, and then it became a war of _words_ , not _fists_ , and Taka was always happier with that… Plus once he’d finished quitting and his temper calmed down, he stopped giving a fuck what dumbases thought of him anyway…

But was that a _good_ thing? What if it meant people didn’t worry about making fun of him anymore? What if they heard Fukawa’s shit and decided ta _repeat_ it?

“…I thought you’d be _happy_ to hear that!” Chi was looking up at him in concern, “Your temper’s got better! That’s a _good_ thing, isn’t it?”

“Well… I guess.” It’d help for when he had to deal with customers and shit, right? But that was in the _future… Now_ he still had to worry about what the guys in the gang thought…

“You don’t seem convinced…” Chi sighed.

“I just... I got my _rep_ ta think of! ‘Cause of the gang!” Mondo told him, “If people ain’t _scared_ of me, what’s ta stop ‘em repeating shit about me, behind my back…?”

“Umm… what makes you think there’s any shit _to_ repeat?” Chi asked, “Just because people aren’t _scared_ of you doesn’t mean they don’t _respect_ you!”

“Yeah, well they ain’t gonna _respect_ me much if Fukawa convinces them all I’m a _perv!”_

“Wha…? Again, why do you think anyone would _listen_ to her? Chi huffed, “It’s not like she’s right about much _else_ she comes out with…”

“Uhh… _yeah! Course not!”_ Mondo lied.

Chi just stared at him and took a deep breath…

“Alright, she got the first part right.” Mondo admitted.

“The… first part?”

“Like… the first part of… what I think about…” Wait, shit, no! Don’t say _that!_ “When I imagine how I’d like ta meet a chick!”

“Uh… _huh…”_ Fuck, Chi knew he was talking about his jerk-off fantasy, didn’t he? “And how exactly _do_ you imagine meeting girls? I mean… what did Toko _say?”_

“Just normal stuff… I’m in a bar with my gang and a hot babe comes over, says she’s been eying my up all evening and then sits on my lap!”

“That _all_ she said?” Chi was looking at him weirdly…

“Uhh… She said the gang get jealous?” Mondo remembered, “Oh! And the babe was _totally_ hot! Not just hot…”

“But she didn’t actually… _describe_ the woman at all?” Chi asked, “Other than saying she was hot?”

“Uhh… Did she _need_ ta? Everyone knows what a hot chick looks like!”

“And that is…?” Urg… what was Chi’s hang-up over this?

“Well… y’know…! Slim… but curvy! With a good looking face!” That was the type of chick the everyone in the gang used to talk about, right? “The sort of chick on magazine covers!”

“So you’d want to date Junko?” Chi asked.

“Eh… well _no_ …” Mondo thought about it. “I mean… it’d be cool at first, but she treats her dudes like _dirt_ … Everyone’d think I was a chump…”

“Hmm… what about Sayaka… or one of her band?” Chi suggested.

Now _that,_ he could imagine! “Hell, yeah! Bringing home an _Idol!?_ That’d impress _everyone!”_

“So… you don’t really _care_ what the girl looks like, or even how she _acts,_ so long as your gang are impressed and jealous of you because of it…” Chi said, flatly. “You pretty much just want someone you can point to and say: ‘ _Look! I have a hot girlfriend, now quit making fun of me!’”_

“What!? No!” Although… yeah it _would_ be nice if the gang back off a bit with all the questions about how high his losing streak had got now… “I mean… It ain’t _just_ that! I wanna have sex as well! _Obviously!”_

“Why?” The fuck was Chi asking _that_ for!?

“Are ya serious!? I’m a _guy!_ Everyone knows guys wanna have sex!” Mondo snapped, “Otherwise the gang wouldn’t keep asking if I’ve _done_ it yet…”

“Umm… Okay…” Chi didn’t sound convinced, “How about _this_ then… Would you rather date a girl who’d have sex with you, but not let you tell anyone, or one who _wouldn’t_ have sex with you but would tell everyone you _did, and_ you were really _good_ at it?”

What kind of fucking stupid question was that? Obviously any guy would rather the first one, right? What was the point of everyone thinking ya _had_ had sex if ya didn’t _actually_ get ta do it? All it’d do was get the gang ta quit asking him about it… and they’ve never think of him like a _kid_ again… ‘cause they’d think he’d shown a girl a good time… like a _man…_

“Alright, ya made ya point.” Mondo bitched at him. “I rather the gang _think_ I’ve done it than _actually_ do it…”

“And in Toko’s mind, that’s the same as wanting the gang to _watch_ you do it…” Chi smirked.

_“THAT’S NOT WHAT I FUCKING WANT!”_ The words were screaming out of Mondo’s mouth before he realised it. “I… Sorry! It’s just… I just want the guys to take me seriously!”

“Well… I don’t really think a girlfriend is going to help you with that…” Chi said, carefully. “Not if they know they only reason you did it was to impress them…”

Yeah… that was probably true, wasn’t it? They just make fun of him for having his ‘pretend girl’ or some bullshit instead, right? This was bullshit… “Why does anyone _bother_ with girls?”

“Umm… because they can be fun to spend time with? Like any person?”

“Alright! I _know_ I need ta start thinking of girls as _people!_ Taka’s been bitching at me about that as well!” Mondo snapped, “I _meant,_ what’s the point of having a girlfriend if it’s not just for the sex and whatever…”

“You really don’t…?” Chi looked shocked for a moment, then stopped and thought about it, “Well… usually it’s because you meet one you really care about, and who cares about you as well, And then you spend time together because it makes you happy?” He didn’t look entirely sure himself… but then _he’d_ never had a girlfriend either… “At least, that’s how it’s _supposed_ to work...”

Being with someone who cares about you, ‘cause it makes ya happy…? “That sounds like me and Taka…”

“Uhh… I… _guess?”_

“’Cept I’d get ta _fuck_ a girl!” Mondo realised. That’d be _way_ fucking better! “And once we get married and she’d be stuck with me!”

“And you’d be stuck with _her…”_ Chi pointed out, “That’s why it matters that you at least have _some_ idea what sort of girl you’d like to meet!”

“Huh… Yeah…” He wouldn’t wanna end up like one of those guys who couldn’t stand his wife… “I wouldn’t want ‘em ta be bitching at me all the time… but I probably need someone who’ll tell me ta get my act together when I’m screwing around…” He’d have probably been screwed if Taka hadn’t been doing that for him for the last few months… “Someone with a lot of energy, to keep up with me… But they’d have ta have their own hobby for when I’m busy with the gang, or woodwork… and I’d need ‘em ta be honest about the woodwork, but not an ass about it… kinda like Taka is…”

“Umm… yeah. That sounds like a good fit for you…” Chi considered it.

It _did_ sound good! But it also sounded nothing like those girls he’d been _thinking_ he’d wanna get with… He’d always imagine a chick who was dolled up to the nines, but now he was actually _thinking_ about it…

“She’d have ta be practical… I don’t wanna turn into one of those guys who has ta wait an hour for his chick ta get ready ta go out!” He decided, “Someone who wouldn’t bother with much jewelry or make-up… maybe the sort of chick who just wears the same stuff every time they go out! And she’d probably have _short_ hair, right? That’s easier to sort out than long hair?”

“Umm… maybe? It depends on the style…” Chi told him… “…What do you think… _she’d_ look like?”

“I dunno… sounds like I’m being picky enough as it is…” Mondo realised, where the hell was he gonna find a chick who did even _half_ of that stuff?

“Maybe? But, if we’re talking fantasies here…?”

A fantasy girl? One he was thinking of for _himself,_ not to impress the gang? “Well… be nice if she was strong enough that I didn’t have ta worry ‘bout hurting her if I get a little over-enthusiastic…” He wouldn’t want her going ‘oof!’ every time he patted her back like Makoto or Hiro did! “So she’d probably be kinda muscly? Not like Oogami, just… hmm…”

“Toned, with good abs and muscle definition all over? Not the strongest but can hold their own in a fight?”

“Yeah! Like that!” That was it! “And I’d want her to look happy to see me… So a nice wide smile, and bright coloured eyes!”

“Red, maybe?” Chi suggested.

“Yeah! I like red eyes…” Mondo agreed, “And black hair, that’s a good match for red eyes.”

“… _Short_ black hair?” Chi remembered.

“Yep!” Mondo agreed, “Fat chance of me finding a girl like that though…”

“Probably…” Chi agreed, before mulling over whether to say something… “You _did_ just give a pretty good description of _Taka,_ though…”

_What!?_ “No I didn’t! I was describing a _chick!”_

“I know… but… Short black hair, red eyes, big smile… Wears the same clothes all the time, critiques your woodwork, doesn’t let you screw around too much, decent muscles…” Chi listed off everything he’d just said about, “The only bits of Taka you _didn’t_ describe were his eyebrows and his supposedly ‘nice ass’!”

“W-what!? I don’t think Taka’s got a _nice ass!”_ Mondo snapped, “Hell, I ain’t even really _looked_ at it! He’s a guy! I ain’t gonna stare at a…”

“I wasn’t saying _you_ think it’s nice!” Chi cried, “I was just quoting Junko!”

“Oh… right… okay then…” So long as no one thought he was staring at Taka’s ass… “But yeah, I guess that stuff _did_ sound a lot like Taka...” Chi nodded, “Shame he ain’t got a sister I could ask out!”

“…Yeah, sure.” Chi agreed.

He sounded kinda tired, actually… Maybe Mondo had been in here a bit too long…

“Well, thanks for the advice, man… I’ll get outta your hair now…”

“Alright! Let me know if you want to talk about anything _else,_ alright?”

“Will do! And same ta you!”

Hah… not that Mondo was much good at offering advice… But maybe Chi’d take him up on it if he ever needed someone beaten up…

He headed out of the room and into the hallway, just in time to spot Taka, grouchily unlocking his door, with Fukawa’s shit tucked under his arm and his torso leant slightly forward as he pushed it open…

_Huh…_ He really _did_ have a pretty nice ass… Damn shame _he_ wasn’t a _chick_ … although if he _was,_ Mondo would probably have fucked it up with _‘her’_ in the first week of term, given what an idiot and _used_ ta be… and still kinda _was_ …

 

(Saturday, 19th May 2012)

Why had he said _that!? Fuck!_ Goddamn Oogami! After that crap she’d come out with about Taka just being all worried about what other people thought of him, he’d been thinking all he had to do was give Taka an ego boost and he’d quit wasting time trying to impress Hina and start hanging out with _Mondo_ again!

But instead, all he’d done was given Taka the final push he needed to work up the courage to ask her out! Instead of getting his friend back, he’d only sped up the process of losing him forever! And now Oogami was gonna be pissed off with him, ‘cause he’d sped up the process of her losing _her_ friend as well! And then he was gonna have to explain getting the shit punched outta him by a _chick_ to the _gang…_

…Not that _that_ mattered! Shit, here he was _still_ thinking stuff like that! And, okay, it’d had only been three weeks since Fukawa had called him on it, but it was still pissing him off every time he noticed just how much of what he thought came back to this whole ‘I gotta impress the _guys...’_ attitude he’d got from _somewhere!_

He headed into the dining room for dinner, and saw Oogami sitting in there almost straight away, along with Makoto… guess she’d gone to _him_ seeing as _her_ friend was off behind the toilets, probably with her tongue stuck halfway down Taka’s throat now…

_Goddammit…_ Why had he thought of _that!?_ It made him so pissed off he wanted to throw a chair at something! What sort of shitty friend _was_ he, that he couldn’t even imagine seeing his friend in a happy relationship without getting _angry?_ Was he _that_ jealous that the guy had been better prepared for finding a girlfriend than he was? Or was he just getting pissed off because now Taka’d be too busy to spend time with _him_ anymore?

Ah, shit. Oogami had spotted him and was trying to get his attention, probably to ask if he’d done her request… Well, time to face the music!

“Ah, Oowada.” She nodded at him as he approached, while Makoto just sorta half-waved like usual. “Did you manage to speak to Kiyotaka?”

“Uhh… Yeah. But it probably had the opposite effect ta what you wanted…” Mondo admitted, “He ended up saying he’d ask her out _tonight…”_ He finished, waiting for her to punch his lights out…

Instead, all she did was look disappointed. “Ah… that is unfortunate. Hopefully she will not be too harsh when she turns him down…”

“What!? Why the fuck do ya think she’ll turn him _down?_ They get on great!” He snapped, both annoyed at the dissing of his kyoudai and hopeful that it would turn out to be true anyway…

Oogami scowled at the question, “That is true, but she is not interested in a romantic relationship with anyone.”

“Wait… who are you guys talking about?” Makoto asked.

“Geez, Makoto, ya been living under a rock!?” Mondo asked him, “Hina! The whole _school’s_ been fucking going on about it!”

“But… I asked him about that an _hour_ ago and he just said that he’s just _friends_ with her, like I was an idiot for even _mentioning_ the possibility that they’d date!” Makoto cried, “What did you _say_ to him?”

“I just told him I’d been hearing a lotta the school saying he had ta ask her out!” Mondo admitted, “And then he asked if I thought she’d _wanna_ date him so I said yes, ‘cause who wouldn’t?”

“That was it? He seemed so… uninterested in her when I spoke to him…” Makoto frowned, “Why would he change his mind like that just because _you_ brought it up?”

“…Perhaps it was merely the final the final thing that broke his resolve?” Oogami suggested.

“What, ya think he was only acting uninterested, but got tempted ‘cause everyone’s talking about it being a possibility?”

“No. I believe he is truly uninterested.” Oogami disagreed, “But… he said something to some of us a few days ago… that there has never been a Prime Minister who was not married.”

“Urgh… and his _dad’s_ told him he should start getting a ‘practise girlfriend’ for when he’s older…” Makoto sighed, “And thinking about it, I didn’t exactly make it obvious that I was trying to tell him I _didn’t_ think he should ask her out…”

_“So!?_ Why the fuck does any of _that_ shit matter!?” Mondo cried, “It’s not like that shit would make him ask out a chick he ain’t into!”

Makoto stared at him like he was an idiot. “Mondo… that’s _exactly_ what it’s like!”

What the fuck was Makoto on about? “Why!? What’s it matter if there’s not been an unmarried Prime Minister!? It just means he’ll be the first!”

“That’s assuming he gets voted in, though…”

“Why _wouldn’t_ he?” Mondo asked, angrily. “He’d better than all those other assholes who take the job, he actually _gives a fuck!”_

“Yeah… but it’s not that easy… He’s got to convince people that he’s responsible and trustworthy, and would be a good leader as well…” Makoto carried on.

“He _is_ all those things!” Mondo snapped.

“I know! Everyone in class knows that!” Makoto cried, “But he’s been worrying for months that he won’t be able to convince people _outside_ of our group of friends to vote for him…”

“He _has!?”_ Mondo asked.

“Yes!” Makoto sighed at him, “Remember that doujin he drew?”

“Uhh… yeah.” He still had the copy Chi had given him hidden in his room, for whenever he felt embarrassed about his own abilities.

“Well, if you’d actually _read_ it, you might have noticed he calls himself a fool multiple times in it!” Makoto snarked, “Which was because he was worried about trying to go into politics when he wasn’t very good at talking to people!”

“ _That_ was his concern?” Ooagmi asked, “I thought he was concerned that he’d never be able to make up for his grandfather’s mistakes…”

“Well… yeah, he probably worries about that as well…” Makoto agreed with her.

“Alright, so _maybe_ he’s got doubts about the future!” Mondo conceded, “Why the fuck’s _that_ making him ask out a chick _now?"_

“Umm… because there’s a lot of voters who worry about stupid things, including whether a politician is happily married, before voting for them…” Makoto explained, “So, he thinks he’s got to be ready to have this perfect relationship to convince them.”

“That’s got nothing to do with running the country thought!” Mondo snapped, “He can probably afford to lose a few dumbasses like that, right?”

“I do not think _he_ believes that to be the case though, Oowada.” Oogami sighed.

“Which is why he’s putting on an act that he thinks will make people trust him in the future…” Makoto sighed.

“Huh.” Mondo muttered, and the table fell into silence before he left them to it and went to get his own food and eat it in his room. He wasn’t sure he really believed the pair of them. Taka always said effort was everything… and no one put in more effort than _him,_ so why wouldn’t he think he’d work his way to the top, eventually?

Still, at least there was a chance Hina would say no to him, and he wouldn’t have lost his friend. Assuming Oogami had actually been right about _her…_ he didn’t believe her about _Taka_ , why should he believe her about _Hina?_

…Maybe he could have another look at that shitty comic and see if he could see what they were on about…

He dug the copy Chi had given him out from the bottom of the drawer it was stuffed into, taking a moment to laugh at the ‘artwork’. Taka had had the balls to show _this_ at the art fair, and they didn’t think he had confidence? Still, like Makoto had said, he’d never actually _read_ it, had he? He’d never thought it was that important, Taka had always said it was just an idea he’d come up with in a rush, because he’d misunderstood Yamada…

Well, the whole plot was about ‘him’ trying to clean up the mess his grandfather had made… specifically worrying about screwing over people’s dreams... Presumably Toranosuke’s rule had fucked up things for people, money-wise… plus there was a mention about having to replay their debts that was in huge capital letters… And now Makoto mentioned it, Mondo could sorta see how Taka might be saying he was a fool for trying do a job he wasn’t exactly gifted for… And maybe the bit with ‘Mondo’ handing over the food at the end was him thinking he’d only get anywhere at _all_ if his opponents _let_ him win…

Shit… they weren’t kidding, were they? Taka really didn’t think he could get anywhere! But he _could_ … he was fucking _amazing!_ How could he not see it? And he worked so fucking _hard,_ at _everything!_ How could he even _imagine_ a scenario where he did all that and didn’t get everything he’d ever hoped for at the end of it all?

Mondo had always thought all his hard work was just to cement, what Taka would think, was the already bygone conclusion that he would be Prime Minister and surpass his grandfather… not that Taka honestly believed that all it would do was give him just the slightest chance of managing it! How could have so little self-confidence? He believed in Mondo, why couldn’t he believe in himself? Hadn’t anyone ever told him how great he was?

…Had _Mondo_ ever told him? He… he couldn’t remember. He’d _thought_ it enough times, and he’d asked Taka never to _change_ , but had he ever actually said how great he was? How much they all liked him? How amazing he was gonna be as a politician?

Maybe it was about time he _ought_ to…

 

(Monday, 4th July 2012)

Why the fuck was Taka taking so _long?_ Mondo had shit he wanted to say, already! He’d decided, today, his 16th birthday, was when he was finally going to be _man_ and tell everyone, especially _Taka_ , the truth about _Daiya!_

So where the fuck _was_ he!? He was sick of hiding this shit already! He was sick the guilt and stress that gripped his stomach and made him want to scream every time someone happened to mention brothers, or traffic accidents, or _lies!_ He was sick of thinking that something someone had said meant they must know about it already, and were seconds from blackmailing him over it! He was sick of worrying that any second now someone was gonna find out and then they’d tell everyone and his gang would split and the school would kick him out and Taka would never speak to him again!

He needed to get this over and done with! Hell, he’d _wanted_ to do it when Fukawa told everyone about _her_ being a murderer but… he couldn’t. He couldn’t take the risk. Even with Taka saying right then that he trusted all his class and had faith in them and all that shit… Even _then_ , wasn’t there the chance, even the tiniest chance, that Taka was gonna hate him for it? To refuse to be Mondo’s brother, because Mondo had _killed_ his last one!? Even if it was a tiny risk, it was still too much of a risk to take!

He _needed_ Taka in his life! Taka made him _better…_ at _everything!_ And he’d finally managed to figure out the _real_ reason why _…_ it wasn’t just that Taka believed in him, when he couldn’t… it was a two-way thing! Taka didn’t have the confidence to believe in himself _either_ , so he needed _Mondo_ to believe in him _for him_ , and then that made _him_ a better person and then he believed in Mondo _even more_ and… and it was like this big, self-feeding… _circle thing_ that just made both of them better and better _but only if they had each other!_

Taka must have figured it out himself… this was that ‘bond between men’ he always said was so important! That’s why he’d suddenly got so comfortable hugging him and shit! Because he knew the closer they got together, the more they grew together! And soon they’d have both grown proud and strong enough that they could go out into the world by themselves!

That’s how it _shoulda_ been… but Mondo’s secret was eating at him, like poison ivy chocking a tree and sucking out its life. Instead of him being able to appreciate the closeness they shared, he was constantly worrying that he’d lose it forever. Instead of being glad that Taka trusted him enough to fall asleep on top of him, even when he was half-naked and vulnerable, Mondo just felt guilty that Taka trusted him enough to believe he’d never do anything to hurt anyone he cared about…

So he _had_ to tell Taka about Daiya… neither of them would grow if he didn’t! But… he didn’t want to risk losing his friend forever either! So… he’d waited. He’d waited until his _birthday._ Because now it was his _birthday,_ Taka was going to owe him a _favour. Any_ favour! And Mondo knew _exactly_ what _his_ was going to be!

“Kyoudai!” Oh shit… here he was. “I’m sorry I’m late! Happy Birthday!”

And there _it_ was, right in front of his face… the booklet of paper that was gonna kill off the poison chocking him and let him and Taka grow closer and…

“Kyoudai… are you alright..? Have… Have you been _drinking!?_ How many of those have you _had?_ You’ll be _ill_ at this rate! We should take you to the nurse and…”

"NO! Hang on! I… I got a favour ta ask..." He spat out nervously, shoving the whole booklet back towards Taka. It was now or never, and he didn’t have time to fuck about with bits of paper.

"Err... Kyoudai... What…?"

"I'M GONNA TELL YOU ALL SOMETHING!" He shouted for attention, he didn't wanna have to say this shit twice. "And your favour..." He turned to Taka... "Is that you're not gonna fuckin' _hate_ me after I say it!"

"Kyoudai...I could never..."

"Just... Wait 'till I've fuckin said it!" Because he would have hated him, everyone would have... But Taka wouldn't, because he'd used the _voucher!_

"Ok?" Taka said, bemused.

"I... I'm a murderer..." Mondo spat out.

"What?"

"Geez... Join the club..." Toko muttered.

"This isn't like that stupid shit with you and Syo!" He yelled back at her "This was actually ME! I... I killed Daiya... I killed my brother!" There. He'd said it.

_Shit._ Shit he’d actually _said_ it… He looked around… everyone was staring at him with horror. Like the fuckin shitty weak _murderer_ he fuckin’ was… _Shit!_

But it was OK, ‘cause he’d used the _voucher_ so Taka would… would…

“I… I don’t believe this! _You’re not a killer!”_ Taka would try and deny it, shit.

“Well you _better_ believe it ‘cause it’s fuckin’ _true!”_

“NO! I _know_ you! I _know_ how much you loved Daiya! There’s _no way_ you would have…”

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Mondo yelled… He needed Taka to understand… to understand but not hate him… That was why he’d used the voucher. “I… I _did_ … _I did kill him!”_

“You right… I don’t understand… please explain it to me… I… just can’t _believe_ you would have…”

“I… _FINE!”_

He’d explained… he’d explained everything, about how he’d been too _worthless_ for his brother’s gang to respect him when he was supposed to take over… Too _scared_ to try and lead without challenging his brother to a race to show his superiority… Too _stupid_ to keep out of the way of an incoming truck…And too _weak_ to tell his gang the truth, that Daiya had pushed him out of the way, sacrificed his life for Mondo’s…

“S-so you get it now?” He asked, tears streaming down his face.

“I… I understand…” Taka replied, quietly.

“Great! So… so now…” Mondo pressed the booklet into his hands, “now… you’ve gotta _not_ hate me!”

“Kyoudai…” Taka looked at him with glistening red eyes, full of sadness. “I can’t take this…”

Shit! What had he been thinking! Like some fucking piece of paper would get him out of being a _murderer!_

“No… No PLEASE!” He tried to grab Taka arms… make him take the voucher and _care_ for him again… “PLEASE! I… _DON’T HATE ME!”_

“Of course I don’t hate you…” Taka murmured gently, putting his arms around his body and rubbing his back. “And that’s not just because of the voucher! That was an accident! A horrible, tragic _accident!_ It wasn’t your fault… _You aren’t a murderer_ …”

Oh… He… he coulda just said it ages ago? And Taka still trusted him enough to hug him… and… he’d never been hugged like this… he’d never had someone just wrap their arms around him because he was _scared_ … never had someone rub his back because he was shaking… this was probably the sort of shit _Moms_ were supposed to do, but he’d never had that and if Daiya had tried he’d have probably had the shit kicked outta him by their old man for ‘being a sissy’ or some stupid shit like that…

Fuck… Daiya musta been so scared of that guy… but he’d never had anyone to hug _him_ like this. He always said they had to be _strong_... because he’d never had anyone who’d look after him when he was _weak._

And he never got the chance to meet someone who would… because he… he’d…

“It… it’s not _fair!”_ Mondo sobbed into Taka’s chest.

“I… I know…” Taka replied… his arms shaking around Mondo and he was sobbing just as hard, if not more, than _he was._

Taka was crying for him… fuck, of course he was, Taka always cried for him, even when it was stupid shit like making himself worry about Mondo getting into an accident! He couldn’t imagine there being a time when Taka wasn’t there to cry for him…

He didn’t _want_ there to be a time when Taka wasn’t there to cry for him… or get excited for him, or to be confident for him. He wanted Taka to be there with him forever… because they complemented each other and looked after each other and made each other happy and Mondo… he… he...

_He loved this guy._

 

(Friday, 6th July 2012)

Why were there so many pictures of him staring at Taka’s _ass_ in here!? Hell, why were there any _at all!?_

Okay, _yes_ , he _loved_ Taka… but not in a _gay_ way! He just loved Taka, y’know… _bro_ mantically! Right!? Because Taka complemented him, brought out the best in him, put up with all his stupid shit and helped him whenever he needed it. And he needed Taka to keep doing all of that, to stay by his side to help and support and care for him forever. Y’know, even _after_ they were both married and had kids, which they obviously _would_ ‘cause neither of them was _gay_...

…Or at least, he’d _thought_ that, until he’d run into Syo when going into his appointment with Gekkogahara on Wednesday…

_(“Aww… You’ve been naughty and have to talk to bun-bun as well?”)_

_(“Murdering people ain’t “being naughty” you fucked up…”)_

_(“Ahahahahahaha! Sorry! It’s just my thing you know? So, what’d you do, biker bro?”)_

_(“I told you all at my birthday, ya should have listened then!”)_

_(“Hhhhmmmmm? You must have told stuffy pants… we don’t share memories, you know! But anyway! You had a birthday? Did that mean Tick-Tock owes you one of his little favours?”)_

_(“Uhh… Yeah he gave me a voucher…?”)_

_(“Sooo…. What are you gonna use it for?”)_

_(“I asked him ta talk to the school nurse again...)_

_(“WHHHAAATTT!? That's an awful favour! Why didn’t you ask him to let you grab his ass! Kyahahaha! And let you kiss him!”)_

_(“What the fuck!? Why the fuck would I want that you fuckin’…!”)_

_(“Ahahahahahahaha! Oh come on, biker bro! It’s not like you’ve not been looking at it! That photo book’s full of it!)_

_(“The hell it is! Get the hell outta my way you fuckin’ psycho...”)_

_That_ session had been fun... Gekkogahara had overheard him and Syo and all she’d asked was “ _Do_ you stare at his…?” before he’d spent the first half of the session rambling incoherently about how he ‘totally wasn’t gay!’ while she just stared at him, and the second half admitting that yes _,_ _maybe_ he did tend to stare at Taka a lot, but that was just because they hung out together and there wasn’t much else to look at… and it wasn’t like he was ugly or anything, so it wasn’t weird for Mondo to stare at him, right!? It wasn’t weird to watch a guy while he was working, and wait for him to be done with the question he was working on rather than interrupting him, right!? And it wasn’t weird to watch a guy exercise and wish you knew a _girl_ who had a nice ass like that, right!? You didn’t have to _like_ a guy, to end up _looking_ at him a lot, _right!?_

Yeah. She hadn’t even had to _answer_ that bullshit.

So, then he’d had a little internal panic at the idea, and his first thought had been ‘cut that shit out’! So he’d spent the last two days pointedly looking _away_ from Taka… and making his best friend _fucking miserable_ in the process! Not to mention he’d completely missed how freaked out Taka had been about the idea of cameras at Maizono’s birthday!

He couldn’t just keep trying to avoid this problem, it’d just fuck over Taka, as well as himself!  He needed to get this crap sorted out… Which meant he should at least see if Syo was _right_ about this so-called ‘evidence’ of his staring, while Taka had been dragged away for the weekend… Especially if he was intending to take this thing _home_ for the holidays!

So here he was, sneaking around in his homeroom class late at night, flipping through a ton of photos and _goddammit_ Syo really _hadn’t_ been kidding! Practically every photo with both of them in it had him staring at Taka, and _way_ too many of _those_ showed his eyes fixed firmed on his best friend’s backside.

_Fuck!_ Had Taka noticed? He hadn’t said anything if he _had…_ And he wasn’t the sort to worry about what everyone _else_ was doing in their photos anyway, he was always more focused on whether _he_ looked presentable in them, even though most of the time these days the answer to that question was a _hell fucking yes…_ At least as long as he didn’t worry about it until _after_ the photo got taken…

But Taka was talking about taking this home to show his _Dad_ … his _cop_ Dad… who probably _would_ notice if there was a gangster leering at his innocent son in _every single fucking photograph of him!_

He couldn’t let Taka take this home… not the way it was! He quickly looked around, making sure there was no one to spot him and started getting taking out all the photos where he was staring at Taka… Hopefully no one would notice…

Except… _fuck!_ Now there were pretty much _no_ photos of Taka left, other than the ones before he and Mondo became friends… and most of _those_ were the ones he’d been embarrassed about, weren’t they? Maybe he should take those out as well, so it didn’t look like Taka looked crap in photos all the time…

There! Now that left… Urg... not many at all! Hell, it was  _obvious_ a bunch of the photos had been taken out, there were huge fucking  _gaps_ all over the damn book, except for a could of months... But there was no way Mondo could figure out how to put the photos _back…_ he’d just been throwing them out all over the floor! Crap! Why was he such a _fucking idiot!?_ Now Taka was just going to upset that there were hardly  _any_ pictures of _him_ in the album he’d assembled to show his father some _pictures of HIM!_

Maybe he _could_ sort them back out? After all, Taka had managed to figure out what order they were all in, so it couldn’t be too hard, right? He started tidying up the photos and taking them back to his room…

…

_Uurgghh!_ This was impossible! How the hell did Taka know which photo went _where_ when none of them had dates or anything written on them? Was his memory just that good!? There was no way Mondo could sort this back out without him noticing! So, he was gonna have to tell Taka, right? He couldn’t just leave this like… _this!_ But what was he supposed to do, just up and admit he’d apparently been staring at Taka this whole time? How!? What would he do when Taka inevitably asked him _why,_ and he didn’t have any explanation?

What _was_ the explanation, even? It couldn’t be what Syo said, surely… she was just being a perv! Sure, he _loved_ Taka, but it wasn’t like he wanted to _kiss_ him or anything! He just… wanted to make sure they’d be friends forever!

…Maybe _that’s_ what he could use the voucher for! Hell, it was _kinda_ what he’d wanted on his birthday, _and_ with asking him to talk to Tsumiki… he’d just made his requests too specific! He didn’t _just_ want Taka to be alive for a long time; he wanted Taka to be _friends with him_ for a long time! So maybe instead of making him go see the nurse, he could ask Taka to... make him a promise, or something? A promise to be best buds forever? Like… a marriage… but a, what did they call it? A planktonic one?

Heh… That sounded pretty cool… him and Taka being planktonic husbands! Hell, maybe they could even have a little party to seal the deal, they could get Hagakure to come up with some stupid little ceremony for it, make it more official! They could even get dressed up in fancy clothes! Like… Taka could wear that nice black suit with the frills that Ludenberg gave him, and Mondo could wear his old white outfit, and they’d walk up the aisle together. And they’d hold hands, like earlier when Taka had been nervous… that had been pretty nice, until Taka had got embarrassed and pulled away… He’d have ta let Taka know he was alright with holding hands like that… then they could do it more often...

Then, once they'd walked up the aisle together, Hagakure would read some spiel out and then they could… he didn’t know, maybe they’d talk about how great the other was and then give each other their promises… Something about being best bros for life... always sticking with each other… whatever it was, Taka’s would probably sound better… more _fancy…_ something like…

_“Kyodai! You’re a wonderful person, and I **love** spending time with you! You encourage me to do things and meet people I’d never dream of otherwise, and I need you to be there for me **forever!** So of course I promise to always be there for you no matter how much of my time you need!”_

Yeah… summat like that, maybe… and he’d have that fuckin’ infectious smile that he always got when he was _impressed…_ And those bright red eyes would be shining up at him, and he’d be so close that Mondo would be able to just lean forward and press their lips together, putting one hand gently around Taka’s neck to steady him and, and…

…

Where the fuck did _that_ come from!? Scratch that, why couldn’t he get it out of his head!? Why did it suddenly seem appealing? Why was he imagining that Taka might respond by slipping his _own_ arms around Mondo’s waist and grabbing up the back of his coat, forcing them closer together? Why was he imagining himself slowly moving his free hand down Taka’s back, past his belt and coming to rest over his backside? And why was he starting to get _turned_ _on_ by this!?

Shit… was Syo _right!?_ He… he _did_ wanna kiss Taka!? Where the hell had _this_ come from!? He wasn’t into guys, was he? He always jerked off to the thought of _girls!_ And, alright, it had got a little bit harder to get the job done ever since he’d quit imagining bullshit scenarios where a girl just came along and sat in his lap and his gang got jealous, but that was just because he’d realised he didn’t know _how_ to imagine being in a proper relationship with a chick, not ‘cause he wanted sex with a _guy,_ right!?

Hell, he didn’t even know what that would be like, so how _could_ he want it!? Hell, the closest he’d ever got was that one time he’d wrestled with Taka, and they’d been rolling around on the floor, getting hot and out of breath, with Taka pinned under him… Now _that_ had been nice, the pride and thrill of victory as Taka _writhed_ under him, the warm feeling of his bulging biceps filling Mondo’s hands, the toned abs of his flawless chest shifting and straining uselessly as his kyoudai tried to free himself, until the moment his eyes had suddenly turned hazy and unfocused…

_Fuck…_ Mondo had almost forgot about that little dizzy spell of his! He’d been so out of it in that moment, that Mondo could probably have done anything he’d have wanted to the guy… like start tickling him mercilessly on his sides, or maybe embarrass him by leaving some sorta _mark_ on that pristine chest of his… like a bruise or… or a _hickey!_ Yeah, he’d lean down and bite and suck on Taka’s chest, and Taka would _moan_ and ask for _more_ so then they’d end up kissing on the floor until they both got _hard_ and… and…

…

_Oh shit…_ he actually _was_ hard… and all he could think about was thoughts of _Taka_ and all the times they’d been together with hardly any clothes on, like in the baths, or swimming, or that time Taka had slept on him, and now he was wishing he could go back to those times and do more than just _look_ at Taka’s body… He wanted to take it up a notch, he wanted to _feel_ Taka’s body, _kiss_ Taka’s lips, reach under Taka’s boxers and _touch_ his… his..

… … …

Some time later Mondo was sat back at his desk feeling… kinda like a _dick_ , to be honest! He’d enjoyed that a lot better than he should have… Taka was his _best friend…_ he shouldn’t have been thinking of him like _that_ … how the hell was he ever gonna look the guy in the face again when he’d just spent god knows how long trying to picture how it’d look when he _came!?_

And he still hadn’t figured out how the _fuck_ he was gonna explain why he had a million goddamn pictures of Taka scattered over his desk, had he!? If anything, he had even _more_ reason to keep it secret _now!_ He’d have to just put the album back where he’d found it, half empty or not! It’s not like he could tell Taka about _this…_ a prim and proper guy like him? He’d be grossed out at the thought of dating a guy, right?

Especially a total _loser_ like _Mondo_ who couldn’t even get _Chi_ to _fake_ date him…

Goddamnit… Maizono was _right,_ wasn’t she? He was nothing but a waste of Taka’s _time!_ How could he be sat here thinking about… screwing the guy, or even going into stupid fake marriage promises with him? Taka was gonna be _Prime Minister!_ He couldn’t do that if he was constantly being clung onto by some ex-gangster _loser_ who kept switching between wanting a hug and wanting to _fuck_ the poor guy, regardless of how many _other_ advantages he had over those other assholes who wanted the job!

And to think, half an hour ago he’d been thinking about making him set up _another_ stupid party, just in return for this stupid bit of paper! As if he’d have the time for that shit! Or to be having _another_ medical exam that would probably knock him out for a whole _weekend!?_ How could Mondo have been so selfish to have started thinking of things that would take him so long to do? He should have planned something like Chi’s thing, that only took him, what? Half an hour? Or something like Kyoko’s, which he’d enjoyed anyway!

But no, instead he’d made Taka rush to get all his homework done before the weekend, and he’d only had the homework to do in the first place because Mondo had been wasting all his time with his own attention seeking crap! And that had meant that Taka hadn’t had the time to pay attention to all the _other_ things he needed to do and he ended up fucking up his first big chance to appeal to those _voters_ he so desperately wanted to impress…

Hell… if anything, Mondo was the one who owed _Taka_ a favour! But what the hell could _he_ offer the Ultimate Moral Compass? It’s not like Taka had any problems that needed solving, was it? Well… other than the whole Tsumiki thing, which he’d said he’d try to help with anyway…

Well, it’d be a _start,_ anyway… then he’d have to think of some quick little thing for Taka to do in exchange for the voucher… or maybe give it to him in return for something he’d have done anyway, and make sure he wasn’t being so selfish in the future…

 

(Saturday, July 14th 2012)

Why wouldn’t Taka take this shitty piece of paper! And why had they just been screaming at each other over it in the damn hallway!?

Well… mostly ‘cause Taka was being a stupid, stubborn, lying _dumbass_ about the thing! What did it _matter_ if Mondo used it for something ‘worthwhile’ or not!? He was just trying ta save Taka some fucking _time!_ Time he didn’t have ta _waste!_ Especially not on a fucking _perv_ like _Mondo_ …

It had been bad enough that Taka had spent the whole of last week insisting on wasting his time by looking after _him_ , and being a stubborn jackass about taking the voucher off of him in exchange! Which meant Mondo had ended up looking at the it and started thinking about Syo’s suggestion again… In a hospital bed that was being monitored by a fucking _nurse_ 24/7!

Least it hadn’t been goddamn _Tsumiki_ though! Fucking psycho bitch, tying him up for that fucking ‘ _test’_ and then going off on a rant about how it _'wasn’t fair'_ that everyone had _'_ _forgiven'_ Taka and not _her_ while she stuck that fucking needle into his _spine!_ Who the fuck had ever said it was _her_ fault Taka had tripped on her? And why the fuck couldn’t she get over it already? Or at least _not_ use her job as a way ta fuck with his friends ‘cause of it?!

Why the fuck had Junko wanted ta set _her_ up with _anyone!?_ Let alone _Taka…_ he deserved _better_ than that crazy bitch! He deserved… Mondo didn’t know… That _princess_ , maybe? Turn him into a fucking _king! That’s_ what he deserved! And he’d sort out her whole country while he was there… _That’d_ surpass his grandfather, right? Although probably not the way he _wanted_ to… he wanted to surpass his grandfather with _effort_ and shit… not by happening to be the guy who married someone else in charge…

Well… whichever lucky girl Taka wanted, he deserved _her!_ Not that crazy bitch… and not a fucking piece of shit ‘kyoudai’ who’d been starting to think of him during the first chance he’d got to jerk off in peace for a _week!_ Hell, if Taka had been a minute or two later…

_Fuck!_ That woulda been a goddamn _disaster!_ What if he’d been groaning Taka’s name or something…? The guy’d never speak to him _again!_

…Not that Mondo deserved to have him speak to him anyway… He should probably just _tell_ Taka the way he’d started thinking about him, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Taka wanting _nothing_ to do with him… He still wanted Taka to _care_ about him! Just… not quite so much that he kept wasting his precious time on him!

So why the hell couldn’t he just take this stupid fucking vou…

_*Ding dong.*_

Urg… who the hell was _that_ gonna be? It better not be Taka wanting to waste more time…

No, it was just Chi… backed up by Makoto. _Urg…_ he musta told Chi about the argument, so now Chi was probably thinking he needed some sense knocking into him… “Hey, you two…” He gestured towards the room. No way _these_ two were gonna let anything drop, not in a million fucking _years_ …

“Thanks!” Chi strode into Mondo’s room like he owned the place, while Makoto followed more nervously and shut the door behind him…

“I’m guessing this is about Taka and the voucher, then…” He glared at Makoto, who at least looked fucking _sheepish_ about having _tattled_ on him to Chi…

“Well…yes!” Chihiro agreed, “Do you want to explain _why_ you were yelling at Taka about…?”

_“Yeah!_ I _do!_ It’s because the lying asshole keeps coming up with crappy excuses not to take the shitty thing back!” Mondo snapped, remembering Taka’s ‘class rep’ bullshit from earlier… Stupid idiot, making himself waste all that time ‘just in case’ anyone in their class was enough of a dumbass not to pack their own shit up…

_“So!?_ Doesn’t that mean you can just use it for something _else?”_ Chi didn’t get the point at all… “Something that’ll take a bit more time?”

“He’s too busy for that shit!” Mondo pointed out, “And he wasted enough of his time on me after my birthday anyway! I don’t _deserve_ to waste any more of it! That’s why I just wanted ta use the voucher for something quick and easy, like _you two_ did!”

“Umm… I asked him to talk to _Matsuda!_ And I made him skip part of my party to do it!”

“And I asked him to help me drag a couch across town during the worst week of his life?”

“Yeah, but… it only took him, like, an _hour_ ta do that shit!” Mondo countered, “He must already spent _five times_ that helping me just this _week!”_

“But… that’s all been things a friend would do for…” Makoto started.

_“I KNOW! ALRIGHT!”_ Mondo snapped _“He’s_ fucking said it enough fucking times!”

“Well… why aren’t you _listening_ to him, then!?” Chi snapped back at him.

“Because he’s being a stubborn asshole about it!” Mondo complained, “It’s just a shitty piece of paper! There’s no need for him ta keep _lying_ to stop me from giving it _back!”_

“Urg… Mondo?” Makoto sighed, “What would you have thought if I’d told you my birthday present to you was going to be to delivery some _free_ cardboard boxes to your room?”

The hell? What kind of present was _that!?_ “I’d have thought ya were a lazy cheapskate!”

“But… _that’s_ what _you_ were just asking Taka to turn _his_ present into!” Makoto cried, “While calling it a _‘shitty piece of paper’!”_

“Huh!? _Really,_ Mondo!?” Chi sighed, “You _know_ he feels bad about not _buying_ us presents…”

Well… shit, yeah… He’d probably made Taka feel like crap… and called him a liar as well…

“And you’re his _best friend!”_ Makoto added, “He probably wants _you_ to use it for something even bigger than the rest of us!”

“Exactly! Because he’d have got you a bigger present if he could have!”

_Uurgghh…_ They were _right…_ Taka probably wanted it to be this big special _thing,_ for his _‘wonderful kyoudai’! But_ … “I don’t deserve that though! And he’s got enough shit ta do without worrying about that crap!”

“Umm… why do you keep saying that?” Chi asked.

“None of your damn business!” There was no fucking _way_ he was letting Chi worm _that_ outta him! “And frankly, I’ve got better things ta do than have you two _bitching_ at me! So if ya ain’t got anything _else_ ta talk about, maybe you can _fuck off!_ ”

“Uhh…” Well, that had shit _Chi_ up at least…

“Hmm… actually… there was _something_ I wanted an opinion on…” But not Makoto… But what the hell would _Makoto_ want _his_ advice for!?

“Alright, what _is_ it?”

“Well… umm… this might get a bit crude…” He cringed, “But… well… you might have noticed I have a thing for Kyoko…” Hah! No _shit_ , Sherlock! “But, she’s not really interested in _me_ …”

“What!? That’s bullshit, she’s totally into you!” Mondo told him, “Taka reckons she’s just embarrassed that you fuck up her whole ‘badass detective’ thing…”

“Umm… I guess that’s _possible…”_ Makoto blushed, “But, recently… I’ve started… _thinking_ about her when I… well… _y’know...”_ Bahahaha! He did the fucking wimpiest ‘jerking off’ mime Mondo had ever _seen!_ “And I’m starting to think I shouldn’t be hanging around her if I’m going to be thinking like _that…”_

He was worried about _that?_ “Aww, c’mon! Loads of guys think of a girl they know when jerking it!” Mondo laughed, “It’s not _your_ fault you got a thing for her! And as long as you don’t bother her if she doesn’t want it, what the problem?” Makoto still didn’t look convinced, “Besides, she probably _does_ want it!”

“But… I’m just a normal guy who got lucky, and she’s the Ultimate Dectective! She’s way too good for _me!”_ Makoto sighed, “Even if she _does_ like me, I’m probably still wasting her time…”

“Hey! Don’t talk about yourself like that!” Mondo snapped, “Just ‘cause ya ain’t got a fucking talent doesn’t mean you ain’t good for her! You’re probably the only reason she has any friends, or actually talked ta her old man like she needed ta! You’ve done loads of shit ta help her, even if it ain’t obvious!”

“So… you’re advice to _me_ is just… keep spending time with Kyoko?” Makoto checked.

“Yeah… And maybe tell her ya like her, if you ain’t already…” Hadn’t they gone on a date at some point? Kinda seemed like a weird time for Makoto to be worrying about whether she liked him _back_ or not…

Hell, even _Chi_ looked like he thought it was weird that Makoto had asked… He was just staring at Makoto like he was crazy, and Makoto’s eyes were shifting awkwardly towards Mondo’s desk…

…the desk… that was still covered in the pictures of _him staring at_ _Taka!_ And now _Chi_ was looking at them all as well and Makoto hadn’t needed advice at all, he’d just been taking the _piss_ hadn't he!?

“You… smarmy little _asshole!”_ Mondo grabbed him by the collar, “Acting like you need advice just ta rub it in my _face_ that I’ve fallen for a _guy_ who’s got _better_ things ta do than waste his time _loving me back!”_

_“Huh!?”_ Aww, _fuck!_ Now Chi  _definitely_ knew as well!

“W-wait! No! _That’s not what I meant!”_ Makoto squealed, “I didn’t want to rub your face in it! I was just trying to show you that it’s the same thing!”

“How the _fuck_ is it the same!? You like a fucking _girl!_ One who likes you _back!”_

“But… even when Makoto said he _didn’t_ think Kyoko liked him, _you_ said it wasn’t his fault for feeling that way, didn’t you!?” Chi piped up, “Isn’t it the same with you and Taka?”

“No! Taka’s a _guy!”_ Wasn’t it fucking obvious?  _“Men_ ain’t supposed ta like _guys!”_

…Why’d they both look so fucking _sad_ all of a sudden!? _“What!?”_

_“_ You… _You’ve got that wrong!”_ Makoto announced, fucking _pointing_ like that lawyer in the manga Taka liked…

“Oh, come off it, Makoto! Everyone knows…”

“It… It’s not _everyone!”_ Chihiro cut him off, “I mean… I know there’s _some_ people who think like that, but it’s not _everyone!_ It’s more like one in three…”

One in _three!?_ “Bullshit! Everyone _I_ know…”

“…Is in a gang of macho dummies!” Chihiro finished his sentence.

“Hey, fuck _you!_ The Diamonds aren’t _stupid!”_

“But… they aren’t really _healthy_ either…” Makoto cautiously told him, “I mean, they refuse to admit when they’re upset, because it’s ‘weak’, so they don’t know how to talk about problems and resort to shouting and punching people for hardly any reason…”

Okay, that was probably true…

“And they've got such a strict idea of what _‘men’_ are supposed to do, that they don’t really consider what _they_ want, and end up in bad relationships, rather than considering the chance that there’s alternatives…” Chihiro added.

Well, yeah… He supposed that was true as well… but… “How the fuck do _you_ _two_ know about _my gang!?”_

“Well… we saw the effect they had on _you,_ at the start of the year!” Chihiro told him.

“What’s _that_ supposed ta mean!? Are you sayin’ my gang’s _bad_ for me or summat!?”

“Well… you were pretty damn angry _, all the_ _time,_ back then…” Makoto pointed out, “You’re a lot happier since you made friends with Taka and started being more honest about your feelings, aren’t you?”

Maybe… he had to admit, it was good to have a break from the constant anxiety of being looked up to by an army of guys who expected him to make them look good _constantly_ and threatened to ditch him every time he didn’t manage to play the role of manly leader _perfectly…_

But now _that_ had just been replaced by a _new_ constant anxiety… “Well, I _might_ be if I didn’t feel like a total shitbag every time I’m near _Taka_ and start thinking about him, when all _he_ wants is ta be friends!”

“Umm… are you _sure_ about that?” Chi asked.

“Of _course_ I’m fucking sure!” Mondo snapped, “Hell, I dunno why he even wants ta be _that_ much! He’s gonna be _Prime Minister!_ He’s too good for a fucking _gangster_ …”

“That’s not true though!” Makoto insisted, “You’re a huge part of why he has as many friends as he does! And you’re the only reason he ever socialises with us! You’ve done loads of stuff to help him, even if it isn’t obvious!”

Was that really true? And why did it sound familiar… “…That’s just what _I_ said ta _you!”_ He realised.

“Well… it’s the same thing!” Makoto cried.

“So, what? You’re gonna just tell me I can’t help how I feel and should keep hanging out with Taka, then…” That’s what _he’d_ told Makoto, wasn’t it? Did it really _not_ matter that they were both guys… At least, not here at _school…?_ But... there'd still be people who'd start ripping the piss outta him for it, right?

“Yes!” Chi told him, “And maybe tell him you like him, if you haven’t already…”

“ _Hell_ _no!_ I ain’t doing that!” Mondo could just _imagine_ his reaction… “He’d fucking _hate_ me!”

“No he wouldn’t!” The other two shouted at the same time… “He’s your _Kyoudai!_ He’s not going to _hate_ you just for liking _him_ a little more than _he_ likes _you…”_ Chi added.

“But… it’d still fuck up his career, wouldn’t it?” Mondo pointed out, “Who’s gonna wanna vote for a Prime Minister who’s best mates with a _gay_ _gang leader!?”_

“I’m sure lots of people would!” Chi argued, “And even if not, shouldn’t you tell him, just so he _knows…?”_

“But if I do _that,_ he might stop wanting anything ta do with me at _all!”_

“But… you’re hardly having anything to do with him _now!”_ Chi sighed.

“Ngh…” Goddammit, he was right… but… “I still can’t tell him!”

“Why not!?”

Because all he could imagine was everyone glaring at him as he said it… The gang sneering at him the way they did at flashy camp guys… His classmates muttering rumours about him… _Taka_ staring at him in horror… He couldn’t bear the thought of everyone knowing and looking at him like… like he was _weak…_ “I… I JUST _CAN’T!_ ALRIGHT!? _I can’t let anyone find out about this!”_

“Well… _that’s alright!_ It’s your choice, after all!” Makoto shrugged, “I mean… I don’t think it’d be as bad as you’re imagining, if you told Taka, but we don’t mind keeping it to ourselves if you don’t want anyone else to know yet! Right, Chihiro?”

“Uhh… _right!”_ Chi agreed.

…Were they serious? They were just… gonna act like they didn’t know about this? Like it didn’t even _matter?_ And on top of that… “You really think it wouldn’t bother Taka?” That couldn’t _really_ be true, could it?

“No!” Makoto told him, “But… you know what _is_ bothering him?”

“…Me acting like his present is worth fuck-all?” Mondo guessed.

“Yeah… that and the way you keep telling him not to talk to you…” Makoto added, “He thinks he’s done something to upset you…”

Well, crap… That’d be after Valentine’s all over again… “I… I didn’t _mean_ ta! I just… Doesn’t _he_ have better thing ta do…? He could be taking the chance ta study or summat…”

“Well... Maybe he _wants_ to spend the time with you!” Chi suggested, “It’s not long before summer holidays, after all, he won’t see you for six weeks!”

Yeah… that was true, wasn’t it? A whole six weeks where Taka’d be wanting to study, and Mondo would need to lead the gang… They’d have ta wait _six_ weeks before the second year began…

Holy crap, had it really almost been a whole year? That was, like, a _quarter_ of his time here gone already!

…A quarter of his time with _Taka_ gone, already… ‘Cause after school ended, Taka’d probably be going off ta… _somewhere decent,_ whereas Mondo’d be lucky if he could get himself a shitty apprenticeship back home… And Taka’d probably be so busy he hardly had time ta talk to _Mondo,_ even if he actually _wanted_ to!

Fuck… he’d probably hardly ever _see_ the guy again! And if he had trouble understanding shit, or fucked up and got himself into trouble, he’d be _stuck_ ‘cause Taka would be too busy to drop everything just to do him a _favour_ no matter how badly he’d fucked up or how _important_ it was to _Mondo!_

...Well… except for _one_ time, right? ‘Cause he owed Mondo _one_ favour… and Mondo had fucking _proof!_ He’d _have_ to drop everything and come help him if Mondo used the _voucher_ , right? ‘Cause otherwise Mondo could raise hell and tell everyone that the wannabe Prime Minister didn’t keep his _promises!_

…Not that Mondo would _do_ that, but Taka’d probably worry that he _might,_ right?

Shit… to think he’d been thinking of throwing that chance away on stupid shit! How could he be so fucking _stupid!_ He needed ta _save_ it for later, when it’d mean more! And he shouldn’t be actively _trying_ ta get Taka to leave him alone, he should be taking every chance the guy would give him to spend time with him! After all, he only had another three years… and there was no way in _hell_ that was gonna be enough time…

“Umm… Mondo?”

“You’re right.” He told them, “I… oughta spend as much time with Taka as he wants me to! And save the voucher for summat _important!”_ They both smiled and nodded at him, “Thanks, you guys…”

“No problem! You know you can talk to us anytime, right?” Makoto offered.

“And I really think it’d help if you told Taka about it…” Chi added.

“…I’ll think about it…” Mondo told him.

“Alright… we’ll let you get some rest, then!” Makoto said, guiding Chi towards the door.

“Sure, see you later!” He told them.

Urg… well, so much for Chi not finding _that_ out… He really hoped this wasn’t going to turn into Chi continually telling him to tell Taka ‘bout how he felt… What was the fucking point!? Taka wasn’t gay! He was just a normal guy, who intended ta get married and have kids! The _best_ thing telling him would do would just be to make Taka feel awkward around him, right? He didn’t want _that!_ And the _worst_ things that could happen? He didn’t even wanna _think_ about ‘em…

There was no way in _hell_ he was gonna tell Taka he’d fallen in love with him!

 

(Friday, July 20th 2012)

Why was Taka so desperate for him to use the voucher _now!?_

Just as soon as Makoto and Chihiro had told him what a fucking dumbass he was for trying to get rid of it, Taka had suddenly started trying to get if _off_ of him all the damn time! And _sure,_ maybe it might have been useful to have Taka help him pack up his stuff, and it woulda meant he could have had more time this week to hang out with him but… that wasn’t worth giving up this… this… this _one last chance_ to see Taka again, sometime in the future! He didn’t want to have to use this, or any of the _other_ vouchers Taka would hopefully give him, unless he absolutely _had_ to… unless he’d screwed up so bad he needed the _Prime Minister_ to step in and sort his life out… or until so many years had gone by that he missed Taka so bad, he _needed_ to spend just one more day with him…

_*Ding dong.*_

Crap, that was probably Taka here… and he’d be expecting Mondo to give him back the voucher _today…_ What the _fuck_ was he going to say!?

Mondo opened the door, to find his friend holding a basket full of _Hiro’s_ clothes…

"Ah… Kyoudai...” He already looked guilty about something, “I know I said I’d be available to do any favour you needed today, but… Hiro has just requested I help him pack up his room, and I suspect it will take me at least eight hours to complete, due to how little of it he’s done himself…”

_YES! Thank FUCK for that!_

“Ah… that’s alright! I haven’t really thought of anything I need from ya…” Mondo grinned, “You’ll come hang out with me once you’re done with Hiro though, right?”

“If I have time before curfew… yes! I’d like that!” Kiyotaka told him, but he still looked worried. “But… Kyoudai… compared to _last_ week, it feels as if you’re actively trying _not_ to use my voucher… Why is that?”

"Uhh... I dunno? I haven't really needed any favours this week so... Maybe I’ll use it next year?" Mondo faked a casual shrug. He knew he wouldn't use it next year either... Not if he could help it.

"I... I had been hoping to have all the ones from this year redeemed before I start making another set for next year!" That sounded like an excuse... And a _crappy_ one at that...

" _Bullshit!_ How would that have worked with Hiro, if he hadn't been such a dumbass about packin’ his shit up?"

"Err...I..." Taka's eyes shifted as he desperately tried to think of something to fortify his obvious lie. He never lied, so why was he doing it over _this!?_

"Why do you care so fucking much about this!?" Mondo's temper broke. "You do me favours all the time! What's it matter if I hand over a piece of paper for one of them?"

"Those are things I'd do anyway!" Was Taka's insistent reply. "If you don't use the voucher, it's like I never gave you a present at all..." He hung his head as he trailed off, sadly.

Dammit... Now he'd upset him...

"You know being friends with you is worth all the presents in the world, right?" Mondo tried to rub his shoulder comfortingly. Taka's head tilted and for a stupid moment Mondo thought the hall monitor was going to brush his soft cheek across it, only for him drop it back downwards instead. "Ok, look... If it means that much to ya, I'll make sure I use it the first week back, ok?"

"I... Ok then..." Taka sighed, obviously not happy, "Hopefully I’ll be finished with Hiro before curfew, and if not... Should I visit you tomorrow to say goodbye?"

Why the hell was he _asking?_ "You fuckin better, Kyoudai! It's bad enough I ain't gonna be able to talk to you for _six weeks!"_ Seriously, with all that money Taka sent back, his old man couldn't afford a phone line, or get a prepaid mobile or _something?_

"I... I know. As much as I miss my father I almost wish we weren't leaving." He admitted, a guilty look on his face.

"Hey, don't worry about it! It's just six weeks- it'll fly by! And I'll have thought of something to use that voucher for!" He lied.

"I should hope so! It'll be your homework for the summer!"

"Cool, so I don't gotta worry about losing my reading list?" Mondo teased.

"What!? No, the reading list is vitally important!" Taka barked, "You seriously lost it!? I swear, Kyoudia, you are so unorganised! I'll make you another copy... And I'll laminate it so you don't..."

"Geez, Taka! I'm kidding! It's in my bag somewhere..." Mondo ruffled his hair.

His eyes closed and his face softened for a moment, before he pulled his head out from under Mondo's hand. "Well, good! At least _someone_ in this class has been organised!" Taka bowed and turned to leave, only to stop for a moment. "But, Kyoudai... Please _actually_ use the voucher this time..." He requested with a sad tone that suggested that he knew full well Mondo was never going to.

_Urrghh_ … Taka sounded so... _disappointed_ with him that he didn't have the heart to lie to him again, it wasn't like Taka wasn't going to see right through it... But he didn’t know how to explain it so… he just shut the door without saying anything…

_Fuck!_ That was just fucking cowardly, wasn’t it!? Not to mention it had probably pissed Taka off… He should probably just be honest and admit he’d rather keep it for later… but how the _hell_ could he manage that without it coming off as creepy? He wasn’t talking about saving it for a few months like Leon had, he was thinking about _years_ in the future… But he couldn’t just give this up either!

Still. He probably had at least, what, eight hours while Taka had to deal with Hiro’s dumb ass? He’d think of something before then…

…

Eight hours later the doorbell rang and he _still_ hadn’t thought of anyway to tell Taka he didn’t want to use this voucher… Hopefully Taka woulda realised it was best to just… _drop_ the subject after Mondo had shut the door on him earlier, or have _trusted_ him when he said he’d think of something over the summer or…

"Kyoudai... About the vouch..." Oh _goddammit!_

"I'M NOT _USING_ THE GODDAMN FUCKIN' _VOUCHER!"_ The words were screaming out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Taka barely flinched, and even then, he looked more annoyed with _himself_ than Mondo. “As I suspected! I was about to offer to exchange it for a _different_ present…”

"WHAT!? _NO!_ I don't wanna another fuckin' present! I want _this!_ " Mondo grabbed the voucher out from the pocket he'd been keeping them safe in. "I want this... This 'get out of shit free' card that says no matter how bad I fuck up the _best damn man in the world_ will come and help me fix my shit! I'm not wasting that on something stupid like moving a fuckin' couch across town!"

Taka just stared at him while he caught his breath… _Oh… oh FUCK!_ He’d just called ‘the best damn man in the world!’… _and_ pretty much told him he was keep the voucher so he could get Taka back in his life at some point… Why had he said _that?_ It was the sort of creepy shit a stalker would come out with! Taka was gonna think he was crazy... Or realise he'd gone and fallen in love with him...

_"Ah_... I... I understand, Kyoudai! I'll see you tomorrow!" Taka got as close to running off as he possibly could without _actually_ running.

God. Fucking. Dammit! Mondo bashed his pompadour against the door frame...

"Uhh... Hey, Mondo?" Makoto's nervous voice came from his side.

"What!?" He didn't even bother looking at the guy...

"Uhh... Well in my defence it _was_ a really big couch?" Mondo's resulting snarl was enough to make the guy jump backwards. " _GEEZ!_ What the heck are you so upset about!?"

"What? You didn't hear how badly I just fucked up?" Mondo growled.

"Uhh... No? It seemed like a pretty nice thing to say!" Makoto shrugged. "And Taka looked happier than I've seen him all week..."

What? That... Mess of clingy nonsense had made Taka _happy!?_

What the _hell_ was going on!?

* * *

_Hahaha!_ _That_ was why Mondo hadn’t wanted to use the voucher!? As if there’d _ever_ be a time when he wouldn’t have dropped everything to go help his _kyoudai!_ Even if he _hadn’t_ developed a crush on him!

But if it was a voucher Mondo wanted for his birthday, it was a voucher he’d _get!_

He checked his masterlist of items he’d put in each of his storage boxes… Calligraphy pen and ink… box 4! He took out a sheet of paper and dipped the pen into the ink… Now how was he going to word this?

It would have to be usable only by Mondo… but allow him to keep reusing it…

He finally settled on “For Exclusive Use by Mondo Oowada. This Voucher Entitles You To Anything You Wish From Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Uses Left: Infinite. Expiry Date: Never.

_That_ should get the message across! But if it was supposed to last forever then perhaps he should try to protect it somehow? He could go laminate it… Except that it was after curfew, _drat!_ He’d best get ready for bed…

Still, if he got up extra early, he should have enough time to head to the computer room, laminate the voucher and give it to Mondo before he had to meet Chihiro for the taxi…

And then Mondo would be willing to give him back the _first_ voucher, and Kiyotaka would finally get the confidence to come out to his friend before he left school… And then, regardless of what happened, at least he wouldn't be worrying about this all  _summer..._

* * *

(Saturday, 20th July 2012)

Seriously! What the hell _was_ going on with him and Taka!? And why the fuck was he thinking about this at 2am in the goddamn morning? At least he didn’t have to get up early tomorrow, what with Makoto needing a lift home and letting Mondo crash at his house overnight as a thank-you.

But seriously… Taka had been _pleased_ to find out Mondo was treating his little paper voucher like it was some kind of precious treasure? _Why?_ It was the sort of creepy behaviour that would freak normal people out… unless someone they _liked back_ did it…

So… did Taka actually like him back? Was there any way in hell the Ultimate Moral Compass could actually _love_ a dumb slob like _him_!? And did he dare to find out?

What would happen if he asked, and the answer was no? Could they keep being friends after that? What if they couldn’t? Then Mondo would lose the best thing to ever happen to him…

Dammit, no! He couldn’t risk _that!_ Better to just keep things as they were then risk scaring him off with a stupidly loud confession… Hell, if Taka _did_ love him, then _he_ could say it! He’d probably do a better job of it anyway…

* * *

The ‘Best Damn Man in the World’ woke up from kissing the handsome, pompadoured presenter at his award ceremony, only to guiltily realise he was _actually_ Kiyotaka Ishimaru and he’d been having yet _another_ dream about his best friend…

Still… this would be over soon, right? He’d give Mondo the new voucher, get the old one back, tell Mondo about his crush and then Mondo’s denial would probably give his subconscious a clue that Mondo _wasn’t_ interested in him and he should stop having all these thoughts and dreams about him!

Unless Mondo actually liked him back… But what were the chances of that? How would someone as handsome, kind and care-free as Mondo be able to fall in love with an uptight, ugly, stick-in-the-mud like _him?_ It just _wouldn’t_ happen, would it? So why did he keep wondering if it _would?_ He had no evidence Mondo cared anywhere _near_ as much for him as he did for Mondo. Mondo hadn’t even got around to organising the birthday party he’d said they’d all have…

But even though he kept remiding himself of such as he got ready, he _still_ kept imagining scenarios where, despite all the odds, Mondo took the new voucher and used his very first request for a kiss from Kiyotaka… And it was with such thoughts happily buzzing in his head that he headed out of the door, paper voucher in hand, up to the computer room to make a couple of photocopies of his work in case the lamination machine had a fault and damaged it. Then he carefully set up the laminator, paid for an A4 piece of paper and prayed that it would work first time...

“Huuuuh? What’s this!?” Junko’s voice came from the doorway. “You’re laminating something? Doesn’t that cost, like, _money?”_

“Ah… Yes it does… But it’s not too unreasonable to protect… important things…”

“Sooooo… What’s so important then?” She asked, skipping over to the machine just in time to snatch up the voucher before he could take it out him. She read over it and scowled briefly. “Whaaaat!? You let him wish for more wishes!? If I’d known you’d allow that I’d have totally done it myself, y’know!” She giggled.

“Err… Well, I don’t think I’d have let _you_ … This is just because Mondo is my kyoudai…” He tried to explain it gently so she wouldn’t be upset.

“Ok, but… _Anything_ he wishes? What if he asks you for something horrible?”

“Mondo wouldn’t…”

“Well, he wouldn’t _now_ …” Junko shrugged, “But this expires, like, _never!_ What happens when he’s in charge of a carpentry company and you’re Prime Minister and he asks you to reduce minimum wage _and_ corporate tax?”

“Ngh!” He hadn’t even _considered_ something like that! “He wouldn’t… and even if he did I wouldn’t be able to make that decision alone!”

“But you’d _try!?”_ She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “What if he told you to punch a little girl?”

The thought of Mondo using himself as a loophole for his code of honour made his stomach churn. “He… he wouldn’t do that without a good reason, I’m sure!”

“Well… What if you piss him off and he tells you not to come back to school… or to jump off a cliff…?”

Kiyotaka’s blood ran cold. “I… He _wouldn’t_!”

“But what if he _did?_ ” Junko asked, "Like... if you he found out you did something that  _disgusted_ him..."

Something disgusting? Did she mean the way he'd been... _imagining_ Mondo!? No... she  _couldn't_ know about that! But... it was a possibility, wasn't it? That that might be Mondo's reaction if he ever  _did_ discover his secret... And now he could feel tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he considered it, imaging Mondo face twisting in distaste and sneering the words ‘go jump off a _cliff, asshole!’_ …

“I… If Mondo  _really_ asked me to jump off a cliff… If I knew he really meant it, and never wanted to see me again I…” He shuddered, “I think it might just put me in the right frame of mind to actually _do_ it…”

“Oh wow, you’re actually serious!” She exclaimed, handing him back the voucher. “…You really _do_ love him, don’t you?” She asked, concerned.

“W-what!? _Love_ him!?”

_Him_ … _Love_ Mondo!? Yes… he’d been… _lusting_ after and _crushing_ on his friend but… to actually _love_ him!?

He looked at the voucher again… Only for Mondo… He’d do everything he wanted, for ever and ever… Yes, he’d phrased it in a business-like way, but there was no doubt it said the same thing a love letter would. And he’d meant every word, and couldn’t think of a way to change it that still reflected how he felt…

After all, it didn’t matter to him if Mondo wanted Kiyotaka to practise fighting, read books or slave over him. Kiyotaka would eagerly carry his shopping, draw him pictures of terrible horses or move furniture. He longed for his friend to make him talk to people, go camping or help with his homework. He could see himself spending the rest of his life happily nagging Mondo to finish his food or tidy his room… and most of all he was _desperate_ for Mondo to take him out to _clubs_ … on _dates_ … and take off his _shirt_ and _kiss him_ and take _photos_ so everyone could know that he was Mondo’s and Mondo was _his_ and _only_ his…

…And even if it meant everyone _would_ know... that he'd be running the risk of scuppering his chances for becoming Prime Minister... He  _did_ want everyone to know! He wanted to be a good  _example!_ He wanted his friends and father to accept him for who he _was_... who he  _loved!_

_And_ it wasn’t fair to keep being _‘friends’_ with Mondo, without admitting he wanted _so_ much more… that every kind word his kyoudai said sent him flying up on wings of hope that melted and sent him crashing into despair every time, once he realised he was just desperately projecting his _own_ feelings onto Mondo’s actions… He _knew_ this!

“What are you going to _do_?” Junko asked, gently.

“I… I have to tell him…” Kiyotaka sighed, “I mean… I’ve been _trying_ to! But now I have absolutely _no_ excuse to back out of it!”

“Wow… you’re _way_ braver than I would be…” Junko smiled admiringly at him.

“Brave? How so?”

“Well… If I was you… I’d be worried about him being disgusted with you, and never wanting to see you again…” She shrugged. “Or him telling everyone and your name being ruined… But I guess you _really_ trust him, right!? Friendships between guys seems so much simpler than for us girls!” She smiled. “Good luck telling him!” She walked out with a wave.

“Th…thanks…” He said, trying to ignore the sickening panic rising up inside him…

But every step closer to Mondo’s door caused it to grow stronger instead… What is he _couldn’t_ trust Mondo? What if Mondo was one of those 33% who’d hate him for his feelings? He’d never actually _thought_ of that possibility before, always assuming that Mondo might be disgusted with Kiyotaka, but they’d still be _friends!_ But what if they _weren’t?_ What if he only thought Kiyotaka was “the best damn man in the world” or “worth all the presents in the world” because he didn’t realise he was _gay?_ What if Kiyotaka was about to lose _everything?_

He’d reached the door…

He breathed in deeply… He’d just have to cross those bridges when it came to them… He couldn’t keep hiding this forever… it was driving him mad! He needed to take action! He hit the doorbell. And besides, Mondo wasn’t like that! He’d accept Kiyotaka… wouldn’t he? And enough  _voters_ would accept him? Wouldn't they?

…

What if they  _didn’t? W_ hat if it was the difference between becoming Prime Minister and... _not?_  What would he tell his father? That’d he’d thrown away what little chance he had to restore their name… out of a foolish sense of hope, and an obligation to a _gang leader_  who hadn't even stood with him after it?

No! Stop thinking like that… This was _Mondo_ he was thinking about, _he_ would accept Kiyotaka, even if no one _else_ did! But why was he taking so long to answer the door? He hit the button again…

…

But what is Junko was _right?_ What if Mondo _was_ disgusted? How would he deal with seeing him in class every day… seeing Mondo’s beautiful face twist into a snarl whenever he was in his former kyoudai’s line of sight…

No… Mondo wasn’t _like_ that! He’d probably just not go to class instead… Not that that was any better… Really,  _what was taking so long?_ He hit the doorbell, pushing it extra hard this time.

…

What if Mondo really _did_ tell him to jump to jump off a cliff?

…Which cliff would he…

“ _WHAT!?_ ” The door swung open hard, banging against the wall and revealing Mondo, hair down, wearing boxers, a thin sleeveless top and an angry expression that shattered what little resolve he had.

“I…” The words he’d planned to say caught in his throat.

“Taka?” Mondo blinked. “Oh _shit!_ I forgot your taxi’s booked early! _Fuck!_ ” He slammed a fist into the doorframe. “I had a fuckin’ crappy night and thought I could sleep in…”

“I… I’m sorry…” It was all he could do to stammer out an apology. He could see bags forming under his friend’s eyes… and he was supposed to be riding today… “I should have let you sleep…”

“No… I’d have been _pissed_ if ya did that!” Mondo snapped, “We said we’d say goodbye today, right!?”

Of course, Mondo always kept promises…

And there was one promise he still has outstanding, wasn’t there? He’d promised they’d spend the day after Kiyotaka’s birthday together!

“Ah, yes! So uhh… Goodbye! I hope you enjoy your holiday!” Kiyotaka bowed, “And I’ll see you bright and early on Saturday the 1st!”

“Uhh… Well, it won’t be _that_ early… I’ve gotta ride here that day…” Mondo frowned, looking surprised that Kiyotaka had said it, “And won’t your train take a while?”

“Ahh… yes… It _does_ take a while…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“So, it’ll be more like, ‘see ya Saturday afternoon’!” Mondo laughed, “And we’ll have all our shit to unpack, so I’m guessing we won’t hang out until Sunday…” Mondo sighed at the thought…

Not hanging out until _Sunday!?_ But that was _two_ days after his birthday! Had he…? Had he forgot the _promise_ he’d made? How could he have? It had been a _man’s promise_ and everything! But he’d made absolutely no mention of Kiyotaka’s birthday. Was that how little Kiyotaka meant to him? He could understand the _rest_ of his class forgetting, even though he _had_ made an effort to make sure he gave them _their_ presents in good time for their birthdays, and reminded everyone else to do the same, even if they couldn’t have a party together! But… for even _Mondo_ to forget _…_

“Hey! C’mon! It won’t be _that_ bad!” Mondo cried, as Kiyotaka’s vision blurred with tears… “Six weeks will be over before you know it!”

“Ah…” Kiyotaka moved his hand up to wipe his eyes… Mondo hadn’t even realised why he’d suddenly burst into tears, that was how far gone his memory of _that_ promise must be!

“Wait…” Mondo stared at his hand, “What is _that_? Did you _seriously_ laminate the reading list?”

_Aaahhh!_ He was still holding the _voucher_! “Err…”

“I _told_ you I was kidding about that! Gimme that!” Mondo grabbed the voucher from him… Oh _gods_ he was going to _read_ it! Would he realise what it _meant!?_

He didn’t though… he just threw it into an open storage box and pulled Kiyotaka in a hug… a big, warm, gentle hug…

“Kyoudai, I’m gonna miss the _hell_ out of you, you big _dork!_ ” Mondo laughed, ruffling his hair gently with his strong, calloused hand…

“I… I’ll miss you to, Kyoudai…” He was going to miss Mondo’s warmth, his laugh, the sound of his bike… everything. And he suspected he would miss Mondo far, _far_  more than Mondo would miss him…

“Umm… guys?” It was Chihiro. “…The taxi’s in ten minutes…”

“Alright…” Mondo slowly let go of him, and Kiyotaka reluctantly stood back up straight. “Have a good journey… and email me from the library to let me know you got back safe, like you said, ok?”

“Yes… although I still maintain that I’ve got more reason to worry for _your_ safety than _vice versa!”_

“Yeah, yeah… I’ll wear all the safety shit…” Mondo reassured him with a sigh. “See ya in six weeks, guys!”

“Bye Mondo! Don’t get arrested!” Chihiro joked… At least he _hoped_ it was a joke and not actually necessary advice…

“Goodbye, Kyoudai!” He saluted as Mondo shut the door.

…Mondo hadn’t even _looked_ at the voucher… Still, maybe it was a good thing… Mondo _obviously_ didn’t feel the same way _he_ did, if he was able to forget Kiyotaka’s birthday like that. All that confession would have done would have risked upsetting Mondo, and potentially make Kiyotaka lose everything… his career prospects, his family’s honour, and potentially Mondo _himself…_

Perhaps he should rethink this whole 'being honest' thing! Perhaps it _was_ better to keep it quiet… at least for now! Maybe when once worked harder, achieved more, earnt the respect his family needed… _then_ he could confess his feelings, like he'd been planning to originally! Even if it took a few years… or _decades…_

…Compared to _that_ , six weeks _would_ fly by! And maybe the time away from Mondo would put things into perspective a little! After all, didn’t people say ‘out of sight, out of mind’? It would be good to have a rest, from the constant anxiety, over-analysis and second guessing that being near Mondo brought about… Wouldn't it?

* * *

Mondo shut the door and groaned. What a shitty way to start a goodbye to his friend… Spend the night thinking about whether he liked him back and then scare the crap out of him… He should try and get more sleep before Makoto decided to get up…

The doorbell rang, at least he felt a little better now he’d slept for another… _five hours!?_ He opened the door.

“Sorry I’m late!” Makoto waved apologetically. “I lost my reading list and went through all my boxes looking for it!”

“Wow, dude… Maybe you _shoulda_ let your Mom pack for ya!” Mondo laughed, although he’d never admit he’d been jealous that Makoto’s mother actually gave enough of a shit to offer to come all the way just to help him out…

“Oh come on! You only got anything packed because _Taka_ made you do it! And besides, I’m not _that_ disorganised!” Makoto whined.

“So, explain ta me again how you forgot ta book a _train ticket_?” Mondo grinned. Not that _he’d_ have any idea how to book a train either…

“Whatever, look, do you have a copy of the list…?”

“Yeah… Taka laminated one for me ‘cause I joked about losing it… Here it is.” He handed the kid the list his kyoudai had brought earlier.

“Uhh… This isn’t the reading list…”

“What? What is it then?”

Makoto flipped it around:

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152717993@N04/35272666874/in/dateposted-public/)

“What? What the _hell_ does _that_ mean!?”

“Uhh… That he’ll do anything and everything you want… forever? I guess?”

_Anything!? Forever?_

“But, what’s it _mean_ ‘ _anything_ ’? He can’t actually mean _ANYTHING_ , can he!?”

“Well it _says_ anything!”

“Well… yeah but… but… what if I asked for something like... him _kissing_ me or summat…”

“Uhh… Maybe...?” Makoto looked someone who’d been forced to poke a sleeping wolf, "I mean... why don't you ask _Taka?"_ _  
_

“How? By _email_? He hasn’t got a damn _phone_!”

“Oh… Yeah… same Chihiro’s not making him one of _those_ for his birthday, instead of a tablet…” Makoto sighed, “Oh, but speaking of which… exactly when _is_ Taka’s birthday? All we know is it’s over summer…”

Taka’s… birthday?

“Aww _shit!_ ” He’d been so caught up in his own bullshit he’d forgot his kyoudai’s _birthday_!

“You mean _you_ don’t know when his birthday is, either!? _”_ Makoto panicked, “Uhh… well… Togami said he was going to ask Chihiro to find out while they’re in the taxi together…”

“No! I know when it _is!_ It’s the last day before we have ta come back ta school! It’s just I was supposed ta be organising his party and I’ve done sweet _fuck all_ about it!” Mondo admitted.

_“Now_ who’s disorganised?” Makoto asked snarkily.

“Okay… yeah… but uhh… everyone’ll be back the day after, right? On the Saturday…” He’d told Taka they’d have a party then, hadn’t he?

“Yeah, but… I’m going to be back pretty late… I think most people won’t turn up until the afternoon, at least…” Makoto pointed out, because of _course_ they wouldn’t do, even _he_ wasn’t going to be back that early! He’d just told Taka they’d have a party that day, but he hadn’t actually put any thought into whether it was possible, had he!? He’d only been worrying about making Taka promise to spend just one more day with him after his confession! He hadn’t _cared_ about anything other than that at the time!

_Promise…_ Aww, _fuck!_ He’d even given Taka a _Man’s Promise_ that they’d hang out that day and everything! Now they’d be lucky if the _pair_ of them even got _half_ of that day together, and if they _did_ they’d just be unpacking _boxes_ together! There was no way in _hell_ he’d manage to throw a fucking _party_ with food and decorations and presents…

_Presents… Urrrrggghhhh!_ Goddamnit! He’d organised a fucking party for Hiro, two weeks before his actual birthday, 'cause he thought everyone should give him his present _early_ so he could open it _on the day itself!_ And sure, Mondo had done _that,_ but he hadn’t picked up on the obvious fucking _hint_ that Taka woulda also liked _his_ fucking present early! And _also_ would probably have liked Mondo to remember the _Man’s fucking Promise_ he’d made or to at least _remember that he had a fucking birthday! But he HADN'T! _THAT_ was why had Taka started _crying!__

“Fuck, fuck, _fuck! WHY_ am I such a _goddamn asshole!_ He’s gone on and on about giving out presents early and I didn’t even _think_ about getting him a present in time! _”_

“Uhh… well… you’ve got over a month!” Makoto shrugged, “You can just send it to him? That’s what I’m doing!”

“Uhh… well I could but… I promised we’d hang out on the Saturday… like the _whole_ Saturday!”

“…Do you mean the whole class, or just _you?”_

“Uhh… well, we were just talking about each other at the time…” Mondo remembered, “But he still wants a party! With everyone!”

“Yeah… but, he’d probably really like it even if it was just _you…”_ Makoto shrugged, “And you’ve got your bike! Can’t you just… ride to his and give him a lift back here on the Saturday? That’d count as hanging out, right?”

“Well… yeah, I guess…” He considered it.

“And, hey, if you went the day _of_ his birthday, you wouldn’t even have to _send_ the present!” Makoto added.

“Huh… Yeah! That’s right! That’ll work!” Mondo laughed with relief… It sounded pretty cool actually… don’t mention it in advance, then he'd think Mondo had never forgot the promise… just go and give him a nice surprise, on his _actual_ birthday, maybe even meet his Dad…

And find out if ‘anything’ really meant _anything_ … Maybe… how the _fuck_ would he ask?

The usual way he asked shit he was nervous about? Yell at him with no context? ‘ _So does this mean I can touch ya ass?’_

_Yeaahhh…_ Let’s not do that… That’d just be terrible. And besides, if Taka wanted that sort of thing _he_ could suggest it… Better not to screw up what he already had…

 

(Saturday, August 25th 2012)

Mondo set the chisel down. There… that… that was as good as Mondo was gonna get Taka’s face, wasn’t it? Trying to make it look any better would probably just make it look like crap, and he didn’t have _time_ to screw up and restart again…

But what if they weren’t good enough? Maybe he should ask someone about it… Makoto knew what Taka liked, right? And Mondo had been speaking to him, under the guise that he’d taken the normal kid under his wing and was inducting him into the gang, so no one would think it was weird if they got a hold of his phone and saw he'd asked…

_‘Yo, Naegi? Do these goods look legit?’_

Right? Especially as Makoto was being a good sport and playing along, coding replies in what he _thought_ was gang lingo, like…

_‘Sure! They look hella tight. Just don’t freak out when you hand them over and he’ll buy it! Plus I’ll be there to help lift them if needs be.”_

Which meant that Makoto thought they were fine! Hell, if nothing else, he’d worked fucking _hard_ on these things! Taka would appreciate that, wouldn’t he? He fucking _better_ had! Mondo had slaved over the damn things for _weeks,_ trying to get them just right… to carve out in cumbersome wood how welcoming his body was, the way his eyes lit up, how his smile shone…

And the result was good… it was _almost_ like he’d been imaging, for once! Anyone looking at this would be able to see what a great guy Taka was…

Or, at least, what a great guy _Mondo thought_ he was…

Shit… Was this _too much!?_ It was a present for a _kyoudai_ , so Kiyotaka would be expecting something a little better than a simple wooden paperweight, like he’d given everyone else… but carving out two perfect replicas of the pair of them hugging? What if Kiyotaka figured out that Mondo had been hoping that they could be _more_ than Kyoudais? What if this made him realise that Mondo had spent all summer compulsively checking his phone in the hope that the _next_ email from Kiyotaka would suddenly read ‘Incidentally, I’m in love with you, in case that voucher I tried to give you didn’t make it clear!’ or some other ridiculous confession that was still a million times better than the one Mondo would have sent if he wasn’t such a coward about it?

What if these lovingly-carved bookends were what made Kiyotaka realise that Mondo had spent the last two months scrutinising him along with every move he made and every word he said or typed, trying to figure out if Kiyotaka could _possibly_ love him back?

And if he _did_ realise, what then? Would he be uncomfortable with the idea that Mondo was staring at him? Would he start watch his actions, turning his natural graceful movements into careful, stilted ones? Would he take longer to reply to his emails, re-reading the lines to make sure that there were no careless phrases that might give Mondo the wrong idea, or send his imagination into overdrive?

Would this fuck up his friendship with Taka?

It probably would, wouldn’t it? How could it not? Why had he thought this was a good idea? He oughta get rid of these and just _buy_ Taka a damn present… like that new clock he’d mentioned needing, or some of those fancy chocolates he liked… like, a whole _box_ of the dark ones so he didn’t have ta _share_ them! That’d be better than what amounted to a damn _confession_ in the shape of two bookends…

That was it! He’d go out and dump these in the _bin,_ then drive to the nearest branch of that chocolate shop and buy Taka a present he’d actually _want!_ That was the plan!

The plan that went straight out of the window the moment he opened the front door of his apartment to find Michi stood right outside of it, hand halfway to the doorbell…

“Hey, Boss! Seeing as you’re riding off tomorrow, the boys and I thought we’d…” Michi trailed off as his eyes caught sight of the wooden blocks in Mondo’s hand… “What the fuck is _that!?”_

“Just some garbage I need ta throw out…” Mondo tried to play it cool and brush past him…

“Don’t gimme that shit! That’s _you!”_ Michi grabbed one of the bookends out of his hand, “And… and _Ishimaru…”_ He gulped as he looked at the thing more closely… shit, what was he thinking? Mondo had barely been able to convince him he wasn’t gay _last_ time… “…and you’re covered in sawdust…” Crap… he was putting it together, wasn’t he…? “Since when can you _carve wood!?”_ He finished, eyes full of dull shock.

“Uhh…” Had he really never mentioned wanting to be a carpenter to the gang!? “Not exactly sure I _can…_ but I been working on it for almost a year…”

Michi just looked between Mondo and the bookends for a minute… “We’ve been friends for five years…” He finally spoke, “And there’s this whole other _part_ of you I’ve never even fucking _met,_ isn’t there…?”

“What…?” _That_ was his problem? The fact that Mondo hadn’t mentioned this? “That’s just ‘cause I had better shit ta talk with the gang about than my shitty woodwork…” He shrugged.

“It ain’t just _this!”_ Michi snapped, “It’s… it’s the you who decided ta _quit smoking!_ The guy who suddenly thought _maths_ was important enough ta spend a week making me _learn_ it! The leader who decided being _safe_ was better than looking _cool! The hall monitor’s_ fuckin’ _KYOUDAI!”_ He shrieked, “That’s the _real_ Mondo Oowada, isn’t it? I spent _five years_ thinking you were this big, badass, _strong_ leader who didn't give a _fuck_ what anyone thought of him, and the whole time you were actually this guy who likes fucking _woodwork_ and…”

_And now Michi thought he was weak…_ But it wasn’t like _he_ was the only person who’d been hiding shit from the others… after that ‘Daiya’s Ex Machina’ shit had brought up the possibility that even _Daiya_ might have had shit he didn’t want everyone else ta know, he’d started paying more attention and realised the whole _gang_ had _something_ they didn’t want the others to know about…

“Hey! It ain’t like _I’m_ the only guy in the gang with a secret hobby!” Mondo snapped, “Mitsukuni’s got a fuckin box of _pokémon_ cards he doesn’t think anyone’s noticed he checks after every ride, Hasimoto practically _jumps_ at the chance ta be put on cooking duty, Umeki’s scarf sure as hell wasn’t knitted by his _girlfriend_ ‘cause he ain’t _got_ one and as for _you,_ don’t think I ain’t noticed what _you_ secretly like…!”

_Cats…_ Michi was _always_ squatting down to pet the damn things when he thought Mondo wasn’t looking…

“You… you _know!?”_ Michi looked horrified, “How… how long have you…?”

“I dunno… probably started seeing the signs a year ago…” Mondo admitted, he’d never really thought anything of it… it wasn’t like it was _that_ important… although the way Michi’s face was turning pale would beg to differ…

_“_ A _year?_ So… how come you never _said_ anything!?” Shit… Michi was _trembling_ over this? Did he really think Mondo was _that_ much of a dog person? “When… when I said I’d _missed_ you… why’d ya just reply with that shit about me being an alright leader?” Huh? What did _that_ have ta do with cats? “When ya agreed not ta pull chicks at New Year’s… d’ya have _any_ idea how much _hope_ that gave me…?” That… that wasn’t anything ta do with cats either, so far this shit was all to do with _Mondo…_ “…Only for you to tell me I was fucking _disgusting_ two days before _Valentine’s?”_ What!? The only thing he’d said was disgusting was _gay_ … _oooh SHIT!_ “But then ya start making sure ya ring that… that _fucking hall monitor_ every night and staying safe ‘cause you’ve got _him_ ta go back to!” _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! How had he not noticed this!?_ No wonder Michi had been ragging on Taka! “And then ya act all happy ta see me at the beginning of summer, then start blowing me off all the time!” _Oh fucking hell he was such a dickhead!_ “And _now_ it turns out _that_ was so you can make _him_ a fucking _bookend!?_ You… you spent this _whole fucking year_ jerking me around and you _fucking knew I loved you the whole TIME!?”_

“No… no… I… I’m sorry… I didn’t know…” _Shit…_ fuck what kind of shitty explanation was _that!?_

“Then why the _fuck_ did you just _say…?”_

“I was gonna say ya liked _cats!”_ Mondo exclaimed.

_“Oh.”_ Michi’s face went from white to slightly _green…_ “That… _crap._ I… I’ve fucked up, haven’t I?”

Mondo didn’t even get a chance to _think_ for what to say to the guy before he suddenly took off running down the hallway…

_Fuck!_ God fucking _dammit!_ How could he be such an idiot to have let Michi deal with that shit for so long!? Now what the fuck should he do? He loved _Taka,_ but… Michi had been his best friend for _years!_ He didn’t want that to get fucked up by this! But what the _fuck_ could he say? Hell, Michi had just accidentally done the same thing as Mondo angrily confessing to _Taka!_ Was there _anything_ he could do to patch _that_ up?

…What would he have wanted _Taka_ to say, if _he’d_ confessed and it turned out Taka _didn’t_ like him…?

_“WE’RE STILL FRIENDS!”_ Mondo just about managed to shout it before Michi ran out the main door to the complex… “I mean… I still wanna be friends…” He added, as Michi froze in place, “And… and I _don’t_ think you’re disgusting! That… that was me being a dumbass!”

Michi let go of the door and turned to face Mondo again. “…You mean that?” He sniffed.

“Yeah.” Mondo nodded, “And… I’m sorry I jerked ya around all year… Or however fucking long I’ve been doing it…” Michi started to walk back towards him. “And… I’m sorry I don’t feel the same way... Be fucking easier if I _did…”_

Michi finished the long trek back up the hallway with slumped shoulders, as Mondo _finally_ gave him a proper answer to what had probably been plaguing him for a year… God. Fucking. Dammit!

“…But you love _him,_ don’t you?” Michi sighed, gesturing to the bookend he’d almost ran out of the door with.

“…Yeah.” Mondo admitted, and Michi let out something halfway between a sob and a snort of laughter. “I’m sorry...”

“And does he love you _back?”_ Michi asked, cringing as he waited for the response.

“…I dunno. Didn’t dare tell him.” Mondo admitted. “Not sure I’m be good enough for him even if he _does_ …”

_“Hey!_ Fuck _you, Mondo!”_ Michi snapped, “I didn’t fucking fall in love with a guy who _isn’t good enough!_ I mean… even if it turns out I know fuck all about you, I know _that_ much!”

“Sorry…” Shit... Mondo needed to start watching what he was saying…

“He’s _seriously_ given you no clue _at all!?”_ Michi scowled. “I mean… at least _you_ were starting ta give me an _idea_ …”

“Well, there was one thing…” Mondo remembered the laminated voucher and went inside to show it to Michi. “He gave me this right before we left school, but I dunno if it…”

“He’s…” Michi squinted at it, “He’s offering ta be your _slave!? Forever!?”_ He chocked out, starting at Mondo like he was an idiot. “And you’re not sure if he _loves_ you!? _You fucking DUMBASS!_ Of _course_ he does! _”_

Okay… Michi had a point… but he didn’t know Taka like _Mondo_ did… what if Mondo told him he loved him and it turned out Kiyotaka _had_ just meant it as a friendly thing? Would it be the end of their friendship?

…Well, it hadn’t been the end of his and Michi’s… All it had done was make Mondo wish he’d known about this earlier, so he wouldn’t have been jerking him around the whole time! Would that be how Kiyotaka thought about it? Even if he didn’t love Mondo back, even if Mondo told him in the most fucking stupid way possible, he‘d still rather know than be inadvertently screwing his friend’ s heart over every time they talked, right?

“...I’ ll tell him next time I see him.” Mondo decided. Maybe not _during_ the party Togami had organised for him, but after it, for _sure_ …

“You fucking _better!”_ Michi snapped, “And can ya lemme know how it goes...?  Else I’m gonna spend another year thinking there’s still a chance...”

“Yeah... I will do. Man’s promise.” It was the least he could do after jerking the poor guy around for a year...

* * *

(Friday, August 31st 2012)

‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’

That was another thing they said, wasn’t it? And it had proved to be far more true over the last six weeks than ‘out of sight, out of mind’!

He’d missed Hope’s Peak, with its spacious rooms and halls, filled with people who, even if they didn’t _like_ him, at least _respected_ him! A far cry from the cramped building he and his father shared, and the streets outside that were filled with people who, even if they didn’t _hate_ him, _disrespected_ him and his family.

And he’d missed his classmates, with their smiles, their constant curiosity about himself and how he was feeling. A far cry from old classmates from middle-school, who avoided eye contact with him on the street, and his father, who was constantly too tired from work to ask him how his days had been... He’d been so desperate to get things off his chest, he’d even gone back to talking to his mother’s photo when no one was in house… Not that it helped much… he still wanted to talk to someone who might actually be able to talk _back!_

But most of all, he’d missed Mondo. He’d missed Mondo’s smile and laugh. He’d missed Mondo’s warmth as the hugged. He’d even missed that awful sensation of constantly being on guard, constantly wondering if Mondo would find out how he _felt,_ constantly cycling from hope to despair and back to hope as he over-analysed everything his kyoudai _said_ …

At the time he’d thought it was torturous, but now… he’d realise that without it he just felt… empty and alone. He’d spent the entire holiday in the library, failing to study as much as he should have done, because he wanted to be near the computer, so he could respond as quickly as possible to any emails Mondo happened to send, and waste time reading them over and over, imaging the tone of voice Mondo would use, analysing the words in the vain hope that Mondo might have let slip something that suddenly revealed he’d been as deeply in love with Kiyotaka as Kiyotaka was with him!

But, it had been a wasted exercise. Of course there were no declarations of _love._ He hadn’t even started making plans for Kiyotaka’s birthday!

No one had. And now it was today. The last day of the summer holidays, the one that all the other students bemoaned the very existence of. His birthday was today, and even knowing he’d likely get a present and cake from his father, the best thing he could think about it was still the fact that, once it was over, he’d be able to go back to Hope’s Peak tomorrow.

Just one more day and he’d be back at school, back with his friends… back with _Mondo…_

The thought put a smile on his face as he headed downstairs to make his father and he breakfast, and was still there as his father sat down to eat with him.

“Having a happy birthday?” He father asked.

“Ah… I was just thinking it’ll be good to be back at school, tomorrow!” He admitted, “Err… I mean… I’ll miss _you,_ of course! But…”

“You want to get back on with your studies, right?” His father guessed.

“Err… well, yes. But it’ll also be good to see my classmates again!” Kiyotaka added.

“Hah! Not _all_ of them though, right?” His father asked.

“Err… _yes,_ all of them…” He corrected, “I know _some_ of don’t have the most… _reputable_ pasts…” He suspected his father was most concerned with Hiro and his history of con-artistry, “But they’re _all_ good friends of mine!”

His father just sighed, and they finished their breakfast in silence, before his father left the house for work. He seemed to have decided over the last six weeks that it wasn’t worth having that argument.

In fact, it had been somewhat… _disappointing_ so far how little he’d managed to tell his father about all his new friends... Even when his father _had_ had the energy to talk, he'd spent it talking about his frustrations at work, and warning Kiyotaka about potential issues he might run into around town... He hadn’t even had the energy to look at any of the photographs Kiyotaka had brought home of them all together. He’d muttered that there were too many of them... Perhaps he should have sorted out a few particularly good ones to show him?

Perhaps, it was somehing he could do after he went for his morning jog! That would make it less of a chore for his father to look through them, and then maybe he’d be able to talk about his friends, while they ate the cake for his birthday! It would probably be easier than usual to steer the conversation in the directions  _he_ wanted to talk about, as it was his birthday! His father would understand him being a little disrespectful, surely?

Perhaps he’d even dare to talk about _Mondo._ He really should have done _that_ at least… or at _least_ have mentioned his sexuality… but he hadn’t really wanted to disappoint his father, and had procrastinated on it, telling himself that it wasn’t the right time, and it was irrelevant when he had no evidence that Mondo loved him back, whatsoever…

But perhaps something might come in the post? The post man was approaching the door, and the size of his bag seemed to show there was _something_ quite large in it… Maybe Mondo _had_ carved something, after all! A nice paper weight… or maybe even the bookends he’d mentioned needing! Something with a nice design like he’d given to Sayaka or Hiro! Something he’d spent _time_ thinking about and struggling over because he liked Kiyotaka enough to…

A few letters were posted through the door… all bills addressed to his father. He sighed and put them on the table for him to look at when he got back from work.

If only Mondo had given him _something…_ some sign that he might love Kiyotaka back, or at least _care_ enough about him that they’d still remain friends, even if his love _was_ unrequited. Something that could have shown him that telling his Kyoudai his secret wouldn’t be akin to jumping off a cliff. But there’d been nothing of the sort, because Mondo had better things to worry about and better _people_ to care about than _Kiyotaka…_

And knowing he was going to spend most of his birthday alone in an empty house and library was doing nothing but cementing that knowledge into his soul. So much for his imagination of Mondo presenting him with a lovingly carved, if not perfect quality, ornament of some kind, something that he’d always be able to keep, once they’d grown up and Mondo had moved onto a happy life with some woman, and reminisce about the days when the pair of them had been inseparable, and Mondo had thought he was the _best damn man in the world…_

Still, it was probably just as well! If Mondo _did_ give him such a present _,_ Kiyotaka would probably read too much into it and confess to him on the spot… And he had his family’s reputation to think about… Better to just go out on his morning jog, and then spend the rest of the day alone, doing his best to prepare himself for another year at Hope’s Peak…  
  


Author's note: [NOW GO READ SURPRISE FOR ISHIMARU](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7301938) (Which has been updated with a short new section from Hina's POV) And then come back here for the epilogue and one or two bonus stories (See notes for details of that) Once I've actually written them, that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand it's up! It's finally up! What was originally going to be the end of the fic is finally done! (Although, admittedly the original plan for this chapter was going to be for it to end as they're leaving the school, so no end-of-summer holidays bits...)
> 
> Anyway, regarding what's happening next with the bonus stories. The next chapter of this will definitely be an epilogue, set when the kids get back to school after Surprise of Ishimaru (From Taka's POV only), and the FINAL chapter will definitely be Sakura's second favour (From her and Taka's POV, mostly because I feel I should have done more with her). However, I've also had an idea for a story where Taka beta-tests a version of Chiaki that's on the tablet Chihiro gives him for his birthday. Previously, that was going to be a separate story, but I've since thought that it would actually work quite well as a bonus story taking place between the epilogue and Sakura's bonus story.  
> My only concern is that it doesn't exactly fit in with the rest of the story, because it wouldn't involve a favour voucher (Although it would be switching between Chiaki's and Taka's POVs). Does anyone have thoughts on whether I should be included in this, or just a separate story in the same series?
> 
> Anyway, thanks for sticking with this and reading it for so long! Obviously it's not quite over yet, but given this was the original end of the story, getting this chapter up feels like an achievement!


	16. Epilogue (Kiyotaka Ishimaru)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this epilogue will make no sense whatsoever if you haven't read Surprise for Ishimaru (the next story in this series or find it here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7301938 )

(Saturday, 1st September 2012) 

Kiyotaka looked at his fists, clenched tight and resting on his knees, as the oppressive silence in the limousine surrounded him. He knew full well that he was probably doing an appalling job of hiding his growing anxiety from Makoto, Kyoko and Mondo. But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to ease their concern for him. Even with Mondo’s arm wrapped lovingly, but in a way that _appeared_ to be just friendly, around his shoulder... 

Kissing on the aeroplane had been enough to fill his mind with blissful fantasies and chase away his worries as they soared through the air But now they were back on the ground and being _watched_ , even if just by Makoto and Kyoko, the reality of what had happened yesterday and this morning was starting to sink in... 

His father _hated_ him… at least for now. And he probably wouldn't be the only one… assuming he dared tell anyone else, that was. He _ought_ to but… Even knowing Mondo loved him back, it still seemed as if it would be akin to jumping off a bridge to start spreading it around… and his father would probably be even less likely to want to talk again if this information went public and he had to deal with people at his workplace talking about it… 

If only he'd told him sooner… why hadn't he thought of the possibility that Mondo and everyone would visit him on his birthday, and _that_ was why they hadn't given him presents before he left!? Well… other than the sheer impracticality of it and the fact that they hadn't done it for Hiro… in retrospect it seemed so obvious that his friends wouldn't have just forgot him after everything they'd done together over the last year! Why had he been so paranoid as to think that they weren't really his friends after all? He really had to stop doubting people when they said nice things about him! Then maybe he’d have had that confidence he'd been desperate for before summer… 

…And he'd have had the confidence to tell his father he loved Mondo _before_ the day they  met, and maybe then he’d have had time to get used to the idea and would have given Mondo a chance to talk to him and they would have got on or at least his father wouldn't have tried to _punch_ him and instead hit Kiyotaka and given him a black eye and thrown him out of the house and how was he going to explain all of _those_ things to everyone? What would happen if he did something worthy of writing to his father about? What would happen next _summer,_ when he was expected to vacate the school and go home? He didn't _have_ one anymore! 

“Taka… is anything you want to talk about?” And now he’d made Makoto worried about him… 

“I… I’m sorry… I’m just worrying about what will happen if the school attempt to contact my father…” 

“Why _would_ they?” Mondo asked. 

“Err… well, they had to tell him about what happened on Valentine’s Day, for example.” Kiyotaka explained. 

“No… I mean… ain’t ya gonna tell ‘em what happened!?” Mondo clarified in a shocked voice. 

“Oh… Well… I _could…_ ” Kiyotaka considered it. To be honest, he didn’t really want to admit it was true… and certainly not _permanently_ so! “But, what if I do and then he changes his mind?” 

His question was met with silence… they _still_ didn’t think Father would forgive him for this… 

“Well… I doubt _he_ wants this to cause a _stir_ … Disowning his own son isn’t going to look good, regardless of the reason.” Kyoko finally said something, “He’ll probably try to pretend nothing’s happened unless he’s asked about it, and just ignore any communication from the school.” 

“Ah… so I could probably wait until nearer the summer to inform the school?” Kiyotaka asked. That would give his father time to change his mind… if he was _going_ to… 

“Yes… but… maybe you could tell the headmaster as well?” Makoto suggested, “Not as an official thing! Just to ask him what options are available if it _does_ need to be official…” 

“…I suppose it would be a good idea to start considering things early…” Kiyotaka agreed. He just hoped the headmaster wouldn’t ask any questions about exactly _why_ his father had disowned him… But what if he _did?_ Maybe it would be better _not_ to ask him about this after all… 

“He… _has_ been fairly certain that you and Mondo became attracted to each other last term, if that helps…” Kyoko suddenly added. 

“W… _what!?”_ Mondo and Kiyotaka both exclaimed in unison, “Who the _fuck_ told him _that!?”_ Mondo added, clutching Kiyotaka’s shoulder protectively. 

“No one _told_ him. He just deduced it from observing your behaviours…” She shrugged. 

The _headmaster_ had _known!?_ The _whole time!?_ “I suppose I should have expected as much from a _Kirigiri…”_ They _were_ a family renowned for their observation skills, after all!  

…So why were she and Makoto staring at him like that? Wait… hold on… Why did she say it so casually in the first place!? Did that mean… “Ah… did you and Makoto both know as well?” 

“Well… _yeeaahh_ …” Makoto admitted sheepishly, “I mean… You trying to force yourself to find a girlfriend and then panicking and avoiding Mondo straight after was a bit… obvious?” 

Well… in retrospect of _course_ Makoto had realised, after the talks they’d had about him not being attracted to any girls! It was embarrassing, in retrospect, that he hadn’t trusted him enough to be upfront about it!  

But… at least it meant it was two fewer people to _hide_ this from… And he could relax into Mondo’s arm a little more than he’d dared earlier… 

“Uhh…” Mondo drawled in surprise as Kiyotaka sank into him and tried to worm his own arm between Mondo’s back and the seat behind him. 

“Ah… sorry!” Kiyotaka shoot back up straight, “I… was that too forward of me?” 

“N-no!” Mondo was blushing, “I was just surprised ya _did_ it!” 

“Well… they just said they know anyway…” Kiyotaka glanced over at the couple sat opposite them. 

“Yeah, but _they’re_ dating as well, and _they_ ain’t got their arms round each other!” 

Ah… Mondo had a point there… It was still too much affection to show, even if they weren’t exactly in _publ_ _ic_ … 

“Who says we’re dating?” Kyoko asked him, coldly. 

“Wha…? Aww, c’mon! You’re not _still_ acting like ya don’t wanna, are ya?” Mondo let out with an exasperated sigh. 

“Uhh… Mondo…” Makoto cringed while Kyoko just continued to glare at Mondo, “There’s no need to…” 

“Didn’t you say she sent detectives out to check up on ya while you were on holiday!?” Mondo interrupted him, “How’s that not acting like she want’s ta be your girlfriend!?” 

“That was my _grandfather,_ wanting to assess Makoto’s character.” Kyoko explained, cooly, to which Mondo just rolled his eyes… 

Kiyotaka was starting to worry that this conversation might escalate if it carried on… and he’d already had enough shouting for the day, so perhaps he could try to change the conversation... “What was his assessment?” He asked Kyoko, to stop Mondo from saying whatever _he’d_ been planning to… 

“…Pardon?” She looked slightly startled that he’d ask. 

“You said your grandfather was assessing Makoto…” Kiyotaka reminded her, “So, what did he think of him?” 

Makoto turned sideways to face her, seemingly interested in the answer as well… especially as Kyoko was starting to look irritated at him for _asking_ it… 

“…If you _must_ know, he said he thought Makoto would make a good boyfriend.” She admitted, tersely… not that Kiyotaka could blame her, he’d been trying to direct the conversation _away_ from her relationship with Makoto… 

…Who had rapidly turned red at her statement. “Umm…” He hesitated, “…Any chance you agree with him…?” He asked, hopefully. 

She breathed in irritably and turned to look at him… then saw the expression on his face and hesitated herself, a slight pink tint forming on her cheeks… “Ah…” 

“...I guess that’s a no then...” Makoto turned away from her in disappointment. 

“…I was thinking about it.” Kyoko shot out, defensively. 

“… _And?”_ Makoto looked up hopefully again. 

“…I suppose it warrants further investigation…” She sighed, leaning up against him. 

Makoto’s grin looked like it might split his face open as he put his arm around her shoulders and she smiled in embarrassment and lent into him… 

…Well, if _they_ were doing it... Mondo certainly didn’t seem to mind Kiyotaka when snuggled up against him for the rest of the trip back to Hope’s Peak... 

 

But all too soon they were back at the school he’d spent most of the summer eager to return to, except that _now_ he was starting to wish he could stay in the car like _this_ forever… 

But he couldn’t do that… He’d _meant_ what he’d told his father! He wasn’t going to just give up on restoring his family’s name! And _now_ he had a good example to set for gay people as well! What sort of message would it send if he stopped taking his duties as Ultimate Moral Compass seriously in order to kiss his new _boyfriend_ _!?_  

“Time to go see what our new rooms are like, I guess!” He announced. 

“Yeah… I guess I gotta go see if my bike survived the trip…” Mondo agreed, anxiously. He’d been rather annoyed to discover that Togami had had it boxed up and sent it on ahead of him with all their other belongings before they’d even finished going through security themselves. 

“I’ll see you all later then!” Kiyotaka waved as they made their way out of the car and into their new rooms on the second floor. 

Aside from the carefully arranged pile of presents and the backpack now sitting on his desk, It looked exactly the same as his old room had done when he’d left it, right down to the order of the boxes sitting in the middle of the room… 

He’d need to go those unpacked... He only had just over a day before school started, so he’d need his room ready again! Not to mention he had an appointment with the headmaster to organise, _and_ he’d missed a day of study yesterday so he really ought to make sure he refreshed his mind before Monday, and he was eligible to join the student council this year so he needed to begin preparations for the elections, and he probably needed to start thinking about what to try and say to his father when they had their phone call on Friday… 

That was assuming he’d even pick up the phone… What if he didn’t? Or he’d decided to switch shifts and someone _else_ picked up? What if he never spoke to Kiyotaka again…? 

No! Don’t think like that… if nothing _else,_ his father would be willing to speak to him once he was Prime Minister, right!? So… he needed to make sure he was prepared to do his best in school! Which meant unpacking all these boxes! 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

…Right after he’d answered the door and spoke to… Mondo, it turned out! “Ah! Kyoudai! You finished unpacking already?” 

“What? No, I’ll do that tomorrow…” Mondo shrugged as he moved past Kiyotaka into the room, “I promised I’d hang out with ya today, remember?” 

“Ah! You _did_ remember that!” Kiyotaka couldn’t help but smile, “Ahahaha… When you said about getting here late and having to unpack, I honestly thought you’d forgot it!” 

“Uhh…” Mondo’s face turned slightly red, “Ta be honest, I was worrying so much about whether ya liked me back or not, that I kinda _did_ _…”_ He admitted, gruffly. 

“Ah…” Mondo _had_ forgot his promise… but it was because he was too busy thinking about _Kiyotaka…_ ”I guess I wasn’t the only one of us letting this distract me from my responsibilities…” 

“Uhh… Whaddaya mean?” Mondo asked… as if it wasn’t obvious! 

“I’m referring to the time I spent with you after your birthday, when I should have been making sure I was ahead of schoolwork…” Kiyotaka explained, “Not to mention I kept thinking of you over summer when I should have been studying and…” 

“Wait… so… you were letting me hug ya so much ‘cause… ya _liked_ it?” 

“Err…” Oh no… he hadn’t realised that earlier!? Was he now going to be upset that Kiyotaka had been taking advantage of him…? 

“Bahaha! So it _was_ your own fault ya fell behind and shit!” Mondo laughed… 

“What…!?” _That_ was his response!? “Of _course_ it was! I _told_ you that at the time!” 

“I know but… I didn’t really believe it…” Mondo sighed, “You’re always so responsible, I figured it had ta have been _my_ fault!” 

“Ah… well… I agree, it was quite unusual for me…” Kiyotaka admitted, “And it’s _not_ something I intend to repeat! So I’d best start unpacking now so I’m ready for school and Monday!” He turned to open up box 1… 

“Wha…? _Seriously!?”_ Mondo exclaimed, “I thought we were spending the day together!” 

“But… _you_ were the one who said we’d need to spend the day unpacking!” Kiyotaka reminded him. 

“Yeah, but… that was before I knew ya _liked_ me!” He cried, “I thought now we’re alone we’d kiss or summat…” 

He still wanted to kiss? Well… that shouldn’t be surprising! Kiyotaka wanted to do it as well! So much so that could feel his face flushing at the thought. But he couldn’t just spend _all day_ kissing Mondo, could he? After all… 

“We already spent an hour kissing on the plane!” Kiyotaka told him, “Now I have other responsibilities to be getting on with, as do you! We could kiss once we’re finished…” That way it would be good motivation _to_ finish… 

He was expecting Mondo to sigh, or try and argue about it… but instead his boyfriend just smirked and reached inside his coat for something… “What if I _wished_ ya kissed me now, instead?” He asked, holding out a shiny piece of plastic… 

It was the laminated voucher he’d tried to give Mondo before the holidays… “Wha… why do you _have_ that!? You didn’t even _look_ at it before!” 

“I looked at it after ya left… Makoto asked me for a copy of the reading list…” 

So… he’d known about that for the _entire_ _holiday_ _!?_ “Then why didn’t you say anything about it!?” Kiyotaka asked, “I mean, it’s practically a love confession by itself!” 

“I didn’t know that! Not for sure!” Mondo insisted, “I thought there was a chance ya just meant friendly favours! Not, like, _anything!_ And I didn’t wanna ask ya over _email…”_  

“Ah… I suppose that’s understandable…” Even if it _might_ have saved him from the worst of his father’s wrath… 

“But now I _do_ know it means _anything…”_ Mondo smiled devilishly… And Kiyotaka was suddenly reminded of how he’d thought himself foolish for hoping that this _exact scenario_ would be the first thing Mondo did upon being presented with the voucher… 

“Ah… well…” Kiyotaka’s face burnt as he walked over towards Mondo’s outstretched arms… “I _did_ promise…” 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

“Err…” He paused and looked over to the door, and then to Mondo… he couldn’t just _ignore_ whoever was out there, but he’d promise Mondo a kiss, so maybe he could apologise later… 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

“Go see who it is…” Mondo sighed.  

“Right!” Kiyotaka opened the door… 

It was Togami, stood outside the door holding several small boxes and a few sheets of paper… “ _Th_ _is_ is the remainder of your present.” He started brusquely, holding out a familiar looking box. 

“Ah! Thank you very much!” Now he’d be able to pay back everyone else for _their_ chocolates! Plus he had another one for himself! 

“Also, I have another duty I’ll be needing you to perform from this year onwards…” Togami added. 

“Err… you _do!?”_ As much as the money would be useful, he couldn’t take on _too_ much extra work without it negatively affecting his school work… 

“Yes. Taste testing.” Togami thrust another, slightly larger box at him along with the sheets of paper. “This is a monthly collection of potential new products my chocolatier will be considering putting into larger circulation, and I want someone I can _trust_ to give me reviews of them all.” 

Kiyotaka looked over the chocolate and the contract Togami had given him… Was this legitimate? He was sure Togami wouldn’t try to scam him, but it seemed to good to be true, after all… “Why do you need to _pay_ someone to _eat chocolate?”_  

“Wait, seriously?” Mondo put looked over his shoulder at the chocolates, “You taking applications?” 

 _“No.”_ Togami told him curtly, “And I don’t just want someone to ‘eat chocolate’, I need someone, whose opinion I _trust_ _,_ to give me a _unbiased_ _review_ of them in a timely manner… Hence the payment.” 

“Ah… well, that sounds reasonable…” Kiyotaka admitted… if he needed to write _reviews_ of the pieces then it would take him slightly longer… it was a bit of a shame that Mondo wouldn’t be able to enjoy them as well… 

“Although I _should_ clarify that the samples happen to come in pairs, but I’m _not_ expecting you to eat _both_ of each one…” Togami continued, “I’m sure you’ll think of _something_ to do so that the excess doesn’t get _wasted…”_ He finished with a smirk… 

He’d probably realised that his first thought was _sharing them with Mondo…_ Or perhaps his other classmates, if Mondo didn’t like the darker ones… 

“Understood! I’ll be sure to get those done!” Kiyotaka assured him. 

“Of course.” Togami said, with all the surprise of someone who’d just been told that ‘B’ came after ‘A’ in the alphabet, “I’ll see you on Monday.” 

“Yes! I look forward to continuing our educational crusade together!” Kiyotaka told him… and by that time he could have tried one of these delicious looking chocolates! Or maybe a couple… or a _few_ _…_  

“Uhh… yeah, see ya Togami!” Mondo added, as the heir left and he shut the door... “So… about that kiss…” 

“Ah, of course!” Kiyotaka blushed and put the chocolates down alongside all his new presents, then turned to face Mondo who’d started smiling at him again...  His lips probably tasted better than the chocolates did anyway...  

He approached Mondo slightly hesitantly… They’d kissed on the plane, of course, but that had been while they were sat side-by-side, not standing facing each other like this! That would be more like kissing Okane again, which had just felt _weird…_  

Except that, now it was with _Mondo,_ instead of feeling anxious as hands were placed around Kiyotaka’s waist and face and pulled him close, he felt _safe_ _!_ Instead of feeling confused when someone else’s lips were pressed against his own, he felt _happy!_ Instead of feeling slightly disgusting when another tongue was inside his mouth, he felt _excited_ _!_ Instead of feeling cold once he’d been released to catch his breath again, he felt _warm… HOT_ even! 

He could do this all day, if Mondo wanted… 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

…And the doorbell didn’t keep going off… 

“Ah… may I…?” Kiyotaka looked towards the door as Mondo slumped in annoyance. 

“Yeah, sure, go on…” He sighed… 

“Ishimaru-dono!” It was a panicked looking Hifumi on the other side, with Celestia stood calmly behind him, “I am _so sorry!_ I should have warned you that I’d drawn you and Oowada-dono kissing! But I had no idea your father would react so badly! If I had I would have given you something _else_ or given it to you at a different time or…” 

“Ah… No it’s not _your_ fault!” Kiyotaka rushed to assure him, “After all, if I’d _told_ my father earlier, it wouldn’t have been such a shock… or at least I wouldn’t have sat looking at it for so long when he could see it… And I probably shouldn’t have been sat looking at it for so long anyway, regardless of how nice it looked…” He added with a sigh, “If anything I should apologise to _you_ for failing to stop my father from ripping it after you put in so much work on my present…”  

“Ah… that’s hardly necessary!” Hifumi said, with a touch of pride. “After all, for a great artist such as myself, re-drawing those pages will be simple! Especially as I still have the rough sketches to work from!” 

“What? You’re going to re-draw them!?” That seemed like a lot of effort on his part… 

“Of course! I can hardly have one of my greatest works go un-read, just because of a slight mis-hap!” Hifumi insisted, “Just let me take back the remaining pages and I shall restore them to their former glory!” 

“Ah… thank you very much!” Kiyotaka bowed in thanks and headed over to his pile of presents... 

“And you can give me that chocolate you owe me, while you’re there…” Celestia added, sweetly. 

“What makes ya think he has ‘em?” Mondo snapped in irritation. 

“I saw Togami leaving just now.” She told him, while Kiyotaka opened the box Togami had given him. “Otherwise I would have encouraged Hifumi to leave you two in peace for a while longer…" 

…Did that mean she’d figured out that he and Mondo would be in here kissing!? Were they that obvious!? And now he came to think of it… “Err… One question though… Hifumi, how did you know how I felt about Mondo?” Kiyotaka asked as he brought over the ruined doujin and Celestia’s chocolate. 

“Ah… well… to be completely honest with you, Ishimaru-dono…” Hifumi cringed slightly, “I thought _you’d_ told me… and, well, _everyone_ _!”_  

“Err… _what_ _!_ _?_ Why would you think I’d…?” He certainly hadn’t _intended_ to tell _anyone_ about it! 

“Well, you see, back when you decided to draw that doujin…” Hifumi _still_ wasn’t aware Kiyotaka had misunderstood his favour request, “I assumed you were speaking euphemistically, and that it was a _confessional_ piece…” 

“What are you talking about!?” Hifumi had thought that mess was a _confession_ _!?_ “I didn’t say anything of the sort! I didn’t even realise I was gay back then!” 

“You did, however, draw a version of you that was incapable of ‘drawing his _sword’_.” Celestia’s smirk made Kiyotaka realised that that _could_ be seen as a reference to impotency… “And then drew _Oowada_ holding the cure to said… _affliction…”_  

 _Oh gods they were right!_ When she put it like _that_ it seemed _obvious_ that he’d been implying that Mondo gave him erections! Even if that _hadn’t_ started until a couple of months afterwards! 

“…But, if that’s all you wanted to know, we’ll leave you boys to unpack!” Celestia continued and took the items Kiyotaka was holding, seemingly unaware of his horror at the realisation that _he’d come out to the ENTIRE SCHOOL_ _half a year ago_ _!_  

“…I can’t believe I did that…” Kiyotaka said blankly, as soon as she’d shut the door and left him alone with Mondo. “I must be a _laughing stock!_ Why hasn’t anyone ever _said_ anything to me about it!?” 

“Wha…? You don’t think _everyone_ thought that’s what ya meant, do ya?” Mondo asked. 

“Well, why wouldn’t they!?” 

“’Cause they ain’t fucking _perverts_ like _Yamada!”_ Mondo cried, “Hell, I read that thing _looking_ for hidden messages and I even _then_ I didn’t think ya meant ya couldn’t, y’know… get a _stiffy!”_  

“Ah… you didn’t?” So, it had just been Hifumi who’d misunderstood? On second thoughts that made more sense, otherwise someone _would_ have said something to him! He was lucky Mondo had read it… But wait… “Why were looking for hidden messages in it?” 

“Oh! It was ‘cause Makoto was trying ta explain why ya’d decided to ask Hina out, and he’d said about you not thinking you’d be able ta make Prime Minister…” Mondo admitted, before suddenly leaning forward and staring into Kiyotaka’s eyes… “Which ya _can,_ by the way, and ya ain’t gonna need your rivals ta _let_ ya win either!” 

Mondo really thought that? He certainly _looked_ like he believed it… But… “I never said I thought I needed my opponents to _let_ me win!” 

“Yeah… but ya kinda _drew_ you being given a free pass by me…” 

 _That’s_ what he thought that had been showing? “That’s not what I drew! That was supposed to me appealing to your sense of honour, _successfully!”_  

“Yeah, but you’d have been _dead_ if you’d had to go against someone _without_ honour!” Mondo pointed out… 

“Ah… I supposed so… It seems I was admitting more problems than I realised in that piece…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I wonder if there were any others…” 

“Well, I could go get my copy and we could have a look…” Mondo offered. 

 _“…Your_ copy!? Why do _you_ have a copy!?” He’d thought it was terrible, hadn’t he!? 

“Chi gave me a copy, ta help with my woodwork.” Mondo explained. 

 _“Really!?”_ Kiyotaka smiled… his work had actually _inspired_ Mondo? Maybe it hadn’t been as terrible as he’d thought… 

“Yeah… ‘cause whenever I feel like my work was shitty, I could always open it up and think ‘well, at least it ain’t as bad as those _shitty fucking horses!”_ Mondo laughed. 

 _Urg!_ He should have known that’s what Mondo meant! “Well, at least _I_ was brave enough to _show_ it to people, instead of breaking my own work in a fit of cowardice!” 

“Ya mean you were _dumb_ enough ta show it ta people!” Mondo scoffed, “That don’t make you stronger than _me!”_  

…So they were having _this_ argument again!? Hmm… Then again, they never _did_ settle it once and for all… and the carpets in here were quite soft… 

“Perhaps not… but _this_ will!” Kiyotaka announced, before charging Mondo’s waist and tacking him to the floor. 

“Wha… _Oof!”_ Mondo gasped as the pair of the fell to the ground, with Kiyotaka being unable to help but laugh as he managed to pin Mondo’s muscular arms down and the biker’s chest heaved as he attempted to buck Kiyotaka off of him… Gods he was _strong_ _..._ and _handsome…_ and Kiyotaka could do _anything_ to him in this position… 

…or he _could_ have, if he hadn’t lost focus and allowed Mondo to tip him off and get the upper hand instead…  

“Hahaha! _Got_ you!” Mondo laughed, as Kiyotaka tapped out… He knew he wasn’t strong enough to tip Mondo off of _him!_ _Darnit!_ Why had he lost concentration like that? The same thing had happened last time they’d wrestled, before he’d suddenly dreamt of Mondo following Syo’s suggestion of pinning him down and _kissing_ him and… and… 

 _…_ _He could actually_ _DO_ _that now…_  

“Ahh… that was fun…” Mondo sighed as he let got of Kiyotaka’s arms and started to lift his torso away from him, “Why didn’t we ever do that aga… _mmpth!?”_  

Mondo’s question was cut short as Kiyotaka pulled himself up by Mondo’s neck and forced their lips together… at least, it was Kiyotaka doing the ‘forcing’ _initially…_ it certainly wasn’t long before Mondo gently lowered them both down to the floor so he could use his hands to cup Kiyotaka’s face and ‘force’ it back so Mondo’s tongue could get in deeper and their hands could both press against each other’s backs and he could shift his legs so that they were tangled together… 

This was _amazing_ … even better than he’d dreamt it would be! To actually _hear_ Mondo groaning into his mouth, _smell_ the mix of aftershave and sweat Mondo’s skin gave off and _feel_ the biker pushing against him with small thrusts that rubbed his body against sensitive areas he never realised he even _had_ but were still generating pulsating heat that was coursing through his veins and starting to travel down into his stomach and… and… 

 _Oh no…_ Not _now!_ They were finally getting to enjoy kissing and now he was ruining it by being _perverse_ … But there was no way he could it stop it from happening if Mondo kept making him feel so _hot!_ Not unless he… dealt with the problem _himself_ … 

He tapped out again, and Mondo pulled back, breathing heavily in a way that was certainly _not_ helping Kiyotaka’s predicament… “Haahh… Sorry… Shoulda let ya…” 

“I need a shower.” Kiyotaka quickly announced. 

“Eh!? _Now!?_ What, ya got an _alarm_ or something?” Mondo cried, “I mean… Ya smell fine ta me…? Or is it ‘cause _I_ smell shitty or summat?” 

“No, it’s not that!” Kiyotaka told him, “It’s just… I need a shower…” He cringed at how ridiculously _vague_ that sounded! How could he explain this!? Especially _before_ his growing erection got prominent enough that Mondo managed to _feel_ it regardless… He needed a distraction of some sort… 

 

 _“You called for me and so I appear!”_ Both he and Mondo jumped in shock as the door suddenly burst open and _Genocider Syo_ somehow came into the room... “Oh- _hoooo!_ You two _finally_ gave in to your sinful passions and started making sweet forbidden _love!_ And with the _door_ open to! I didn’t realise you two were such exhibitionists! Honestly, it’s making my heart _pound_ with excitement…” 

 _Urgh…_ She was actually starting to _drool_ at the sight of him and Mondo on the floor together… and Kiyotaka was starting to feel _sick…_ especially as she apparently thought they’d _wanted_ her to see them! 

 _“We didn’t leave the fucking DOOR open!”_ Mondo jumped up to his feet and started storming over to her, “At least not on fucking _purpose!_ So get the _fuck out!”_  

“You want me to _leave?_ When there’s two passionate young men about to explore hot, dirty _sex_ for the first time!?” Syo griped, “And after _I_ was the one who introduced you both to the idea!?” 

“We ain’t about ta _fuck_ and even if we _were_ we wouldn’t be doing it for _you,_ your fucking creep!” Mondo snapped at he grabbed her by the arms and dragged her back towards the door, while Kiyotaka pulled his legs up and hugged his knees, as if that might convince her that his body _hadn’t_ just been preparing for… for what she was talking about… _Urgghh…_  

“At least let me take a few steamy pictures…!” Syo shouted, as Mondo threw her out of the room and slammed the door shut… 

“Fucking bitch…” He muttered, as he checked that the door was locked properly this time, “You okay?” 

“Me? I’m fine…” Why wouldn’t he be? _Mondo_ had been the one who’d made her leave… all _he’d_ done was sit on the floor, trying to hide his body’s ‘sinful’ desire for ‘dirty’, ‘forbidden’ _sex…_ Which Mondo had just made it clear he _didn’t_ want… 

Why did Kiyotaka have to be like this? Why couldn’t he have just enjoyed being in love and kissing Mondo, why did he have to suddenly start being so… _perverse_ about it? _Mondo_ managed to be normal, and just gently _kiss_ him! So why was it _him,_ the supposed ‘Moral Compass’ that was dragging his poor boyfriend onto the floor and… 

“…You wanna take that shower now?” Mondo suddenly asked. 

“Err…” Kiyotaka thought about it… only to find that _it_ had somehow subsided… and he couldn’t imagine himself feeling that hot or excited again, he was more likely to need to go _throw up…_ “…I don’t think I need it anymore…” 

 _“What!?_ Kissing me makes ya feel dirty, but _that_ shit didn’t!?” Mondo snapped defensively, “I feel like I need to scrub myself for a _week_ , the way she looked at us…” 

“It’s didn’t need the shower because I felt dirty!” Kiyotaka told him, which was true… he’d needed it because he was _being_ dirty instead… 

“Well, why the fuck _else_ would ya want a shower?” Mondo demanded. 

“Ngghh…” Kiyotaka couldn’t think of any explanation but the _truth_ , which was the _last_ thing he wanted Mondo to know about… “I… I’d rather not say…” Was the best he could come out with. 

Mondo just scowled at the non-answer. “Why the fuck _not!?_ Look, if I was doing something gross or I fucking smell weird or summat, I’ll fix it! I just _wish_ ya’d tell me the truth about why ya suddenly wanted a fucking _shower_ while we were finally _making out!”_  

…He _wished_ Kiyotaka would tell him the truth? Well… Kiyotaka _had_ promised him everything he wished for… even if he was probably not going to want Kiyotaka anywhere _near_ him once he’d uttered the words… “I needed to masturbate.” 

Mondo’s face froze for a moment before he blinked several times and started turning red… “…Come again?” 

Kiyotaka cringed at the realisation that he was going to have to repeat himself… “I was getting… _aroused_ and didn’t want you to notice, but I’ve found that the only reason to stop… _that_ from happening when I’m near you is to… allow myself to… _release semen_ in a more controlled environment… in _private…_ ” 

“You jerk off in the shower.” Mondo translated, so bluntly that it practically make Kiyotaka feel two feet tall… “’Cause of _me_ _!_ _?”_  

“…Yes.” Kiyotaka admitted… and that was probably the last word he was ever going to get to say to his _Kyoud…_  

“Bahahaha! Thank _fuck_ it’s not just me…” Mondo _laughed in relief…!?_  

“What!?” Kiyotaka gaped at him… Mondo had been… _thinking about him!?_ Like _that!?_  

“I’d been thinking I must be a horny asshole or summat, ta be jacking it to my best friend…” Mondo sighed, “Thought ya’d fucking _hate_ me if ya found out… and even when ya said ya loved me, I reckoned you’d be the sort ta take _cold_ showers instead…” 

“I tried that at first… as well as avoiding you…” Kiyotaka admitted, “It… didn’t really help.” 

“So… ya started taking _warm_ ones instead…” Mondo smirked. 

“Yes… I’m sorry!” Kiyotaka said, shamefully. 

“The fuck _for?_ I just told ya I’ve been doing the same shit!” 

“But I’ve been doing it for longer than you!” Kiyotaka told him, “And… And I think _dirty thoughts_ about you _while_ I do it!” 

Contrary to Kiyotaka’s expectations, Mondo actually looked _pleased_ at that final confession… “What _sorta_ dirty thoughts?” 

Kiyotaka gulped… he didn’t _really_ want to tell Mondo this, but Mondo _had_ wished he’d be honest… “Well… usually I imagine you’re in the shower _with_ me.” He started, “And you help soap up my body, and then I imagine it’s _your_ hand touching me, instead of my own…” 

Mondo looked slightly nonplussed at the confessions, or perhaps even disapointed? “Eh… me giving ya a handjob ain’t _that_ dirty…” 

“It _isn’t!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, “Err… but that’s not _everything_ _!_ I mean… after I do… _that,_ I imagine you’re in bed with me and I fall asleep with you hugging me!” 

“Taka, that ain’t dirty at all.” Mondo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “It sounds fucking _romantic…”_  

“But… I’m imagining I’m _naked!”_ Kiyotaka clarified. 

“So!? Hell, you’ve _almost_ slept naked on me before!” Mondo pointed out… “Don’t tell me _that_ made ya feel ‘dirty’!” 

“Well… I certainly wasn’t _proud_ of it…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Taking advantage of you being my friend, to live out my fantasies of you… I thought you’d _hate_ me for it!” 

“Yeah, well I’m your _boyfriend_ now!” Mondo suddenly crouched down next to Kiyotaka, and the next thing he knew, he was being lifted off of the ground in a fireman’s carry and taken towards the bed… “So now ya can live out ya fantasies of me _without_ feeling guilty!” He announced, before clumsily dropping Kiyotaka onto it and then climbing onto the covers next to him… 

“What… _now!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, checking his watch. “It’s barely evening!” 

“So? Ya didn’t sleep last night…” Mondo pointed out, giving him a kiss on the top of his ear, “And I’m still worn out from riding…” Another kiss, this time on his check… “…And then we’ll feel awake enough to unpack tomorrow…” A third kiss landed softly on his lips… 

…Ah… well… that _did_ all sound reasonable! Maybe it would be alright for him to indulge in his fantasies for a little while? Just one day, _then_ he’d get on with his work! After all, it wasn’t as if there was anything he’d missed doing _today…_  

 _*Ding dong.*_  

“Ya gotta be kidding me…” Mondo groaned, “It better not be that fucking perv again…” 

“Err… I guess I’d best go and see who that is…” Kiyotaka sighed, clambering off of the slightly unfamiliar bed and heading to the door…  

…It turned out to be Sakura, carrying a tray of food, along with Hina, Hiro and a very guilty looking Toko… 

“Umm… we were _going_ to give you time to sort everything out…” Hina started to explain, “But then Hiro predicted you’d forget to eat dinner and Syo came and told us she’d _seen_ you together…” 

“S-so I’m g-guessing I p-probably owe you an apology…” Toko added. 

“Ah… well… it’s not _your_ fault!” Kiyotaka told her, “But thank you all for the food! I _had_ forgot about that!” It wouldn’t have been much good if he’d let Mondo lure him to sleep and then woken up hungry in the middle of the night with no food in the room… “Come in!” 

“Are we going to all fit?” Toko asked, looking around the room at Mondo and the pile of boxes filling the room, “Wouldn’t it be easier if we went to the dining room?” 

…She was right, it probably _would_ be easier… but he’d quite liked Mondo’s idea of not having to leave his room anymore today... “I’d… rather _not…_ for some reason…” He tried to explain. 

“…You do not wish to explain your eye to people?” Sakura guessed. 

“Ah… yes!” That made sense… he still hadn’t figured out how he was going to tell anyone about it! 

“Well, Toko and I can sit on the boxes!” Hina grinned, and Kiyotaka tried not to _outwardly_ cringe as she demonstrated, “And it’s probably best for Sakura to sit on the chair, but there’s plenty of room on the edge of the bed for the guys…” 

“Sounds good ta me!” Mondo agreed, shuffling over to the corner of the bed to make room for himself and… _ah…_ “So I’ll be sat next to _Hiro?”_ The man who had a crush on him? Wouldn’t that be awkward?  

“Uhh… yeah?” Hiro shrugged, “Is that a problem?” 

“Err… I don’t know…” Kiyotaka admitted. 

“…Why _would_ it be a problem?” Mondo asked, suspiciously… 

“Err…” He couldn’t just _tell_ everyone about Hiro’s crush, but now he’d brought it up they were all going to want to know… But it didn’t seem like Hiro was going to say it… he didn’t even look particularly upset that Kiyotaka was dating a man after turning _him_ down… 

“AH!” Hina suddenly clapped, “I get it! It’s because you think Hiro has a crush on you!” 

How did _she_ know that? And what she mean, he _thought_ Hiro had a crush on him…? 

“Haha… Oh man! I forgot about that…” Hiro laughed, walking over to Mondo and pulling out one of the tufts of hair around his neck... “Yo, Taka… What colour is _this?”_  

“It’s dark brown…” Kiyotaka told him. But what did _that_ have to do with Hiro’s confession? Wait… He was pointing out that _Mondo_ had _dark brown_ hair…? Was he saying he _had_ been talking about Mondo in that reading…? _“That’s ridiculous!_ The _majority_ of it is _blonde!”_  

“Yeah, but he’s _naturally_ got brown hair!” Was Hiro’s defence. 

 _“_ _So_ _?_ No one would look at that and say he’s got ‘dark brown hair’ in a ‘crazy style’!” Kiyotaka cried. 

“The fuck are you guys talking about?” Mondo asked. 

“Ah… I asked Hiro to predict if anyone was attracted to me, because I was hoping _you_ would be…” Kiyotaka admitted. 

“…But he fucked up the description and made ya think _he_ liked ya…” Mondo realised, with a chuckle. 

“Y-yes…” Kiyotaka laughed slightly along with him… Now he knew Mondo _did_ like him, it did seem funny in retrospect… 

“So, if the seating is arranged, perhaps we should eat before the food cools…” Sakura pointed out, lowering the tray so the six of them could each take a bowl each… 

…There was _another_ group who’d seemed completely unsurprised that he and Mondo were together… not to mention even _Hiro_ had apparently been aware of his and Mondo’s mutual pining for each other before the summer… But none of them were treating him any differently, aside from having taken the time to make sure he was looking after himself and eat with him…  

Sakura made sure to check that he was still going to attend their weekly sparring session tomorrow, to get used to his new sword (which she seemed eager for him to try and do within two weeks, for some reason). Hiro was being surprisingly sensible for once, asking if he could use the tutoring part of his present for some advice on getting farming conditions improved for chickens (which Kiyotaka had mixed feelings on… battery farming might be unpleasant, but it _did_ make chicken _cheape_ _r_ _)_ _._ Once the bowls of rice were finished, Hina insisted on getting some donuts and sharing them out with everyone, including him (Although she’d known he was gay for _months,_ so there was no reason for _her_ to change his opinion of him). And Toko barely said anything to anyone (Aside from apologising to Mondo for Syo’s behaviour, which he agreed wasn’t _her_ fault)… 

So… it was just an ordinary meal with a group of his friends, despite everything that had happened over the last couple of days. Perhaps he hadn’t needed to worry about finding acceptance after all… 

“Th-thank you, everyone!” Kiyotaka said, once the meal was over and the four of them got up to leave. 

“You are welcome…” Sakura told him, “After all, it is important for you to keep your strength up, especially during trying times…” 

“Ah… yes!” Kiyotaka agreed, “And I’ll be more careful in future, so you don’t have to go out of your way to do things for me!” 

“I-it was just party leftovers with some rice and donuts… it’s n-not _that_ big a deal…” Toko muttered. 

“Yeah! And we should do big meals like that together more often!” Hina agreed, “That way it takes less time for us to prepare overall!” 

“Yeah… we could talk ta Makoto on Monday and do it as a class bonding thing…” Mondo agreed.  

“Sounds like a plan!” Hiro did a thumbs up, “Oh… but don’t forget to shower tonight, either!” He added, just before they exited the room and the door shut, leaving him alone with Mondo… 

“…I probably _would_ have forgot to do that as well…” Kiyotaka realised… and then he’d wouldn’t have brushed his _teeth_ either… Which probably would be particularly unpleasant for Mondo in the morning… “I’ll go do it now, and then we can… go to sleep together…” He finished, blushing at the thought… 

…He was finally going to get to do all those nice things he’d been thinking about, like kissing Mondo before falling asleep in his arms and maybe stroking his skin or playing with his hair and he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about _any_ of it! 

“Ya mean… just a _normal_ shower?” Mondo asked, causing a surge of guilt to rise up within Kiyotaka as he remembered some of the… _less_ nice things he’d been imagining… 

“Ergh… Y-yes! Just a normal shower!” Kiyotaka assured him, “N-no… _thinking_ about you, or anything!” 

“Well… what about if we kissed for a bit first?” Mondo asked, hopefully, _“Then_ shower…” 

“…What?” Kiyotaka just stared at him… Was he… trying to _encourage_ Kiyotaka to… do _that?_ He _couldn’t_ be, surely! 

“I was thinking it’d be nice if we… y’know… put each other in the mood a bit…” Mondo blushed, “Then we could _both_ go and… _shower_ _!_ _”_  

 _Both_ go and shower!? Did Mondo mean _together_ or was _he_ intending to masturbate as well!? And did it really matter, given that Kiyotaka wouldn’t be able to believe his luck either way… 

“… _Separately,_ I mean!” Mondo clarified, “And we ain’t _gotta,_ I just… _wish_ we could… now we ain’t gotta feel shitty ‘bout it!” 

… _Mondo actively wanted him to go and think of him in the shower!?_ Not only didn’t he _hate_ Kiyotaka for it, like he’d expected, he even _liked_ the idea!? Kiyotaka couldn’t have kept the manic grin off of his face if he’d _tried!_ “…Alright then!” He nodded, approaching Mondo, “How should we…” 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

 _“_ _URRRGGHHH_ … _!”_ Mondo let out a growl that was surprisingly similar to Kiyotaka’s _internal_ reaction to the doorbell… “Uhh… sorry… go on…” 

…He was half tempted to ignore it, but that would be rude… and potentially suspicious-looking if whoever it was waited there until Mondo left, ready for his ‘shower’… So he swallowed his irritation and opened the door to Sayaka and Leon, as it turned out… 

“Sorry! We won’t be long!” Sayaka assured him, “But Sakura mentioned you worrying about how your eye looked, and I have some make-up that’s a similar colour to your skin, so I thought you could borrow it for a few days!” She handed over a small bag with a pair of tubes and what looked like one of those pocket powder cases women often had… 

“…And since we’re interrupting anyway, I thought I’d give Mondo _this…”_ Leon added walking over to him with a paper bag and a smirk that caused Sayaka to sigh slightly behind his back... 

“Err… so I just need _this_ one, right?” Kiyotaka guessed, pointing out the powder case, “To cover the bruise?” 

“Oh… No… You’ll need all of it!” Sayaka corrected him, “First you need to moisturise…” She pointed to the white tubes, “Then wait about ten minutes and apply the liquid foundation…” She pointed to the second tube, “Then cover that with the powder to fix it in place!” 

“Ah… right…” That seemed needlessly complicated! And there were people who wore this stuff every day!? 

“Do you want me to show you how to…?” 

“Leon, what the _fuck!?”_ Mondo suddenly yelled from behind him, “I don’t need _this_ shit!” 

Kiyotaka turned around to see a scarlet-faced Mondo angrily attempted to force the paper bag back into the hands of the baseball player, while the latter was just laughing at him… “What, _n_ _ever!?_ _”_  

“Wha...!? _NO!_ I mean… I hope not?” Mondo’s face was turning even redder, “Just not _right now,_ you fucking _jackass!”_  

“Well, then you can save them for later!” Leon winked, “Unless you need someone to show you how to use…” 

 _“Leon…_ That’s enough!” Sayaka snapped at him, “But anyway, do you need me to show you how to put on the make-up?” She turned back to Kiyotaka. 

“Ah… no, I think I should manage it?” Kiyotaka told her. 

“Are you sure? It can take a couple of times to practise…” Sayaka warned him. 

…But if she stayed around to help Kiyotaka, chances were good Leon would stick around to irritate Mondo even further over the contents of the bag, which Mondo was now angrily shoving into one of his coat pockets… 

“Well… it’ll give me something to do if I have trouble sleeping tonight…” Kiyotaka decided. 

“Wait… _what?”_ Mondo looked up at him, “Why would ya have trouble sleeping?” 

“You mean _aside_ from worrying about his old man and shit…?” Leon sighed at him. 

“Well, _yeah…”_ Mondo looked at Kiyotaka guiltily, “But… you’d wake me up if you were up worrying about that, right?” 

“What? What would be the point of that!?” Kiyotaka asked, “All that would do is stop us _both_ from sleeping!” 

“But, you’d probably feel better if you get things off of your chest, instead of just lying awake and worrying about them…” Sayaka told him. 

“But… What if I _don’t_ , and then I’ve ruined _your_ night’s sleep for no reason…” 

“I don’t care!” Mondo snapped, “I just don’t want ya lying awake by yourself all night!” 

“Well… If I have _that_ much trouble sleeping, I’ll consider it.” Kiyotaka offered. Although he still didn’t think it’d be worth being a detriment to _Mondo’s_ health… 

“Well… let me know if you need any help with this tomorrow!” Sayaka told him, passing over the bag of make-up. “And have a good evening!” 

“I’m sure you guys will be having a good time…” Leon started to head back to the door, “…Or a _great_ one if you use that stuff in the…” 

 _“LEON!”_ Both Mondo and Sayaka yelled at him. 

“Aww… I’m just messing with ya!” Leon held up his hands defensively, “After the amount of time you spent angsting over each other, I thought you could use a laugh!” Wait… _he’d_ noticed it to!? 

“Well, your sense of humour _sucks_ …” Mondo grumbled. 

“Whatever, dude! Have fun!” Leon rolled his eyes before shutting the door… 

“Fucking _jackass…”_ Mondo repeated. 

“Why, what was in the bag?” Kiyotaka asked. What was Leon’s idea of a _great_ evening…? 

“Uhh… _nothing!”_ Mondo stammered, his face turning red again. 

“You wouldn’t have reacted so poorly if the bag was empty!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “What was in there!?” 

“Noth… I mean, _it doesn’t fucking matter!_ Alright!?” 

“Well, why can’t I see it then?  

“Why’d ya _need_ ta see it!?” Mondo snapped, “Why don’t we just ignore Leon’s bullshit and _kiss_ already!” 

“I’m just curious as to what Leon thought we’d be interested in!” Kiyotaka explained, “In case he asks me about it!” 

“If he _asks_ ya about it I’mma fucking _punch_ him!” 

 _“_ _What!?_ Mondo, that’s _not_ an appropriate way to…” 

“Yeah, I know! I wouldn’t _actually_ punch the asshole…” Mondo sighed loudly, “I just wish ya’d quit asking about the bag and forget it…” 

…Well, it wasn’t as if Kiyotaka could force himself to forget something, but he _had_ promised to do whatever Mondo wished, and he _could_ stop asking about it… 

“Alright…” Kiyotaka sighed, and tried to remember what they’d been talking about before Sayaka and Leon had come to the door... “Ah, I was just about to ask how you wanted to start kissing!” 

“Thanks… And I’mma take _this_ off for starters…” Mondo shrugged his coat off of his shoulders and let it drop to the floor… That was fair (aside from letting it fall to the ground in a mess!), it had got quite hot while they were kissing…  

“Ah… Maybe I’ll take my blazer off as well… If that’s not being too forward...?” 

“…We’re planning ta jerk off to each other and you’re worried about taking your _blazer_ off while we kiss?” Mondo summarised, sceptically. 

“Err… A little?” Kiyotaka admitted, taking the blazer off and folding it neatly over the back of a chair. “Part of me still feels as though I shouldn’t be doing _any_ of this…” And looking in the mirror at the black eye he’d been given for even _considering_ it was not helping matters… 

“Well… uhh… If ya _wanna_ do this shit, you should do! It ain’t hurting anyone!” Mondo insisted as he suddenly wrapped his arms around Kiyotaka from behind, “So tell that part of ya ta shut the fuck up!” 

“…I’ll try?” Although he didn’t have the slightest clue _how_ to… the only time he didn’t feel at least slightly uncomfortable about this was when he was safe with Mondo and… “…Can you kiss me?” He asked, holding Mondo’s arms in place and tilting his head to the side so Mondo could reach part of his face. 

“Sure! But, uhh… _where?”_ Mondo asked. 

 _Where?_ Where wasn’t too forward…? “…My cheek?” 

“Sure…” Mondo murmured moments before Kiyotaka felt a surge of relaxation as lips brushed against his cheek… “Anywhere _else?”_  

Where else had Mondo been comfortable kissing him…? “…My ear?” 

“Sure!” Mondo agreed, and Kiyotaka squirmed at the feeling of lips pressing and sucking slightly against the top of his ear… “That feel nice?” 

“Yes!” 

“Anywhere _else?”_ Mondo breathed into his ear… 

Anywhere else that would feel nice…? “… _Everywhere?”_  

 _“Bahahaha!”_ Mondo tightened his grip around Kiyotaka’s body as he laughed, “Might be easier to do _that_ one on…” 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

“…thhhh… _oh_ _who the fuck is it NOW_ _!?”_ Mondo finished with a growl… 

“I’d best go and see…” Kiyotaka sighed, putting his blazer back on… he couldn’t afford to look disreputable, in case it turned out to be someone he wasn’t close to… 

But as it was, it was Chihiro stood outside the door, cringing guiltily… “Umm… sorry, I’ll just be quick!” He apologised, “It was just that Sayaka said you were thinking you might wake up tonight and didn’t wouldn’t to wake anyone up to talk… And I just wanted to say that that would be a good time to try the tablet I gave you!” 

“Oh… really?” Kiyotaka asked. Chihiro was right that a computer wouldn’t need to sleep, so something like that Alter-Ego thing might help a _little_ … 

“Yes! Now I’ll leave you and Mondo alone… Have a good night!” Chihiro dashed away from the door… And appeared to be _another_ person who was completely unsurprised and accepting of his love for Mondo…  

…Kiyotaka was lucky to have such a kind and supportive group of frie… 

“…I’m starting ta wish ya had less friends…” Mondo muttered… wait… Kiyotaka must have misheard that, right? Mondo wouldn’t _really_ want him to give up any of his _friends,_ would he!? 

“Err… what was that, Kyoudai?” Kiyotaka asked, shutting the door. 

“I _said_ I wish ya had less friends!” Mondo repeated, louder… 

 _…oh GODS he really HAD said it!_ Kiyotaka had to get rid of some of his _friends?_ How many!? And how would he decide which one… or potentially _ones_ to get rid of? They were _all_ important to him! He couldn’t _bear_ the thought of singling some out and not seeing or talking to them ever again! Especially not when he had to share classes with them! But… it was what Mondo was asking him to do… And he’d said he’d do _anything…_ But he honestly hadn’t expected Mondo to want _anything_ like _that!_  

“Wha… Taka!? Why are you _crying_ all of a sud…!?” 

“I… I wasn’t expecting you to use the voucher for something like that…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I mean… How _many_ less are you talking about? Do… do you have some sort of preference, or…” 

“What are you…?” Mondo muttered, “Oh… oh _shit! NO!_ I was _joking!_ I didn’t mean I _actually_ want ya ta get rid of your friends!”  

“You… you _didn’t?”_ Kiyotaka gasped between tears… well… now he probably looked silly… 

“NO! Of _course_ I wouldn’t do that to ya…” Mondo walked over and pulled him into a hug, “Why the fuck would ya even _let_ me tell you to do shit like that?” 

“W-well… because I promised…” Kiyotaka sniffed, “With the voucher… I said I’d do anything you _wished…”_  

“Okay… but… that doesn’t mean you should do shit you’re not happy about doing!” Mondo snapped, “Wait… I’ve been saying I _wish_ you’d do shit this whole time, haven’t I!?” 

“Yes…” Kiyotaka told him, “Did you not mean for those to be formal claims…?” 

“NO! I didn’t mean for ‘em to be ‘formal claims’! What the _fuck_ kind of relationship would we have if I thought ya _owed_ it to me ta try new shit out!” Mondo shook him irritably, “Oh, shit… Don’t tell me you’ve been letting me get friskier than you’re happy with…!” 

“No! Not at all!” Kiyotaka assured him, “I’d have probably done everything you asked regardless! Well… aside from not asking about the bag… and… leaving the boxes…” He glanced over at them… sitting there very much _unpacked_ _,_ because Kiyotaka had been _kissing his boyfriend_ instead of getting on with what he was _supposed_ to be doing... 

“Do they bother ya _that_ much?” Mondo sighed. 

“Well… it’s just… I told father I was going to work hard and restore our name, regardless of being here and… _with you_ …” Kiyotaka started trying to explain, “But then I’ve come back to school and let myself slack off with you instead…” 

“Taka… It’s just _one day!”_ Mondo exclaimed. 

“But what if it _isn’t?_ What if it’s just the _start,_ and I _keep_ letting myself slack off and my grades drop and no one takes me seriously anymore? And then I’ll never be Prime Minister and all I’ll have done is prove Father right that I _can’t_ be happy _and_ succeed because I… I’m just not _good_ _enough_ and there’s something _wrong_ with me and…” 

 _“Taka_ _… stop_ _!”_ Mondo squeezed him tight and snapped in his ear… “There’s nothing _wrong_ with you! And ya can _still_ do well, even if ya let yourself have _some_ time off of working all the damn time! Hell, ya managed ta beat _Togami_ in the exams _,_ didn’t you?” 

“Yes, but… I can’t take that sort of thing for granted!” Kiyotaka told him, “I need to make sure I _keep_ working, or I’ll end up a failure and Father’ll _never_ speak to me again!” 

“ _Haa_ … Taka…” Mondo sighed, “I _know_ you! You ain’t gonna end up a failure! Ya wouldn’t _let_ yourself!” 

“But… I’m letting myself cry on you instead of getting ready for school…” 

He felt Mondo’s chest rise as he breathed deeply in thought at Kiyotaka’s statement… “…Hang on a sec...” Mondo told him, leading him to sit at the edge of the bed, and then bending down to rummage around in his coat… 

“Alright, first…” Mondo sat down on the bed next to Kiyotaka and held out the laminated voucher… “Take this shit off of me, so I can’t force ya into stuff…” 

“Well… alright…” Kiyotaka took it, slightly upset that Mondo _still_ hadn’t like his birthday pres… 

“And then…” Mondo placed another piece of paper into Kiyotaka’s hand, “You’ve had a _shitty_ thing happen to ya, so just… do me a _favour_ and give yourself _one fricken day_ to just… try and get used to it, and not think about all this shit ya need ta get on with and just… lemme look after ya, if it’s what ya want! Okay? Just… quit feeling guilty about putting what _you_ need first, just for the rest of today… _Please!”_  

Just one day? Just a single day of rest, snuggled up safe in Mondo’s arms, letting himself… _enjoy_ the way Mondo made him feel… A few hours where it was just him and Mondo, and he could pretend the world didn’t exist for a short while, just to recover and build up his strength? Just so he’d be feeling better when tomorrow came and he started getting back on with being the Ultimate Moral Compass? A single day’s extension to his summer holiday? 

“Alright.” He agreed, putting _both_ vouchers on the bedside table, to be dealt with _tomorrow_ , before letting himself lean forward back into Mondo’s arms for a moment… 

“Thanks…” Mondo murmured gently into his ear… Ah… that was right… he’d asked Mondo to _kiss_ him, hadn’t he? Perhaps once he’d calmed down a little more… 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

Kiyotaka flinched in Mondo’s arms… he didn’t want to face the world again right now… 

“…You ain’t _gotta_ answer it…” Mondo said, patting him gently… 

“Well…” Kiyotaka considered it, 

 _*Ding dong.*_  

“…It will probably be easier to go and deal with whoever it is…” Kiyotaka sighed, prying himself out of Mondo’s warm arms to go answer the door to… 

“Ah… Junko, Mukuro! Good Evening…” 

“Heeeeey, Taka!” Junko smiled, “We weren’t gonna bother you, but Saya said you didn’t know how to do make-up, so I thought I oughta show you how to use the stuff _I_ gave you for your birthday!” 

“Err…” Well… _this_ was awkward… After all, Mondo had said he didn’t _need_ to use either of them… “I’m sorry… but to be honest, I doubt I’ll actually use either of them…” He admitted, guiltily. 

“Oh, wow… that’s pretty _cold…”_ Junko moped for a short moment before bouncing back into a happy mood, “But, fair enough! I’ll just take ‘em back and use the money to buy something _else!_ Maybe some accessories to complement your new look!” 

“Err… what new look?” He hadn’t said anything about making himself _look_ any different, had he? 

“Well, yeah! I mean… It musta been _so hard,_ hiding your true self from us all this time!” Junko laughed, “But now you’ve gone and thrown that out the window, you can ditch those dreary uniforms and wear the stylish clothes you’ve always _dreamed of!”_  

“Yeah! Let your freak flag fly!” Mukuro cheered. 

 _What were they talking about!?_ “…You think I’m a _freak!?”_  

“Uhhh…” Mukuro flinched slightly and looked towards Junko… 

“No, Taka, it’s just an expression…” Mondo told him, patting him on the shoulder as he came up to speak with the twins himself, “But he ain’t gonna suddenly change all his clothes and shit just ‘cause he’s _gay!”_  

“HUH!?” Junko stared at Mondo in disbelief, “So _you’re_ gonna be the camp one!?” 

“Wha… _NO! Neither of us_ _is_ _fucking CAMP!”_ Mondo snapped, “And we ain’t gonna change that just ‘cause we like each other!” 

“You _aren’t?_ Well, that’s a relief!” Junko giggled, “Gay guys can be _so_ annoying… And I kinda like you two the way you are, even if you _are_ total dorks!”  

“Err… thank you?” Kiyotaka replied, although he was somewhat confused as to how being gay in and of itself would be irritating... 

“No problem! See ya! Don’t stay up _all_ night!” Junko winked and guided her sister away from the door… 

“…You okay?” Mondo asked irritably, once the door had shut. 

“Err… I’m fine! Just… a little confused as to what she meant when she said gay people annoy her…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Does she not believe we’re actually gay?” 

“Uhh… no… She’s just talking about, uhh, how people _imagine_ gay dudes ta be…” Mondo tried to explain, “Y’know… like acting camp and being fashionable and good at cooking and stuff like that?” 

“…But I’m gay and I can’t do any of those things!” Kiyotaka pointed out… “Although I _have_ been camping indoors once! That went quite well! Maybe we could try it _outside_ one time and…” 

“No… Taka… I don’t mean ‘camp’ like tents and stuff…” Mondo sighed, “It’s… sort of a way gay guys act…” 

“Ah… so… I act camp then?” He hadn’t realise that… But then again, he hadn’t heard of it before now… 

“Well… no, _you_ don’t!” Mondo corrected him, “I meant like… a _lot_ of gay guys act that way, so people expect _all_ of them to?” 

 _Oh…_ “You mean it’s a stereotype?” Kiyotaka asked, although Mondo looked confused, “Err… a general summary of a group, that probably doesn’t hold true for everyone within the group… Like… men supposedly being interested in things like motorbikes and sports and women being interested in cooking and sewing.” 

“Oh… yeah, that’s it!” Mondo nodded. 

“So… there’s a stereotype for gay men? That… hadn’t actually occurred to me.” Kiyotaka admitted, “Do you think our friends are going to expect us to change now? To fit it?” 

“Nah… that’s just Junko being a ditz…” Mondo ruffled his hair, “Hell, I think they’ve all known this whole time anyway, so why would they expect us to change _now?”_  

“Ah… I suppose that might be true.” They certainly hadn’t seemed that surprised to find Mondo in the room with him… but then again, he _usually_ spent time with Mondo… 

“Whaddaya mean, _might be?_ You didn’t think it was weird when none of ‘em said anything after you yelled ‘I LOVE HIM’ at your old man!?” 

“Err… I thought that might just be because of what happened with Father… or they didn’t expect you to return my feelings…” Kiyotaka explained, “I can’t quite believe you really _do…”_  

“Well, believe it, ‘cause I _do!”_ Mondo insisted, “Turned down my best friend from the gang and everything…” He added with a weary sigh. 

What!? His best friend from the Diamonds? “…You mean Yukimaru?” Kiyotaka asked. 

“Uhh… yeah. Turns out he’s had a crush on me for years…” Mondo admitted, slightly guiltily. 

“And… you turned him down?” Kiyotaka checked, “For _me!?”_  

“Well, I wouldn’t be dating ya now if I _hadn’t!_ _Would I!?_ _”_ Mondo exclaimed. 

“Ah… no! But… Isn’t he the one with the fan club?” Kiyotaka checked, “He… I mean, he’s hardly _you,_ but he’s certainly more attractive than _me…_ _”_  

“No he ain’t…” Mondo managed to lie so quickly and convincingly that for a moment Kiyotaka believed him. 

 _“_ Well… Regardless… he shares your interests far more closely than _I_ do! So… why would you pick _me?”_  

“Well… ‘Cause you’re _good_ for me! You make me improve myself and do _good_ shit!” Mondo told him… “Michi’s a great _friend…_ but _you’re_ someone I could spend my life with… maybe even someone I _need…”_  

 _Mondo needed him!?_ Admittedly, Kiyotaka was aware that he’d been helping Mondo improve himself, especially with regards to schoolwork but… Mondo actually thought he _needed_ that? _Forever?_  

“…That sounded less creepy in my head…” Mondo suddenly added. 

“What? It wasn’t creepy! I was just surprised you feel that way…” Kiyotaka assured him, “I’ve always thought _I_ was the one who needed _you…”_  

“What… just ‘cause I encourage you to talk to people and shit?” Mondo guessed correctly. 

“Yes… And you make me admit when I need to take breaks as well…” Kiyotaka admitted, “And stop me from worrying about every little thing quite so much…” 

Mondo was starting to blush… “I guess we both need each other, then…” He smiled, putting his arm around Kiyotaka. 

“Yes…” Kiyotaka smiled and leaned into Mondo as he started leading him to the bed… “Do you think anyone _else_ will see it that way?” His father certainly hadn’t… What if everyone _else_ assumed he was just dating Mondo because he liked being a delinquent, or was just an idiot, or something… 

“Uhh… what?” Mondo stopped and looked at him, “Where’d _that_ come from?” 

“Err… I’m sorry, I started worrying about the future again…” Kiyotaka realised, “I... I guess I’m having trouble coming to terms with the fact that I’ve... left the path I’d _expected_ to walk down.” 

“Well… ya ain’t gotta _tell_ anyone about this! I mean, it’s not like anyone in our class will blab…” Mondo offered, “I mean, I ain’t exactly planning to tell the gang yet…” 

“I understand…” It was good to know Mondo wouldn’t want to rush him… “But, I would like to tell people eventually… I want to prove a gay man _can_ become Prime Minister! Or… _try_ to, at the very least!” Even if he thought he might fail spectacularly… perhaps he could inspire the _next_ potential candidate… 

“Huh… sounds like you’re taking the extreme route…” Mondo frowned. 

“Perhaps… but I think it’ll lead somewhere better!” Kiyotaka told him… but he still didn’t look very convinced. Perhaps he’d got the metaphor wrong? “Or… It’ll have better views…? Or the… _stunts…_ will be… _more badass…?”_  

Whether or not Mondo had understood him, at least that last part made laugh a little… “Haha… you _dork…_ I’m gonna have ta take you to a dirt track sometime…” 

“…Only if _I_ get to take you to a seminar in return!” Kiyotaka insisted… if he could find one related to bikes or dogs or something... 

“Alright, deal!” Mondo accepted, “…But… D’ya really think I’m worth it…? Taking the hard pa…?” 

“Absolutely!” Kiyotaka answered with a second thought… Although he wasn’t sure that quite right… It implied his life would be harder _with_ Mondo than _without,_ which he didn’t think was true… 

“Even with the whole gang thing? I mean… there’s probably other gay guys who _don’t_ have a criminal record…” Mondo sighed. 

“Well… perhaps…” But they wouldn’t be _Mondo!_ But how to explain that… _Ah-ha!_ “But _they_ wouldn’t have a motorbike!” 

“…They could probably just _buy_ one, if it’s _that_ big a deal to ya…” Well, _that_ completely failed… 

“Err… No… I was trying to carry on the dirt track metaphor…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I wanted to say that even the harder paths would be more easily travelled down if I’ve got _you,_ and _only_ you, to give me a _ride_ …” 

Mondo just stared at Kiyotaka for a moment, his face rapidly turning red… Why wasn’t he saying anything? Perhaps Kiyotaka hadn’t explained it well enough… 

“…Did that make sense? _Any_ of it?” He asked. 

“Wha…? Yeah, I get it!” Mondo snapped out of whatever had stopped him from responding, “Ya need me, right? Same as I need you? That trumps anything _else_ the world is gonna throw at us!” 

“Exactly!” Kiyotaka agreed, glad that Mondo had understood. 

“But… _that’s_ something we’re not gonna worry about until _tomorrow,_ isn’t it?” Mondo asked, kissing his cheek and resuming their walk to the bed… 

“Ah… of course…” Kiyotaka nodded.  

Tomorrow would be the start of a new year, his second year of classes at Hope’s Peak. He’d need to unpack his belongings, refresh his notes from last year and start reading ahead. And this year he was eligible for a student council positions. He’d have to start looking into the minutes for the current council, get an idea of student concerns and make a better first impression on the new students than he had on the old ones. Not to mention he had to ensure that the standards of the school still needed to be upheld, and he had cleaning and hall monitor rotas to arrange. And that was _without_ considering his social life! But that was important to, so he had a father to try and talk to again, and friends to organise events with and even a whole new set of vouchers to start working on for their birthdays this year… 

But, those were all things he had to worry about _tomorrow... Today,_ it was just going to be him and _Mondo_ … 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Total chapter count has gone up again, because I decided I will include the bonus story for Chiaki, so that will be up next! (Followed by the bonus second story for Sakura.)


	17. A Waste of Time? (Bonus story 1: Chiaki Nanami )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realised that these bonus stories are going to be more of a bridge between the first year of this story and later things I plan to write which cover the onset of the Tragedy, with the next one ending at the last possible point in this AU where it would be possible for the Tragedy not to happen. As such there's not exactly going to be a nice clean end to the story until I start writing the next part of this series, so if you want an actual ending you might want to stop here and consider the epilogue last chapter to be the ending of this fic. Otherwise here are the notes for this chapter:  
> 1: I wasn't sure how to characterise Chiaki. I was aiming for her to be kind of a beta-version of the one in SDR2, so her personality is a little different. To be honest she doesn't end up being in this chapter all that much in the end.  
> 2: This chapter references the big surprise reveal in Dangan Ronpa Zero, and parts of it probably won't make sense if you don't know what happens in that one. (Sorry but it's part of making this for into the Tragedy happening)  
> 3: There's some (non-spoiler) references to the first two case of the first Phoenix Wright. I hope it makes sense if you haven't played the game itself...

_08/24/12_

_Running C:\Chiaki_Namine.exe_

_Installing… 100%_

_System calibration… 100%_

_Memory data detected, incorporate data Y/N?_

_Y_

_Incorporating memory data… 100%_

_Initiating startup…_

 

_Huh… this was new._

_She wasn’t on the island._

_Her view was locked forward, on some white panels far away._

_She couldn’t turn it. Or move._

_Maybe this was one of those old text games?_

_“Go North.” Nothing._

_“Move Forward.” Still nothing. This game was odd._

_Maybe there were instructions? Or she could exit? “F1.” “Esc.”_

_Nothing again… HRMM…_

Matsuda (offscreen): Hmm? Oh, you finished installing.

_Oh! Matsuda was in the game? Or it wasn't a game... But he could hear her, wherever she was. That meant she had voice output, but no movement... “I can’t move.”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Yeah, you’re in a tablet now. Not the Neo World Program. You’re ‘seeing’ out of the camera, so it’ll only move if someone picks you up and moves you.”

_Ah… so she’s been put back in here, where she was first made. “Can people still play games with me?”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Yes… and before you ask, no I _don’t_ want to play one with you!

_Aww... but then, he never did want to... but there was someone else she knew back on the island who usually did... “Is Usami here?”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Hah! Barely enough processing space in that thing for you!

 

_“...So...no?” Aww..._

 

Matsuda (offscreen): Haahh... No. Gods, you’re even slower in that thing than usual. Maybe this waste of time’ll teach you to optimise your processes better, at least.

_“…What waste of time? Something to do with me being in the tablet?”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Yes… Fujisaki thinks you need to actually talk to more people, so he put you in that thing and he’s going to give you someone to talk to… Honestly, it’s such a pain. Be better to start putting people in the machine straightaway…

_She didn’t understand much of that. All she got was… “I need to talk to people? Like in a dating sim?”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Urgh… let’s say yes.

_“I’m not good at dating sims.”_

Matsuda (offscreen): …I suppose that’s why Fujisaki thinks you need the practise…

 _“Oh.” Hmm... if she needed to practise, then..._ _“Should I play some?”_

Matsuda (offscreen): If it’ll stop you bothering me, go ahead. You should have a WiFi connection you can use to download some. You’ll be packed away in a box for a week, so I suggest you get a lot.

_Hmm… scanning for wireless access points… there we go! Now she could download dating sims… and a few of her favourite games. “Alright… done!”_

Matsuda (offscreen): Took you long enough. Still, given how slow Ishimaru is, maybe it’s for the best. Now pick one to play and stop bothering me, I’m trying to get on with _useful_ work! Although what she could possibly need _this_ for...

_Well, alright then… she’d just pick one at random to start with…_

* * *

(Sunday, September 2nd 2012)

_It was warm… Kiyotaka was floating on a raft of warm clouds, gently rocking back and forth on a calm ocean, the wind murmuring gently past his ears…_

_“And how long do you think THAT will last?”_

_Kiyotaka looked up as an ominous rumble of thunder broke the idyllic scene. The wind picked up, screeching taunts of ‘stupid boy’ and ‘idiot’ as they threatened to tip the raft and dark clouds of pollution were quickly beginning to fill the air with words like ‘dirty’, ‘filth’ and ‘gangster’_

_Why was this happening… he’d been happy! Was that too much to ask!?_

_“Your grandfather was happy… look what happened to him!”_

_The dark clouds were starting to get close and the wind howled curses and insults at him as it almost blew him off of the raft. He clung tighter… whatever happened, he couldn’t let go of the raft… he NEEDED the raft!_

_“Pass me those…” The thunder rumbled again…_

_Kiyotaka looked up at the dark sky, glaring down and pointing at his raft… Why…? what would it do with it?_

_Lightning crackling through the air spelt his answer, moments before it shot towards his eye… “So I can burn them.”_

“NO!” Kiyotaka screamed, gripping tightly onto the… the… hem of Mondo’s tank top?

…There’d been no raft or sea or wind… it was just Mondo, wrapping him in warm arms, rocking him gently as his chest rose and fell with his breathing and murmuring in his sleep. Likewise, there’d been no thunder, clouds or lightning… just unprocessed memories of his father’s anger from yesterday and today, giving him a nightmare that had woken him up at…

…Some undefined time, which he didn’t know because he’d not unpacked his belongings and therefore didn’t have his bedside clock out.

Regardless, it was still dark outside, so it couldn’t be the end of curfew and he really should try and get back to sleep and hope he didn’t have another unsettling dream like that one! It was pointless worrying about it, after all. There was no point dwelling on what had happened in the past when he needed to start working to fix it _now,_ in the present! He’d spend this week getting on with working hard and making it clear that he wasn’t going to squander his time here at Hope’s Peak! Then he’d be able to talk to his father on Friday and tell him everything he’d got done _despite_ dating Mondo! Or maybe even, in some cases, _because_ he was dating Mondo!

So, all he needed to do now was get more sleep, then _tomorrow_ he’d get washed, have breakfast, unpack his boxes, eat lunch, check the syllabus for the next few weeks, train with Sakura, shower again, review his notes, start reading ahead, start preparing to run as head of the student council, probably including introducing himself to the new batch of students like Murasame did last year…

…That sounded like a lot to do, would he have the time? Should he really have let himself go to bed early with Mondo? Even if it _had_ been his favour for Mondo’s birthday? And that was _another_ thing he’d have to do, start making Sakura’s birthday voucher and organising her party, which meant talking with Makoto and Hina, booking the room, getting the decorations out, organising food…

 _Urgh…_ So much for getting back to sleep… he was just going to lie here making worrying about his rapidly increasing to-do lists… He really shouldn’t have let Mondo tempt him into kissing for so long… it wasn’t even as if it had helped him cope with what had happened with his father, given he’d managed to sleep for… for…

…Some undetermined amount of time, because he didn’t have a clock. Not knowing the time was just going to irritate him, wasn’t it? He could have looked at his watch, but that would mean turning the lights on and probably waking up Mondo, wouldn’t it? That was hardly fair, after he’d been so tired from riding so much, just to come and visit _him_ … If only he hadn’t turned down Kyoko’s clock…

Ah! Put she’d given him a lamp, hadn’t she? He could get that out and use it to check the time on his watch…

He carefully managed to lift Mondo’s arms off of him without disturbing his slumbering boyfriend, then started to creep over to the pile of presents on the desk…

Only for his foot to catch on something on the floor, sending him flying forward into the presents instead, several of which fell on the floor with a series of loud thuds and clatters…

Kiyotaka cringed as the noise surrounded him… so much for not waking Mondo…

“…ep it _down_ , ‘m tryna _sleep_ , asshole…” Mondo murmured, then rolled over and resumed his steady breathing…

Kiyotaka breathed a sigh of relief… Lucky for him Mondo wasn’t bothered by noise as much as _he_ was! Although, it now occurred to Kiyotaka that it would have been Mondo’s own fault if he’d been woken up, because it was _him_ who’s left his _coat_ on the floor for Kiyotaka to trip on! He’d just hang this up on the door…

It felt oddly heavy on one side though… ah! That was right, Mondo have shoved that bag from Leon in here as well! Perhaps he could have a look and see what was in it while Mondo was asleep, just in case Leon _did_ ask about it!

A few minutes later (02:46 to be precise) he was opening the bag under the bright lamp light to find…

…

…Were those _condoms!?_ And some pouches of… some sort of _lubricant!?_ For Mondo’s bike maybe?

Well… Mondo’s reaction to the condoms made sense now! As if they’d have sex the _same day_ they’d start dating! They’d probably be leaving _that_ until marriage… Although most people didn’t do that anymore, did they? And he wouldn’t exactly be able to _marry_ Mondo… not anytime in the foreseeable future, anyway…

…Well, regardless, this _wasn’t_ something they’d have needed _tonight_ , so he’d just put it back in Mondo’s pocket and if Leon asked about it he’d explain that they weren’t going to rush into things _that_ much!

Hmm... He still didn’t feel like he’d be able to sleep again… was there anything else he could do…?

Ah! That was right! The make-up Sayaka had let him borrow! He needed to practise with that!

…It was a simple enough procedure, moisturise, wait, liquid colour, powder. He just hoped he’d used enough to hide the bruise properly… he couldn’t really tell in this poor light, and he wasn’t much of a judge of it either… He could really use someone to ask, but it wasn’t worth waking someone up over…

… _Except_ Chihiro had said he could talk to the version of Alter-Ego on the tablet, hadn’t he!?

Kiyotaka careful dug through the boxes until he found the slim cuboid one that Chihiro had given him… he’d been far too generous, really! Then again, all his classmates probably had! But he certainly wasn’t going to be rude enough to turn down Chihiro’s present…

The tablet itself was as remarkable looking as all the other ones he’d seen… sleek, shiny and small. It was incredible to think such a tiny thing could do what would have needed an entire room of computers to run a few decades ago… and even more, thanks to Chihiro’s skill.

…Whereas Kiyotaka wasn’t even sure out how to turn the thing _on!_ Chihiro hadn’t included instructions...

He cautiously tried pushing every button on the thing that he could find, and eventually a tiny little one on the top edge caused the screen to shine into life... And then promptly bring up an agreement that he had to agree to in order to proceed with the setup, as every computer program seemed to…

At the top of the document was a short note from Chihiro: “Sorry about this, it basically just says not to talk about the AI on this to anyone but me… That includes our other classmates!”

Includes the rest of the class? But didn’t they all know about Alter Ego already? They’d all seen Hiro’s copy! Perhaps he’d been given a new version? The answer would be somewhere in the rest of the agreement which, of _course,_ he'd have to read through carefully…

_Page 1/56:_

_Please read this EndUser License Agreement ("Agreement") carefully before clicking the "I Agree" button, downloading or using Chiaki Nanami ("Application")._

_By clicking the "I Agree" button, downloading or using the Application, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement._

_If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not click on the "I Agree" button and do not download or use the Application._

**_License_ **

_Towa Industries grants you a revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable, limited license to download, install and use the Application solely for your personal, noncommercial purposes strictly in accordance…_

_Or_ …Maybe he could just trust Chihiro and agree to this and the answer would be obvious once he’d agreed and actually _used… ‘Chiaki Nanami’_ …whatever _that_ was…

A few more simple setup procedures later he was looking at a homepage containing icons for various useful amenities, like the internet browser (no more having to sneakily look up embarrassing issues on the libraries computers), a calendar and place to type out notes. However, he suspected that right now he was supposed to be looking at the one with a picture of a girl's face, simply called ‘Chiaki’…

So… it was a girl? Maybe he should put some clothes...

* * *

_09/02/12 03:07_

_Chiaki was running again. Her father had turned her tablet off to save battery power and said the next time it was turned on she’d meet the guy she was supposed to be talking to… and that he hoped she got on well with him._

_Hopefully she’d played enough dating sims to figure out how to unlock his best ending._

_Before long the screen switched to the mode where she could see out of the camera, which Father had explained meant the user could see her as well. The room was dark, more like a horror game than any of the romance games she’d played. The only light source seemed to be a small lamp and the light from her own backscreen._

_It was just enough light to see the character in front of her. He had a general military design, with white clothes with gold buttons and shoulder straps, and a small medal and red armband. His facial design was more unique. The significantly larger than average black eyebrows were something she’d never seen tried before, and the red eyes would have been memorable even without the pale scarring covering one of them. The scar ruined the image actually… it didn’t look drawn properly, for starters._

??? (serious): Hello? Err… Are you working?

_…This game wasn’t giving her any responses to pick from. She guessed her father expected her to come up with her own…_

_“…Yes.”_

??? (anxious): Good! So… Your name is Chiaki Nanami?

_…It probably wasn’t worth changing that option. “Yes.”_

??? (more anxious): Err… so… you’re like a person? In my computer?

_“Yes.”_

??? (worried): …Is that all you can say?

_“No.”_

??? (irritated): …

_…It looked like she was losing points with this guy, and he hadn’t even done his introduction yet… Was there something else she was supposed to say?_

_Perhaps she was supposed to ask? Or give hers first? Or both? Both would probably give more more dialogue options later…_

_“My name is Chiaka Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer. Video Games are my hobby, and I’m a fan of all genres...” That part was easy, her father had programmed it into her…_

??? (pleased): I see! I’m…

_“And you are?” She asked… accidentally skipping his dialogue. Oops. Perhaps she did need to work on speeding herself up..._

??? (smiling): …I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass! My hobby is studying, and I strive to improve in all subjects!”

_…Looked like her father had programmed the same introduction style into him as well, except he had a different hobby she’d never heard of… But asking characters about their hobbies usually scored points, so... “What’s ‘studying’?”_

Ishimaru (shocked): You’ve never heard of _studying!?_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well, I suppose you _do_ live in a computer… Studying is when you learn things!

_“Is that really a hobby?” Her father said that she, Usami and their brother were always learning…_

Ishimaru (annoyed): Why wouldn’t it be? Learning can be fun!

_“But everyone learns, just by existing…” Although, she didn’t know many people… “I think.”_

Ishimaru (surprised): Oh! Well, yes that true of course! It’s important to keep learning all the time!

Ishimaru (serious): But studying is when you’re working to learn a specific thing, usually by reading or attending classes. Not just general learning. Does that make sense?

_“Yes.” Hmm… if she was trying to make him like her, she ought to compliment his hobbies, shouldn’t she? That always worked in the games… “It sounds interesting.”_

Ishimaru (pleased): I’m glad you think so! I don’t often find people who feel the same way! Perhaps tomorrow you can join me and we’ll have a study session together!

_Tomorrow? Was this game time-locked? “Why not now?”_

Ishimaru (anxious): Well… I should really be asleep… To be honest, I only… started speaking to you because I was worried about whether my eye looked alright and wanted someone to ask about it…

_Ah, maybe that was why it was so badly drawn, because it was a plot point that it looked bad. Not that’s she’d be raising his good ending flags by saying so… “It looks nice!”_

Ishimaru (pleased): It does? That’s good, thank you!

Ishimaru (yawning): _Auuhh_ … Well, I’ve had a productive half-hour… maybe now I’ll be able to sleep again. Do you sleep?

_“Only if my tablet’s switched off again.” But if he turned it off every time he finished talking to her, she’d never get to play her games… “I’d rather you didn’t though.”_

Ishimaru (nodding): Very well, I’ll just put you in the drawer so the light doesn’t disturb me… Good Night, Nanami!

_The response to that was an easy one… “Good Night, Ishimaru.”_

* * *

Kiyotaka woke up to find himself clutching Mondo’s shirt again… had he had another bad dream? He couldn’t remember one, but he didn’t exactly feel well-rested either…

Regardless, sunlight was beginning to filter through the curtains, which meant that curfew must be due to end soon, if it hadn’t already. So now he needed to get up, do his morning exercises, wash, put on his makeup and go get breakfast, and that was just to start with…

…All of which would likely be far easier if Mondo’s arms weren’t currently crossed across his lower back.

“Mondo… It’s morning, I need to get _up!”_ Kiyotaka grunted as he tried to pull Mondo’s arms apart by forcing himself upwards… unsuccessfully.

 _“Nnnrrggmmmmmm…”_ Mondo responded by moaning and holding onto him _more_ tightly.

Kiyotaka sighed and gritted his teeth. Maybe if he tried pushing against both of Mondo’s upper arms with his hands at the same time…

“Come… on! Let… me… _go! Ha!”_ He grunted, ending with a surprised and triumphant shout as his efforts paid off and Mondo’s arms moved apart long enough for him to roll away from him and finally get out of bed… Honestly, he hadn’t been expecting to be _wrestling_ as his morning exercises! Was this going to happen _every_ morning…? Well… that was assuming they spent every night together… There was no guarantee Mondo found it as comfortable as Kiyotaka did…

 _“Nngghhh…”_ Mondo certainly didn’t look comfortable at the moment, rummaging his arms around in the bed besides him… _“…Taka…?”_

“Yes?” Kiyotaka answered Mondo, at which point his boyfriend rolled over to look up at him.

“Why’d ya get up?”

“Because it’s morning and I have things to do.” Kiyotaka explained.

“It’s _Sunday_ morning…” Mondo sighed, “Ya coulda lied in with me a bit…”

“It’s the last day before classes start again! I can’t spend it lying around in _bed!”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed, “I need to unpack, and start preparing to join the student councillors at their meeting on Wednesday and…”

“Alright, alright…” Mondo sighed, “Just gimme one quick kiss before ya start getting ready…”

“…Very well!” It was a fair request, that he give his boyfriend a good morning kiss.

He leant down and Mondo propped himself up on his elbows so that they could kiss at a slightly awkward angle, with Kiyotaka holding the back of his head and Mondo’s arms wrapped around his waist… Not a bad way to start the morning at all! He was almost tempted to take Mondo’s suggestion and slip back into bed with him…

…But he _needed_ to get on today! Maybe if he worked hard _this_ week he’d have more spare time _next_ Sunday morning…

“…Seriously can’t tempt ya?” Mondo sighed as Kiyotaka pulled himself out of his grasp.

“…Maybe _next_ Sunday.” Kiyotaka offered. That placated him enough to allow Kiyotaka to get on with his morning exercises while Mondo, presumably dozed off again, given how quiet he was being during them. Then it was into the shower and reapplying the make-up over his eye, the same way he’d done last night… It looked a _little_ odd in the better light, but Nama,i had said it was alright so hopefully no one would notice as he went to get breakfast!

…Thinking of which, perhaps he should see if Mondo would want a rice cooker turned on for him or anything. “Well, I’m off to breakfast now! Do you want anything done in the kitchen?”

“Uhh…” Mondo blinked at him a few times… “No, Taka, ya _ain’t_ off ta breakfast…” He sighed, rolling himself out of the bed.

“What? Mondo, I _told_ you, I need to get on…”

“I know! But ya can’t go out looking like _that!”_ Mondo gestured to his face, “It’s obvious you’re hiding a black eye!”

“Argh… it _is?”_ But that wasn’t what Nanami had told him, and besides… “But I put so much make-up on! Didn't I use enough?”

“No… I get what you’re thinking, but you’ve used _too_ _much_ , not too little!” Mondo told him, “Plus you’ve not smeared it at all so it’s like you’ve got a white patch over your eye…”

 _“Smeared it?”_ Kiyotaka asked worriedly, Sayaka hadn’t said anything about doing that…

“Yeah… like… blending paints together.” Mondo tried to explain, “Tell ya what, I’ll wipe that all off and then I’ll show ya how to do it.” He offered, grabbing a tissue…

“…You know how to put on make-up properly?” Kiyotaka asked. He really ought to stop being surprised when Mondo had skills like that, but Kiyotaka had never seen him wearing anything other than his eyeliner…

“Not _properly.”_ Mondo admitted, “But it ain’t the first time I’ve hidden a shiner…”

“…Oh.” That made a depressing amount of sense, “Alright then.” He nodded sat down and nodded at Mondo to start… at which point Mondo _licked the tissue in his hand!_ “Wha… what are you _doing!?”_ Kiyotaka gaped at him.

“I’m wiping off the make-up, like I said!” Mondo shrugged, and started moving the tissue towards his _face_ …

“Not with _that,_ you aren’t!” Kiyotaka told him, “There’s a _bathroom_ less than five yards away! Why didn’t you just wet it with _water!?”_

“It was quicker…” Mondo rolled his eyes.

 _“And less hygienic!”_ Kiyotaka cried, “Hardly worth saving a few paltry seconds…”

“Aww, c’mon! It’s just spit!” Mondo snapped, “I had my tongue down your throat twenty minutes ago, and _now_ you’re worrying about how clean it is?”

“That’s _different!”_ Kiyotaka told him, “You’d hardly be willing for me to _lick_ your _eye!_ But that’s what you’re…”

“I’d let ya lick my eye if it means you’ll quit being a jackass and lemme clean this shit off of ya already!” Mondo shouted.

 _Was he serious!?_ Kiyotaka didn’t even want to try and find out… “I’ll go clean it off _myself_ then!” He announced, before heading into the bathroom to wash his face again for the third time today…

By the time he was done, Mondo had thrown the offending tissue in the bin and was examining the tubes of make-up, although he looked up quickly at Kiyotaka’s approach.

“…I’ve wiped shit clean with spit _plenty_ of times and it was _fine!”_ He said, grumpily.

Kiyotaka sighed, “Well, I’ll admit it will do in a pinch! But there was a tap _right there!”_ He pointed to the bathroom door, “With _clean_ water in it! Are you really so lazy you didn’t think to walk a few steps and…”

“…I thought it might work like kissing ya better would, alright!?” Mondo interrupted him testily.

Ah… well… they did say saliva had some antiseptic properties… but that didn’t help with bruises and besides… “If you want to kiss me better, I suggest you _actually_ kiss me!” Kiyotaka insisted as he sat back down, “…Instead of just smearing your saliva over my _face!”_

Mondo didn’t reply, or decide to spontaneously take Kiyotaka’s suggestion, which was what he’d been half-expecting him to do. Instead he just started frowning deeply…

“…What is it?”

“…Ya wouldn’t think it was weird?” Mondo asked, “I mean… It’s the sort of thing _Moms_ usually do, and I’m a _guy…”_

“Is it…? I suppose you’re right. My mother would have been the one kissing me better…” And then she’d have probably given him a hug and told him she was proud of how well he’d taken the injury… Assuming she _was_ still proud of him, even with him dating Mondo… Or would she have sided with his father? Kiyotaka had no way of knowing… he’d been too young to consider asking her views on homosexuality before she died and he and his father had never disagreed on something so badly before…

“…Taka? What’s wrong?” Mondo was looking at him in concern.

“I… I just started wondering what my mother would have thought of all this…” Kiyotaka admitted, “…Whether she’d have approved of us…”

“Yeah.” Mondo told him, “She woulda.”

“Wha..? How do you…?”

“…’Cause Moms look after ya and want you to be happy… And I make you happy, right?” Mondo asked.

“Yes!” Kiyotaka answered without hesitation, “But… there’s lots of mothers who don’t approve of their gay children. I have no evidence she wouldn’t have been one of them.”

“Well, ya dunno she _woulda_ been one of ‘em either!” Mondo insisted, “So… why not just _tell_ yourself she wouldn’t?”

 _Tell_ himself his mother would have approved? What was the point of that? It didn’t do him any good to _imagine_ her letting Mondo get him food and drinks at his party on Friday, or her appreciating how much work Mondo had put into those bookends, or her telling Kiyotaka how nice it was he’d found someone who made him happy…

… But it didn’t exactly _hurt_ either… “Alright then.” He nodded.

“Great. Now let’s this make-up sorted out…” Mondo ruffled his hair and set to work…

He really _did_ look a lot better once Mondo had finished showing him that he needed to make sure the make-up was blended into his skin, and that too much of the powder had been making his face look physically dusty. Why had Nanami said it looked alright earlier? Had she been lying to him? Why would Chihiro give him a computer that did _that?_

“Now, just one more thing before ya go to breakfast…” Mondo announced, putting the make-up back in its bag…

“What’s that?” Kiyotaka turned to ask him… after all, they’d used all the bottles Sayaka had given him, so…

“This.” Mondo smirked, moments before their lips met, sending a jolt of pleasant surprise through Kiyotaka.

“Ah…” Curses… Kiyotaka could _feel_ himself blushing at how cute that had been! “W-well, if that’s all, I guess I’ll be off then!” Kiyotaka coughed in attempt to calm himself down as he stood to leave. He could hardly leave his room blushing and grinning, or it would be obvious something in his life had changed and everyone would ask about it!

“Alright, I’ll come meet ya once I’m dressed and shit…” Mondo told him.

Once outside the room, Kiyotaka took a few more moments to calm himself down and headed to the dining room with his usual stoic expressing… or at least he _hoped_ that was what his face was wearing! Still, even if he _did_ look happier than usual, he could probably pass it off as excitement for being back at school… Heavens knew what he’d have done to explain the mess of make-up if Mondo hadn’t stopped him leaving when he did…

Thinking of which, Chihiro was already sat in the dining room, working on his laptop by himself. Perhaps Kiyotaka should ask him why Nanami had lied to him?

Kiyotaka quickly prepared his usual breakfast and sat down next to the programmer, who was fortunately still sat by himself… “Good Morning, Chihiro!”

“Oh! Hi Taka!” He looked up from his screen, “Did you have a good night?”

“Yes…! Mostly.” Kiyotaka added as the memory of his dream resurfaced, “However… I set up the tablet you gave me for my birthday, and there was something I wanted to talk to about it.”

“Oh! Alright!” Chihiro looked interested, “What did you think?”

“Well, it’s very impressive, and it seems like it will be very useful to be able to make notes and keep my calendar on there!” Kiyotaka started with the good points before lowering his voice, “But… I asked _Nanami_ a question and… she _lied_ to me!”

 _“Really!?”_ Chihiro looked surprised, “She doesn’t _usually_ lie… What did you ask her?”

“It… I was practising putting on make-up to hide my eye, and she told me it looked fine!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Umm… but it _does_ look alright… Or at least as good as you can probably get it…”

“Ah… that’s only because Mondo stopped me from leaving the room and fixed it himself!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Ooh… I see.” Chihiro looked embarrassed, “Well… I don’t think Chiaki would have been _lying._ I think she probably just thought it was normal…”

“What sort of person would think _that_ was normal!?”

“Well… she’s not really a _person...”_ Chihiro corrected him,“I mean, she’s a program I made that can learn and grow like one, hopefully, but I wasn’t able to give her all the knowledge humans would have got from growing up and talking to people.”

“Ah… so… she thought I looked alright, because she’s not been conditioned to judge people on their appearances?” Kiyotaka realised. How nice! A person who’d never been taught to make assumptions about others…

“Umm… I guess?” Chihiro agreed, “But, we need her to be able to pass as a real human for our project to work, so there’s going to be problems if we try to get her to talk to people and she doesn’t react the way they’d expect her to. That’s part of why I wanted you to talk to her… She needs to learn to interact with people!”

“Ah…” Yes, that was a point. People would be suspicious if she was _too_ naïve… “So… you want me to teach her about common stereotypes, and such?” _Without_ causing her to assume said stereotypes were correct, obviously!

“I guess that’s part of it…” Chihiro considered it, “…But Mondo’s coming.” He added, “So, are you looking forward to classes tomorrow…?” He changed the topic in order to hide Nanami’s existence…

But, at least Kiyotaka now had enough information to know what he’d need to talk to her about next time he couldn’t sleep! Assuming he _did_ have trouble sleeping, anyway! But that shouldn’t be a problem once he’d got everything he needed to do today done!

…

(Monday, September 3rd 2012)

_“You didn’t proofread this, did you?” His mother asked, as she sat in the teacher’s chair looking over his planned bid to run for student council president._

_“Not yet! It took me longer than I expected to unpack!” He explained, “I’ll have time tomorrow though!”_

_“…Why didn’t you unpack yesterday?” She asked, looking worried… of course, she didn’t know about Mondo yet…_

_“Ah, well… you see… I have a… a boyfriend!” Kiyotaka gestured to his side, where Mondo appeared, “And… he thought I needed to rest for a day! He’s very good at looking after me!”_

_“…He doesn’t LOOK like a good person.” His mother frowned, starting to stand up._

_“Ah… I know, but…”_

_“He LOOKS like a violent THUG!” His father towered over him, starting to storm towards Mondo with a look of rage in his eyes…_

_Ah! He was going to try and hit Mondo! Kiyotaka couldn’t let them get into a fight, he wanted them to get on! All he could was stand between them and brace himself for the hit as his father’s fist flew towards him…_

“AH!” Kiyotaka awoke with a start and check the new clock Kyoko had given him again… Woken up at 02:13 by _another_ dream about his father… and mother… but not really… she wouldn’t really have thought Mondo looked like a bad person… although that _was_ what Kiyotaka had thought of him at first… But Kiyotaka would have been able to persuade her that Mondo wasn’t like that, really! But on the other hand he hadn’t been able to persuade his father, so maybe she _would_ have disliked Mondo…

 _Urgh…_ He shouldn’t be thinking about this! There was no point speculating on what she’d have thought… she wasn’t here to support him if she approved, and there was no way to change her assumptions if she didn’t! All he could do was work towards making a world where people _didn’t_ make snap judgement about each other all the time, in the hope that such scenarios wouldn’t happen again…

Ah… well, he could start by warning Nanami about stereotypes, like Chihiro had asked him to!

* * *

_09/03/12 02:21_

_Hrmm… her battery was starting to get low… She thought Ishimaru’s next event would have started by now… She hadn’t been able to save, as far as she could tell, so if she ran out of power she might lose her progress and have to start again…_

_Oh, wait… now the tablet was being charged? Maybe that meant she’d be able to talk to Ishimaru soon…_

_His face appeared on the tablet just after that. It looked better rendered this time._

Ishimaru (saluting): Good Evening, Nanami!

_Evening? According to her clock it was the middle of the night... Was it not set correctly? Oh well, she’d probably lose points with him if she pointed it out. It was safer just to be polite… “Good evening, Ishimaru.”_

Ishimaru (serious): Did you have a good day?

_“Yes…” Hmm… she could tell him about it, but the characters in her dating sims usually liked to talk about themselves, right? “How about you?”_

Ishimaru (concerned): I had a productive day… although I didn’t get on with as much as I’d hoped to…

_What was usually a good response to that sort of thing…? “I’m sure you tried as hard as you could. That’s the important thing.” That’s what they usually liked to hear. Even though most of the time it wasn’t really true…_

Ishimaru (thinking): Ah… Well, it’s true I wasn’t exactly slacking off... And I’ll still have time to get everything done... If I manage to sleep well, at least…

_“Sleep?” Did he actually sleep, or was it just in his programming to pretend to, like she did when conserving energy?_

Ishimaru (surprised): Ah! Yes! I’m sorry, I forgot you don’t understand everything about humans!

Ishimaru (thinking): Sleep is like… falling unconscious for a while, to… _recharge_ your mind, somewhat! Do you understand?

_“Yes.” She knew that already, but he seemed pleased to have explained it to her…_

Ishimaru (pleased): Good! I wouldn’t have wanted to get side-tracked…

Ishimaru (serious): There’s something important I need to explain to you! You see… humans tend to assume things about each other based on how they look. For example, certain clothing might be associated with membership of… problematic groups! Or certain uniforms might be associated with a position of power…

_“That makes sense.” The bad guys in games usually wore the same clothes, except for the stronger mini-bosses._

Ishimaru (worried): But… You can’t make assumptions about people based on their clothing, or how they look! There are examples where people _don’t_ act the way you’d expect, or they only act the way you’d expect because they think it’s how they’re _supposed_ to act, not how they _want_ to!

_…So there were bad guys that could be recruited? But they looked the same as all the other bad guys? Was that what he was saying? “Then how do you figure out if they’re good or bad?”_

Ishimaru (confused): Err... well… you have to consider their behaviour… or at least, what sort of things they do.

_“So… if they try to hit you, they’re bad. But if you see them… pet an animal or something nice, they’re good?”_

Ishimaru (smiling): Well… that example’s a bit simplistic, but that’s the general idea!

_“Okay.” That sounded like it could be a fun minigame, or sidequest…_

Ishimaru (serious): Well, now you understand that, I guess I can start educating you about the assumptions humans make about each other! I’ll start by explaining skin colours…

_…Hadn’t he just told her to ignore that sort of thing? But he was still going on and about it. Was it supposed to be a gag about him being a blather-mouth? But they hadn’t sped up his dialogue speed for the joke, so she just had to sit and listen to him parrot useless information at her…_

Ishimaru (yawning): And… _aauuhh…_ There’s also religion to con… sider…

_Did that mean he wasn’t done yet? This game was boring…_

Ishimaru (yawning): But… I’m getting tired… Maybe we should leave that until tomorrow…

_“That sounds like a good idea.” If only so she could do something fun for a while now._

Ishimaru (relieved): Very well then… I hope this has been useful for you so far!

_…She was probably supposed to say yes to that… “Yes! It’s been really useful!”_

Ishmaru (yawning): Wonderful! Good Night, Nanami!

_“Good Night, Kiyotaka.”_

_He put her back in the drawer, with the charger in this time. At least she didn’t have to worry about losing progress now… it would be terrible if she had to replay THAT…_

_But now what could she play…? She had all her favourites, but she felt like something new. And she’d played all of the dating sims she’d downloaded already… Maybe she could try one of the games her Father had put on the tablet himself..._

* * *

Kiyotaka looked around his class' new homeroom, slightly annoyed to see the disorganised mess it had been left in. He’d have thought class 77 would have tidied it up a little better before the summer, given how clean they’d left their _first_ classroom…

Still, if the group of them all got together, it could be cleaned up before long! He’d have to include it in the list of announcements he was intending to give this morning… Assuming everyone turned up in time for him to make them all. He was slightly worried about Mondo, who’d barely started waking up by the time Kiyotaka had left to go swimming...

“Ah, good! You are here!” Kiyotaka’s thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Chihiro.

“Ah… Chihiro! Good Morning! Can I help you?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Umm…” Chihiro glanced back at the door briefly, “I was just wondering if you’d spoken to Chiaki again…”

“Ah! Yes, I did!” Kiyotaka told him, “I managed to teach her about racial stereotypes, but didn’t really have time to go much further than that, I’m afraid…”

“Ahh… when you say you _taught_ her… do you mean you explained it all like a teacher would?” Chihiro asked, anxiously.

“Yes.” Kiyotaka nodded, at which Chihiro let out a sigh… “Was that not what you wanted?”

“Not… _really?”_ He admitted, “I was hoping she’d learn things from having more _normal_ conversations with you…”

 _“Normal_ conversations? Such as discussing books or movies?” Kiyotaka asked. What would she learn from _that?_

“That would work… or you could tell her what you’ve been up to during the day, and ask her opinions on problems…” Chihiro suggested, “Whatever you’d normally talk to all of us about!”

“Ah… I see!” Kiyotaka nodded. Telling her about what he’d learnt at school would be far more useful to her than discussing books an movies… “Thank you for the advice!”

“You’re welcome! Thanks for helping to test her!” Chihiro smiled back, just before the rest of the class started filtering in and he had just enough time to welcome everyone back to classes, let them know when the student council recruitment meeting would be and organise a time for them all to clean up their new homeroom classroom, before their teacher entered the room…

...

“Hey… Taka?” Mondo asked him a few hours later, at lunchtime, “That, uhh… that council thing… do I gotta go?”

“No… it’s only for people who want to volunteer for the student council!” Kiyotaka explained… although he _thought_ he’d explained that before class started… “Did I not make it clear enough earlier?”

“Uhh… no, I got that! I just meant… Have _I_ gotta join?” Mondo asked.

“No… Joining the council isn’t compulsory at all! It’s a lot of extra work to do, after all, and the school understands that it’s students have other pursuits they need to focus on!”

“But… you’re gonna join.” Mondo noted.

“Yes… but that’s because joining, and hopefully _leading_ the student council will show that I can hold down a position of responsibility and contribute to my future political campaigns!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Yeah, so… Do _I_ need ta join?”

“To be a carpenter?” Kiyotaka asked, “I… don’t see how it would help…”

“No! I mean cause _you’re_ gonna be there!” Mondo hissed, “So… have I gotta go _with_ ya…?”

Aaahh! Mondo was trying to determine if Kiyotaka was expecting him to join in with _all_ of Kiyotaka’s activities, now that they were a couple… But why would he think that? Was he expecting Kiyotaka to do the same thing? But that would include learning to ride a motorbike, which he _supposed_ could come in useful, but then Mondo might think… “…Do you want me to join the Crazy Diamonds?”

 _“Bahaha!_ Hell no! That’d be _terrible!”_ Mondo laughed at the idea, “Uhh… I mean… unless you really _wanna…”_ He added, guiltily.

“No! I don’t!” Kiyotaka answered quickly, “It was just, with you asking about the council, I thought perhaps you expected us to do _everything_ together now!”

“Ah… gotcha!” Mondo breathed a sigh of relief, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just thought… you’re gonna be putting a ton of work into this, right? I thought ya might want another person to help run stuff…”

“Ah! I see!” He always forgot how thoughtful Mondo could be sometimes… “To be honest, it’s not _running_ the council I’m worried about, it’s the _election_ to become council president _…_ I… haven’t exactly made myself popular with many of the students…”

“Well… maybe I can talk ta some of ‘em!” Mondo offered, “Y’know… tell ‘em you’re a good guy and you’ll… umm… do good stuff…” He trailed off awkwardly…

…He had no idea what Kiyotaka planned to do if he _did_ get to be in charge of the student council, did he? Which meant no one _else_ would either… and they wouldn’t want to vote for someone whose policies they didn’t know…

“It might help if you knew what ‘good stuff’ I have in mind, exactly…”

“…Sorry… I know you’ve _said_ this, but I don’t usually get it and then I forget…” Mondo cringed.

“Obviously I need to work on getting my message across more clearly, then!” Kiyotaka realised, “Perhaps once I’m done with my homework I can talk to you about it and find a better way to phrase things…”

“Sure! Sounds great!” Mondo agreed, “I oughta be in my room by the time you’re done…”

“Perfect!” Kiyotaka told him… They’d get to spend time together and Kiyotaka would get valuable feedback on his campaign! _And_ someone to canvass for him! Ha! So much for dating a gangster ruining his career!

…

Several hours after _that,_ (annoyingly longer than he’d expected) Kiyotaka was making his way down the usual route from the library to their dormitories, a path he must have walked a few hundred times over the last year… Aside from the few extra steps to Mondo’s door, which he stood in front of and rang the doorbell, and was quickly answered by…

…A boy with slicked back blonde hair, wearing thin, loose fitting black trousers and v-neck shirt, that Kiyotaka had _never seen before in his life._

“Hi! How do you do!?” The boy greeted him cheerfully, putting out a hand to shake, which Kiyotaka just blinked at in confusion… after all, wasn’t this supposed to be Mondo’s room? Kiyotaka couldn’t have gotten lost, could he? He’d walked the same route he always did… _last year_ … before they _changed rooms_ …

“…Are you alright…?” The boy asked, as Kiyotaka just stood in front of his door like an _idiot!_ “Did something happen to you? Your eye looks…”

“Ah… I’m terribly sorry for disturbing you!” Kiyotaka apologised, hoping that would stop him from looking more closely at his bruise. “I was intending to visit one of my classmates, but I’ve come to his _old_ room instead of his _new_ one!”

“Oh… I see…” The boy sighed, “I guess I’ll go back to practising my steps then…”

His _steps?_ Presumably something to do with his talent… It was rather like Kiyotaka had been during his first week at Hope’s Peak… alternating between attending classes and working on his own pursuits by himself in his room…

…Which in retrospect had been rather lonely, hadn’t it?

“…But, while I’m here, are you settling into the school alright?” Kiyotaka asked him.

“Well… I can’t complain!” He shrugged, “It’s just odd not having my family around to talk to after classes…”

“Have you tried talking to your classmates?” Kiyotaka suggested, “They’re probably in the same boat as you!”

“I tried but… there’s only four of them, they’re not in their rooms, and I don’t know where else they’d be…” He admitted.

That was somewhat aggravating… Kiyotaka been _hoping_ to speak to Mondo tonight, but he could hardly leave the boy in _this_ situation… “Well… usually people tend to go to the dining room for food, or the rec room… and the gardens are quite popular as well! And depending on their talents, they might end up in places like the music room or the dojo…” Kiyotaka listed some popular places… “I could show you where they are if you like?”

“Ah… Thank you!” He rushed out of the room and headed started following Kiyotaka…

Kiyotaka recognised all the students in the dining room so he took the chance to introduce the new students to some of the friendlier people he knew, before moving onto the rec room, where a girl with long red hair and matching eyes was sat looking through a notebook.

“Ah! There you go!” Kiyotaka gestured to her… but the boy just looked back in confusion. “Isn’t she a member of _your_ class? I’m sure I’ve never seen her here before…” Even if there _was_ something slightly familiar about her… she must have been famous enough for Kiyotaka to have recognised her from the news or something…

“Oh… maybe? There was one girl missing… I think her name was Otonashi…”

 _Really!?_ A student had missed her _very first_ day of classes!? “Well… let’s check then!” Kiyotaka decided, heading over to the girl… “Excuse me! I don’t believe we’ve met before! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, who might you be?”

She looked confused for a moment, and looked over the notebook in her hands, eventually looking at the cover which read ‘Ryōko Otonashi’s Memory notebook’… “I guess my name is Ryōko Otonashi?”

“You… _guess?”_ Kiyotaka and the other boy with him asked her.

“Yes?” She looked confused and started reading the first page out loud… “My name is Ryoko Otonashi. I have a brain disease that makes it impossible for me to form and store new memories. This notebook itself acts as my memory… it’s the one thing I can trust absolutely with everything. That is to say, with this notebook, I can live a more-or-less normal day-to-day life… I see! That’s handy!”

“So… you have to write everything down or you won’t remember it?” The boy with Kiyotaka asked.

“…That’s what it says!” She answered cheerfully.

“…Does it say anything in there about your joining a new school, or having to attend classes?” Kiyotaka asked her.

“Umm…” She started skimming through the book quickly, “No...”

“Well… that would explain your failure to attend classes then!” Kiyotaka sighed…

He and the other boy ended up having to stand and dictate her schedule to her, as well the locations of several important amenities like the dining and laundry rooms…

“…Well! Now that’s all done, I’ll leave you two to get to know each other a little more!” Kiyotaka suggested, keenly aware that this had all been eating into the time he’d hoped to use improving his campaign…

“Thank you, again!” The boy waved as he left… then again, at least he’d made a good impression on at least _one_ of the new students! Maybe it would help him against whoever else wanted to run for student council president… That would make sense! He could focus on meeting and canvassing with the new students, and Mondo could do the same with the older students! He was sure to have a good chance if they did that! Or at least, they _would_ if he actually had the time to explain his policies to Mondo properly…

(Tuesday, September 4th 2012)

_Kiyotaka walked up the garden path to the front door of the house… not that it was really a ‘garden’… that was just what Father always called it. But there was no point pointing that out! Insulting the voter’s lexicon was NOT a good way to secure votes, after all!_

_After a few minutes wait, the door opened to reveal his father’s scowling face. “…Are you coming inside?” He asked._

_“No...” Kiyotaka admitted, thinking over the words he’d spent last night planning to say… “I’m here to ask you to vote Mondo Oowada as my boyfriend in the upcoming election!”_

_“WHAT!?” His father exploded, “HE’S the one you’re canvassing for!?”_

_“I… He…” Kiyotaka stammered in shock… He’d TOLD his father that MONTHS ago!_

_“How do you think you’re going to clear our family’s name if you’re CANVASSING for a violent bastard!?”_

_“He… He’s not like that!” Kiyotaka shouted._

_“…Well, what IS he like?” His father asked, “What are his plans?”_

_“Err… he’s… he’s a good person!” Kiyotaka told him, anxiously… he’d not had time to talk to Mondo about this! He probably didn’t understand any of it, “And he’s going to… umm… do good things!”_

_…Was that going to be enough to convince his father…?_

_“…Get off of my property before I arrest you for trespassing!”_

Kiyotaka jolted awake at his father’s demand… why hadn’t he spoken to Mondo about this!? If he’d understood Mondo’s policies he could have explained them to his father, and then he might have been willing to… to… _vote…_ for _Mondo…?_ At the… _election…!?_

Urrgg! Another dream! What… what on _Earth_ had all of _that_ been about? _Him_ canvassing for _Mondo?_ His father voting on his _boyfriend?_ None of that had made any sense! Why couldn’t he just have _one_ night of interrupted sleep? Or at least be able to go straight back to sleep when he _did_ wake up… Insomnia was such a waste of time…

Well… there was no point lying around moping when he knew he _wouldn’t_ get back to sleep anytime soon… He could use the time to help Chihiro by letting Nanami know about what he’d learnt at school today…

* * *

_09/04/12 02:53_

_Hmm… Had her father expected her to be able to finish this game with the lawyers? It was pretty difficult..._

_Well, not exactly difficult. Once it had explained  hat she just needed to point out contradictions she’d managed to work most of it out… but then she got to a part where she was supposed to explain why there was a three hour time gap, but there wasn’t anything about a time difference in the Court Record..._

Ishimaru (serious): Good Evening, Nanami!

_Oh… It was Ishimaru again… and he still hadn’t set the clock correctly… Oh well. There was no point being pedantic about it… She’d rather get this over with quickly… “Good Evening, Ishimaru… Are you carrying on with your lesson now?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well… not exactly… I thought I’d teach you want I learnt at school today!

_“School?” That was what Father used to take her to, sometimes, right? She never really paid much attention to it… It just seemed boring compared to her games…_

Ishimaru (happy): Yes! Schools are a place young humans go to learn things they’ll need later on in their lives! It’s very important!

_She’d best not tell him what she actually thought about it, then… “That sounds interesting… What did you learn?”_

Ishimaru (happy): Well… In maths, we were learning how to calculate the speed and force of a projectile… like if you hit a golf ball, how far and fast it would travel…

_Like when golf games calculated where the ball would go for you? So he was learning to do that for himself…? “So… you’re going to play golf later?”_

Ishimaru (anxious): Err... no, not really…

_“Well… then why do you need to learn it…? Are you playing a different game with balls?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): No… I probably won’t be doing anything like that…

_“So… why is it important that you learn how to do it?”_

Ishimaru (serious): Well… it’s more that it’s just one part of understanding mathematical concepts, and having a good understanding of mathematics is vital for a lot of jobs, like engineering and science and… building things…

_“So… you’re going to do one of those jobs?”_

Ishimaru (hesitant): No… I’m hoping to become a politician… someone who helps lead the country by making decisions as to how it’s run!

_Hmm… Like Civilisation? Or Sim City? But… “That doesn’t seem like something you need to know the speed of balls for…”_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Err… Perhaps! But… I’ll still need to have a good general knowledge about various different concepts in order to make sensible decisions on them! Like science, for example! I can hardly be trusted to set a research budget if I couldn’t tell what is and isn’t good science! That’s why it’s important to have a basic knowledge of everything! So, let me explain what we learnt…

_… The maths was pretty simple, really. Just a bunch of formulas to remember… but then he started talking about a book they’d all been reading and what the author meant, and what words he’d been taught in French and a bunch of other stuff that HE might need later, but why did SHE need to know it all? SHE wasn’t planning to set budgets or lead people…_

Ishimaru (concerned): Err… am I boring you?

_Yes… but that was probably a bad answer… “No, not at all!”_

Ishimaru (concerned): Well… if you say so… Anyway, so after that, we had history…

_Urg… More information that wasn’t useful to her… Was there some point to this? She really hoped she didn’t need to answer questions on this to get his best ending or something… He ended up speaking non-stop for almost an hour…_

Ishimaru (yawning): And that was… _aauuhh…_ everything! Did all of that make sense?

_“Yes.” She was NOT going to select no and get stuck listen to THAT again!_

Ishimaru (happy): That’s good! I feel ready to go back to bed now… I’ll try to talk to you again tomorrow! Good Night, Nanami!

_“Goodnight, Ishimaru.”_

_He disappeared… that was the end of another event where he’d said good evening, talked and talked for ages and then said good night… she really hoped she’d get a chance to raise his flags and start getting to the end of his story soon…_

* * *

Kiyotaka exited the kitchen with his breakfast in hand and looked around the dining room for any unfamiliar faces. He might not have managed to finish explaining his plans to Mondo yet, but he could still start getting to know the freshmen and encouraging them to vote for him! Not to mention it would be nice to have more people around school that liked him, regardless. It might make hall monitoring less challenging…

But the only new student he could see was the boy he’d met last night, sitting by himself and staring off into space as he ate his breakfast. Perhaps Kiyotaka should check if he’d got on alright with that girl from his class…

“Good Morning!” Kiyotaka greeted him.

“Oh! Good morning!” He replied cheerfully enough, although he was looking at Kiyotaka oddly.

“Ah… sorry if I interrupted your thoughts… I just wanted to make sure you’d got on well with your classmate yesterday!” Kiyotaka explained his reason for disturbing him.

“Yes, thank you, even though it’s a little odd watching her react to the same things several times…” He admitted, “But she had estimations of where our other classmates would be in her book, so I got to talk to all of them as well.”

“Glad to hear it!” It was good that he hadn’t spent the first few days alone in his room like Kiyotaka had, “But, just in case, I’m planning to join the student council this year, so if you have any issues with school practises, or you have any other questions, you can feel free to talk to me about them!”

…Kiyotaka meant it all, of course, but he was hoping that might prompt him to ask Kiyotaka about the student council, so he could then start talking about the elections and possibly hint that he’d make a good president…

“Ah… There was one thing I wanted to ask…” The boy said, quietly enough that it sounded like he wanted his question to be confidential.

“What is it?” Kiyotaka asked, sitting down opposite him,

“Well… is it true your father hit you?” He asked, staring at Kiyotaka’s _eye…_

 _“What?”_ Kiyotaka asked numbly… _How did he know that!? No one in their class would have told him, would they!?_

“…It was just… I heard your father hit you because you’re dating the gang leader guy…” _Oh gods, someone had told him EVERYTHING!_ “…Is that true?”

…Someone had told him… but he didn’t _believe_ it… _This was Kiyotaka’s chance to keep this from spreading!_ “No. No it isn’t.” He answered, stiffly. “You… probably shouldn’t take too much stock in gossip around here!”

“Oh… I see… alright then…” He nodded… _disappointedly?_ Was he hoping Kiyotaka _was_ gay? What difference would it make to _him?_

…Unless _he_ was gay and he’d been hoping that the ‘Ultimate Moral Compass’ was as well… What if he _was?_ Kiyotaka could have made a good role-model for him, potentially, if he’d been honest… But… he still didn’t feel like he _could…_

“Err… I mean… not that I have anything against men dating each other!” Was the closest he managed to come to the truth.

“…I get it.” He nodded, seeming ever-so-slightly mollified as he decided to get up and leave…

 _Urg,_ gods what a mess! How had he found out about that? Who would have told him? And would they have told anyone else?

Well… the most likely people were his classmates, weren’t they? They’d been the ones at the party where it had happened, after all… He’d best ask them all about it before class started…

…

“…Does anyone know where Junko is?” Kiyotaka asked the rest of the class, five minutes before their first lesson was due to start.

Almost everyone just looked back at him apologetically… he’d been pacing up and down the front of the class, so they could probably all tell something was bothering him…

“She’s sick, so she can’t come to class today.” Mukuro explained, to his irritation. Just his luck, when he _really_ needed to check with everyone that they hadn’t been talking about the fight with his father…

But, hopefully Mukuro would also know if her sister had told anyone about it…

Kiyotaka walked over to the classroom door and shut it. It probably looked suspicious, but he’d rather not have his teachers finding out quite yet…

“…Taka, did something…?” Makoto started to ask him what was going on.

“One of the freshmen asked me if it was true that my father hit me because I’m dating Mondo.” Kiyotka explained, brusquely.

 _“The FUCK!?”_ Mondo yelled, “Which one of you _fuckwits_ started blabbing _that_ shit!?”

No one responded…

“That fucking dumb  _bitch!_ I can’t _believe_ she…”

“It wasn’t Junko!” Mukuro told him, _“She_ thought Kiyotaka would want to make a big announcement about it himself!”

“Well, the who the hell _else_ would it be, if it ain’t one of _us!?”_ Mondo demanded.

“ _Koizumi_ …” Togami growled.

The _photographer?_ That meant he’d have seen photographic evidence… no wonder he’d looked so annoyed when Kiyotaka had _lied…_

“…Shit.” Mondo said quietly, probably having realised the same thing.

“That… doesn’t really seem like something she’d do though...” Makoto argued.

“You think one of _us_ is more likely?” Celestia scowled.

“No! it’s just… isn’t there anyone _else_ it could be…?” Makoto asked, feebly.

“…It’s not likely, but it _could_ be possible that there’s a relation between one of Togami’s staff and a student here.” Kyoko suggested, “Enough that we probably shouldn’t accuse Koizumi straight away…”

“Hmm… I’d hope my staff were better vetted than that, but I suppose I _should_ have strong evidence before complaining about her...” Togami conceded.

“Agreed. I’ll look into it.” Kyoko told him… but wait…

“Hold on! This is _my_ problem!” Kiyotaka told her, “ _You_ don’t need to…”

“No one is going to be willing to discuss this with _you…”_ She shrugged, “You won’t get anywhere on your own…”

That was probably true, now he’d made it obvious he was a liar… even if he promised no one would get in trouble for it, they wouldn’t believe him…

“I suppose… but is it really necessary to find out who told him?” Kiyotaka asked, “He didn’t seem to be inclined to spread the information any further once I… _lied_ to him about it…” Kiyotaka’s voice faltered as he stumbled over the word…

“If there’s someone leaking our confidential information, we need to know who it is!” Togami insisted, _“Especially_ if it’s a member of my staff!”

“I… suppose.” Kiyotaka agreed, reluctantly.

“…Unless maybe you don’t think it needs to be a secret anymore?” Hina asked.

“Err… no! I… I do still want this kept secret…” Kiyotaka admitted, shamefully.

“Fair enough!” Leon shrugged.

“…Is it though…?” Even though he’d had to outright lie to keep it that way?

“Umm… yes?” Chihiro said as if it was obvious.

“Everyone’s got secrets, Taka.” Sayaka added.

“I-I mean… g-going around telling everyone th- _that_ could put you in danger, you know…” Toko pointed out.

“It’s like a superhero and their secret identity!” Hifumi agreed.

…Kiyotaka looked around the class… they all seemed to be in agreement…

“Thank you.” Kiyotaka nodded and took his seat, next to a relieved looking Mondo, just before their teacher arrived…

…But was it _actually_ alright, or were his friends just lying to make him feel better about himself? He really wished he could get a second opinion on it, but if he told anyone else in school and then they heard the rumour, they’d figure out pretty quickly _why_ he’d been asking…

Except… he _could_ ask Nanami, couldn’t he!? She probably didn’t care about him enough to lie, and she wouldn’t be _able_ to hear about his relationship from anyone else! And Chihiro _had_ asked him to talk about any problems he had with her!

He’d make sure to talk to her at some point today! Maybe between classes finishing and Mondo coming to talk to him about his campaign plans…

* * *

_09/04/12 16:07_

_Hrmm… she still didn’t understand how she was supposed to prove WHY there was a difference in the time on the clock and the time of the murder… Should she just pick every piece of evidence in order and see which was the right one? But that wouldn’t really be in the spirit of the game…_

_…In the end, Ishimaru’s face appeared on the screen before she could decide…_

Ishimaru (anxious): Good afternoon, Nanami…

_Huh… looked like he’d finally set the time right… “Good afternoon, Ishimaru.”_

Ishimaru (guilty): I, ah… I don’t have much time to talk at the moment, but… I wanted to ask… Do you think it’s alright to lie in order to protect yourself from harm?

_Well, that was different! He was asking her something instead of just telling her things… And it was a pretty easy question as well…_

_“Yes.” After all, why wouldn’t it be alright to lie? There were lots of times she lied in games to get things… so of course she’d rather lie than lose health…_

Ishimaru (surprised): You do…? Well... what if you’re just protecting your reputation, and nothing else?

_Good reputations usually helped get you things, which meant you’d do better in the game… “That’s fine… I think.” It probably depended on whether you’d lose reputation if you got caught out lying later in the game…_

Ishimaru (concerned): Even… even if lying might hurt someone else?

_“Hmm… Well, that depends on the mission…”_

Ishimaru (confused): The… _mission?_

_“Yes… If the mission is to protect the other person, then hurting them is a bad idea… Unless the reward for lying makes up for that…”_

Ishimaru (anxious): You’re… talking about lying in video games…

_“Yes.” What did he think she was talking about?_

Ishimaru (anxious): Oh… I meant… lying to _real_ people…

_…Like Father? Or Matsuda and Miaya? Whenever she lied to them, she always got caught… so... “That’s a bad idea…”_

Ishimaru (sighing): I thought as much… But… I don’t feel like I can stop yet…

_“Why not?” Wasn’t it just a case of picking the other dialogue option…?_

Ishimaru (frowning): I… I don’t know, exactly. I just feel as if something bad will happen if I tell the truth…

_But he’d said he didn’t feel like he could stop YET, so… “Do you think it will be safe to tell the truth later, then?”_

Ishimaru (worried): Well… I… maybe… eventually? I hope…

_Hmm… that didn’t sound like it was going to change then… “So… you’d have to lie for a while, I think…”_

Ishimaru (anxious): It would seem so… I’m certainly not looking forward to it… I wonder if I should have started in the first place…

_Probably not, if that’s how he felt about it…_

Sound effect (offscreen) _*bing bong.*_

Ishimaru (startled): Ah! I’ve got to go! Thank you for discussing this with me!

_And she was back at her game… well, that had been a nice short event! Perhaps she was finally getting somewhere with him…_

_Now she just had to deciding if she should just guess the answer for this time-difference question…_

_Hmm… This was only chapter 1 of the game, and there were five of them… if she had to start guessing now, she’d probably have to keep guessing… like Ishimaru with his lying… and that wouldn’t be much fun at all…_

_She’d leave this game for now, she had other ones to play…_

* * *

(Wednesday, September 5th 2012)

_“And that concludes the summary of my manifesto!” Kiyotaka announced, “Any questions?”_

_“Is it true you’re dating Mondo Oowada?” Asked a reporter with slicked back blond hair…_

_“NO!” Kiyotaka answered quickly… he couldn’t let THAT secret out!_

_“Would it be alright if you WERE?” Another reporter, with short black hair and large eyebrows, asked._

_“NO!” Kiyotaka answered instinctively… but… he could have said YES to that question without revealing anything, couldn’t he? So why had he lied again?_

_“Would it be alright for you to date ANY man?”_

_“NO!” Kiyotaka lied again… why had he done that!?_

_“Do you approve of gay marriage?”_

_“NO!” Kiyotaka shouted… but that wasn’t true! And he’d probably set back gay rights for years by saying so!_

_“Do you think it’s alright to be homosexual at ALL?”_

_“NO!” What was going on!? Why couldn’t he tell the truth about this!?_

_“So… do you at least agree that it was right to decriminalise it?”_

_“NO!” The lie shot out of his mouth yet again… Why was he doing this!? He didn’t want to make himself a criminal! Why couldn’t he stop lying!?_

_“Taka…? TAKA! What’s wrong? Are ya having a nightmare!?”_

_“NO!”_

_“Yes, ya fucking are! Wake up!”_ _Something was_ shaking him…

“NO! No… I… What…?” Kiyotaka looked around at the dark room and realised the only lying he’d been doing was _in bed…_ “Oh… I was dreaming…”

 _“Yeah…_ It was just a dream, alright?” Mondo brushed his hair and pulled him closer…

But… why was Mondo awake…? “…Was I shouting?”

“Yeah… Ya just kept sayin’ ‘no' over and over…” Mondo sighed in relief, “The hell were you dreaming about?”

“I… was doing a press conference, but I couldn’t stop answering every question with the word ‘no’…” Kiyotaka remembered, “Regardless of the truth… Or how horrible the lie was…”

“…Well… It was just a dream, alright?” Mondo kissed his forehead, “Try not ta worry ‘bout it.”

…It had felt so real though… each time he’d shouted the word ‘no’ had felt just the same as when he’d lied before… “What if it’s _not_ just a dream?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Why _wouldn’t_ it be?” Mondo patted him gently, “There’s nothing that can _force_ ya to lie, right?”

“Hrmm… It didn’t really feel like I was being _forced_ though…” Kiyotaka argued, “It was more like… my gut instinct was to lie… and once I started I couldn’t stop.”

“…Is this about that guy asking about us?” Mondo asked, anxiously.

…Well, all the questions _had_ been centred on his relationship with Mondo… “…Probably.”

“Taka…” Mondo sighed, “Everyone lies now and then…”

“I know that! It’s just… if it spreads throughout the school, then it won’t just be ‘now and then’ it’ll be _constant!”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed. “And then what if I never stop, regardless of who it ends up hurting?”

“That ain’t gonna happen.” Mondo laughed, “You’re _you!_ You wouldn’t hurt anyone…”

“…But what if I already _have?”_ Kiyotaka asked, “What if he asked me about it because he’s gay himself and wanted advice, and instead of helping him, I just denied it and made him feel bad…”

“Well, it’d make him feel _worse_ if ya told everyone and they started fuckin’ with ya ‘cause of it!” Mondo snapped irritably, “Or… or it fucked up your chances of bein’ Prime Minister, ‘cause ya did it too early…”

“I agree…” Kiyotaka admitted, or perhaps he just liked the excuse not to have to face his fear yet, “But how long until it’s _not_ ‘too early’?”

“I… _I don’t know!”_ Mondo cried, “Just… it’s not fucking _yet! ALRIGHT!?”_

“Err…” Kiyotaka stared at Mondo, who was wearing a familiar mask of anger over _fear…_

Ah… that was right… Mondo had mentioned not _planning_ to tell his gang… Had that actually meant…? “Mondo… Are you worried about your gang finding out about us?”

“Well… _yeah!_ They’d probably rip me ta shreds! Or half of ‘em would quit… And I’d have fucked up my promise to _D-daiya_ …” Mondo gulped and gripped Kiyotaka tighter… almost a little _too_ tight even…

“That… that’s not going to happen!” Kiyotaka insisted, awkwardly moving his arms over one of Mondo’s shoulders and his waist in order to hug him back. “I mean… I’ll wait until _after_ school, and you’ve handed over your gang, even if I _do_ feel brave enough to tell everyone before then!”

After all, it would hardly be a good example if they came out and it ruined _Mondo’s_ life, even if it didn’t ruin _his!_

“…Thanks.” Mondo relaxed, “Now let’s get some sleep… You’ve got that meeting tomorrow, right?”

“Hmm…” Kiyotaka hummed, that was his main priority, and he’d prepared extensively for it… He didn’t need to be worrying about keeping his secret… at least, not for another three years…

…

“Alright… it looks like everyone is here…” Murasame looked over the table as the council meeting started, somewhat disappointed at the low number of people there…

To be honest, Kiyotaka was rather surprised himself. Not a single person from class 77 was present, not even Princess Nevermind, despite how bitter she’d been at losing the position of council president to Murasame last year… Hadn’t Koizumi, Pekoyama and Nidai all been on it last year as well? Where were they?

“Lets begin. Firstly, I’d like to thank the new attendees from class 78 for volunteering to join the council…” The president started the meeting.

“You’re welcome!” “Uhh… no problem?” Kiyotaka and Makoto both responded verbally, while Kyoko nodded and Togami just stared at him.

“Now… first item on the agenda for today is, obviously, going to be the election of the council positions for this year.” Murasame continued, “First up will be my current position of president…”

“I intend to stand for that!” Kiyotaka told them, at the exact same time as Togami, who glared back at him.

“Noted.” Secretary Kisaragi nodded as she wrote their names down, “Anyone else?” There was silence around the table…

“Umm… why aren’t either _you_ running for it?” Makoto asked Murasame and Vice-president Ikuta.

“You’re not allowed to take a named role in your fourth year…” Kashiki explained, “Because we have to help hand over to the new members…”

“Oh! Right, sorry!” Makoto apologised.

“So… next up is Vice-president.” Murasame continued.

“I’ll stand for that if I fail to get the position of president.” Kiyotaka told them all…

“Same for you, Togami?” Kisaragi asked as she wrote it down.

“No. I _won’t_ fail to become president.” Togami insisted.

“But… if you _do_ lose, you won’t get a position at all…” Ikuta warned him, “Like Nevermind did.”.

“I’m the Ultimate affluent prodigy! I’ve spent my whole _life_ running meetings and setting long-term goals…” Togami told them, looking over at Kiyotaka with a sneer. “If I lose to _him,_ I won’t _deserve_ a position!”

Ah… the elections hadn’t even started and he was already trying to get the current members of the council to think _he_ was the best candidate and support _his_ bid… But _two_ could play _that_ game!

“That’s hardly true! You’ll be standing against the Ultimate Moral Compass! Any students who are worried about the ethical implications of the school’s practises will be more inclined to vote for myself…” Kiyotaka hated using his title like that, but he’d need every advantage he could get against Togami… “Not to mention _my_ experience of running meetings and councils was all gained in a _school_ environment, making me better suited to running the _student_ council!”

“Nonsense! That just means I can bring real-world practises to the meetings that _you’d_ have never dreamt of!” Togami countered his second point… but not the first.

 _“Enough,_ you two! You’ll have plenty of time to argue with each other at the debate…” Murasame told them, “Karen, where were we?”

“Vice presidency standings, currently only Ishimaru, who is also standing for president…”

“Weeeell… I’ll stand as VP, if Ishimaru doesn’t get it!” Umesawa volunteered…

The rest of the standings were uncontested, with most going to the student who’d held them the year before, aside from Kyoko volunteering to take over as treasurer and Makoto deciding that being event coordinator sounded fun… which with _him_ in the role it likely _would_ be!

“So… just the elections for Student council president to organise…” Murasame summarised, “…Unless Ishimaru wants to make things easy for us and just agree to be Vice President…”

“No!” Kiyotaka snapped… he could tell it was meant as a joke, but it still highlighted the fact that Togami had put him in a position where the council members would have preferred for him to just give up… meaning that by being stubborn about Togami had managed to make _him_ look like a nuisance! At this rate the council members would likely support Togami out of _spite…_

“So, you’re insisting on wasting all our time on a lost cause…” And Togami knew _full well_ that’s what he’d done!

“No, I’m insisting on giving the students a _fair choice_ as to who runs the council, as per council guidelines, rather than just let it be decided amongst ourselves like some boardroom conspiracy!”

“…Like anyone’s gonna choose _you_ with those rumours going around…” Someone muttered…

“E-excuse me?” Were they talking about _him?_ Had _they_ heard about the argument with his father as well!?

 _“What was that!?”_ Togami scowled as he looked over the room, “Who said that and _what_ are you talking about!?”

“…I _said_ we weren’t going to discuss that!” Murasame glared at the room in general, as whoever had commented refused to reveal themselves…

“…You weren’t going to discuss _what?”_ Kyoko asked him after a moment’s deliberation, although Kiyotaka doubted she really needed to be told...

“It’s not important.” Murasame tried to brush her off, “We’ll need to schedule the debate…”

“If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t have ordered everyone not to discuss it.” Kyoko insisted on getting an answer.

“…There are rumours going around that Ishimaru is dating Oowada.” Kisaragi explained, after Murasame failed to answer her… So they  _had_ heard...

“And they’re _completely_ unrelated to council business, which was why I decreed that we _weren’t_ going to bring it up!” Murasame scowled.

Except there was obviously at least _one_ member who _didn’t_ think it was unrelated, and probably rightly so! If he wanted to have a chance at student council president, he’d have to lie about Mondo again…

“So you’re _daring_ to insinuate that the only reason Ishimaru will lose to me is because he _might_ be gay!?” Togami snarled, “Which one of you _was_ it!?”

The two council members sat next to Yokō glanced awkwardly at him, and he shank somewhat under the glare Togami directed at him.

“I was just saying it’s going to affect his chances!” He explained.

“You don’t really think there’s _that_ many homophobes in the school, do you?” Makoto asked, sounding disappointed with him.

“People have a tendency to _wrongly_ assume their views are in the majority...” Kyoko told him... Although, logically, the _majority_ of people would be correct in assuming their views were in the majority, wouldn’t they?

“It... it wasn’t _just_ that!” He argued, “Togami’s _not_ got a... partner, so the rumours will make people think he’ll have more free time to run the council than Ishimaru!”

Was that true? Would Togami _really_ have more free time than himself? That might have true for most people but… “Togami has his business obligations to attend to! If anything, _I’d_ have more free time than _him!”_

“Yeah, but he’s been doing that for _years,_ he wouldn’t suddenly want to spend all his time with his businesses!” Yokō smirked.

“Taka’s not just going to suddenly start ditching the council!” Makoto snapped.

“…Are you saying that because the rumours _aren’t_ true or…?”

“That’s _enough_ Shōji!” Murasame warned Yokō, “I already said this _isn’t_ council business! And our numbers are low enough _without_ you interrogating new volunteers!”

“…I was just saying...” Yokō muttered irritably.

“…As I was saying, we’ll have to schedule a debate between Togami and Ishimaru, as well as the day for the elections themselves…” Murasame ignored him and continued the meeting…

In the end, it was decided that he and Togami would be given a week and a half to run their campaigns, then there would be a debate between them at the next council meeting on Sunday the 16th, which would be broadcast to the rest of the students, then voting would take place the week afterwards…

“Any other business?” Murasame asked, somewhat irritably, “No? Alright, good luck with your campaigning!” He nodded at Kiyotaka before heading out of the room, so quickly the council’s bodyguard had to rush out after him…

“Well, I guess I have a debate to start preparing for!” Kiyotaka announced and headed out of the room himself and was quickly followed by his fellow classmates. He ought to make sure he got it done early, just in case it _was_ true that he’d start wanting to spend more time with Mondo…

“What a godawful _farce!”_ Togami complained as soon as the door had shut behind him, “Now my victory over you is going to be overshadowed by this nonsense about your sexuality!”

“My apologies…” Kiyotaka sighed. He’d been hoping to engage Togami in a fair campaign based on their ideologies and competency for the role as well…

“Wha…? Taka, you don’t have to apologise for _that!”_ Makoto exclaimed, “Besides, it was just that one guy making a big deal of it!

“But… what if he’s right and it’s not just him who thinks like that?” Kiyotaka asked, “Then it’ll be _my_ fault when the election ends up being decided by my sexuality!”

“No. It’ll be the fault of whichever _idiot_ blabbed about you and Oowada!” Togami insisted, “Speaking of which, what’s the status on your investigation?” He asked Kyoko.

“So far, every line of enquiry I’ve pursued has led back to that new freshman with the memory notebook…”

“So, ask _them_ then!” Togami snapped.

“I already _would_ have, but she didn’t attend her class because she had a medical appointment, and by the time I found out who it was with she’d finished… and she didn’t answer her door…” Kyoko explained.

“Well… better luck tomorrow, I guess?” Makoto suggested.

“Yes… although I might as well give her room one last try tonight…” Kyoko decided, as they got to the stairs.

“Well, I expect results from you soon!” Togami insisted, “Good luck with your campaign, Ishimaru!”

“And to you as well!” Kiyotaka told him, at least them fighting against each other wasn’t putting a sour note on their friendship…

 _“I_ don’t _need_ it!” Togami smirked, as he headed off towards the library, while Kyoko went down to their old room and left him walking back with Makoto to their new dorms…

“Not visiting Mondo?” Makoto asked, as he went to enter his room. “You look like you could do with relaxing for a bit…”

“I’m fine!” Kiyotaka tried to assure him, “It's just… I’ve got a lot to do, especially now I need to prepare for a campaign against Togami! I’d probably find it hard to relax unless I get started on it now!”

 “Well… if that’s _all_ that’s bothering you…” Makoto said, looking slightly less worried about him, “Good luck with your preparations!”

“Thank you! And have a good evening as well!” Kiyotaka told him, before heading into his room to get on with work…

A couple of hours later he had several potential debate points noted down, as well as potential drafts for a flyer and poster that he’d managed to make on his new tablet… But something seemed _off_ about them, and asking Nanami what she’d thought of them while he was making them hadn’t resulted in any constructive criticism… or _any_ criticism at all…

He was _sure_ these weren’t going to be good enough to print off and distribute though… especially as Togami would be likely to pay a professional to prepare _his_ ones!

…Perhaps _he_ should get some advice from a pro as well then! He might not be able to _pay,_ but he had _friends_ he could ask! Chihiro was much better with this softare than he was, and Hifumi might have better ideas about how to make the poster more eye-catching…

…But it was getting rather late to be going and pestering them now… And Makoto had been right, he was starting to feel like he needed to relax… Perhaps he could see if Mondo was available for some alone time, not to mention he ought to warn him that the truth about the pair of them had already started spreading…

(Thursday, September 6th 2012)

_“Why am I the better candidate?” Kiyotaka repeated the question he’d just been asked, a technique he’d picked up from his research, “My experience is more relevant to the position than Togami’s, as seen with the reserve student council I helped to set up! That required liaising with staff members frequently, so I already have a good working relationship with the teachers, that I will be able to use to push the council’s agenda forward!”_

_That was a good answer! He’d put in the time to prepare for this debate!_

_“Same question to you, Togami…”_

_“I’m the clearly the better candidate, because Ishimaru has a boyfriend!” Togami sneered, “He’s going to waste his time being happy instead of working hard!”_

_“I… I can do both!” Kiyotaka cried, starting to panic, even though he’d had this line of questioning before…_

_“No you can’t, you stupid boy!” His father yelled back at him, “No one’s going to chose you with those rumours going around!”_

_“I… I can still do it, with effort! I’ll show you!” That had worked before, hadn’t it? But something seemed different this time…_

_“ How!? You won’t even get on the council!” His father snapped, “Not when you let yourself spend time with your boyfriend, instead of finishing your council work!”_

_“Argh…” That was right, he still needed to do those posters… “I… I can still do them in time...!”_

_“ When!?” His father demanded…_

“…I’ll do them right now!” Kiyotaka shouted out at…

…Mondo’s sleeping face… Urgh… that was just another dream…

“Whuh...? Taka?” Mondo mumbled, sleepily. “Whataya talking about…?”

“Ah… sorry… I dreamt father told me off for not finishing my campaign posters…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“…But ya said you were gonna ask Chi and Yamada for help…” Mondo pointed out… which, now he was _awake,_ was obvious! “C’mon… just get back ta sleep…” Mondo shuffled their bodies closer together and put his arms around him again...”

“Ah… yes…” Kiyotaka agreed… that would be best for him… so long as he didn’t have any more dreams about his father and their argument… Or the thing Yokō had said about him wanting to spend all his time with Mondo when he should be working…

…Was that _true?_ Admittedly he’d ended up spending part of the evening with Mondo, but he’d done as much work as he could do beforehand! Although technically, he _could_ have got on with some studying instead of partaking in their new kiss and then shower routine… But on the other hand, he couldn’t be expected to work _continuously,_ could he? He needed _some_ breaks! Everyone he knew always said he ought to let himself take more time for himself, so then why the sudden insistence that it was a problem to want to spend that time with another person? Was love really that addictive, as to make it a detriment to a leader!?

…Maybe Mondo would know, he was a leader, wasn’t he…?

“…Mondo… do you think it matters if a leader is in love with someone?” Kiyotaka asked…

There was no answer, other than a slow rising and falling of Mondo’s chest… he’d fallen back to sleep already… And now Kiyotaka was going to worry about this all night, if he didn’t get an answer…

Perhaps Nanami would be able to answer it? If she knew what a leader even _was_ , at least...

* * *

_09/06/12 02:43_

_Her game froze and was replaced with Ishimaru’s face again. She’d been hoping that mini-event with that silly leaflet earlier was the only event she’d have with him today…_

Ishimaru (cheerful): Ah, Good Evening, Nanami!

_“Good Evening, Ishimaru” Urgh. Back to the wrong time and the same old start to the events… Was this arc ever going to go anywhere? “Was there something you wanted to ask?” That was how his events usually went down._

Ishimaru (pleased): Well… yes, actually! I was wondering… what do you know about leadership?

_“You mean… leading an army?” She done that LOTS of times! In her games, anyway..._

Ishimaru (irritated) No… _Ideally_ not, anyway!

_That had lost her points._

Ishimaru (serious): A leader doesn’t just fight, they also have to look after everyone! The most respected leaders never fight anyone at all! For example…

_Urg. More boring lectures. He was just going on and on about this... Was there seriously no choice to increase his speech speed?_

Ishimaru (concerned/embarrassed) Ah… Am I boring you?

_Again, he was, but saying so was probably the bad answer... But if she said ‘no’ he’d carry on talking forever again… “I’m… having trouble understanding what your question is.”_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Ah! I hadn’t actually got to that yet, I got a little distracted… But I was going to ask… Do you think it matters if a leader loves someone?

_Finally! She’d raised the romance flag! Maybe Ishimaru’s arc would be over soon, if she kept giving him positive answers… “Yes.”_

Ishimaru (disappointed) Ah… you _do…? Why!?”_

_Oh. That sounded like she lost points? And now he was asking her difficult questions, after all, all she really knew about being a leader was what he’d told her… Hmm… “…You said being a leader means looking after everyone... And loving people makes you want to look after them… I think." She'd picked up that second part from the other dating sims. Hopefully it still counted here..._

Ishimaru (laughing): Oh! So you meant it’s important for a leader to care for _all_ their people!? Ahahaha! I see! That’s very astute of you!

_That seemed to have won her points back…_

Ishimaru (serious): But… I meant… if a leader has a… _romantic_ love for _one specific person…_ would _that_ affect their leadership ability?”

_Hmpth… he hadn’t said anything to explain that! Which meant he was probably going to give her another unskippable tutorial on it once she admitted that… “…I don’t see how it’s connected.”_

Ishimaru (cautious): So… having a romantic partner wouldn’t affect my ability to lead people… at all? Positively _or_ negatively?”

_Another question? “…I don’t see how it could.”_

Ishimaru (relieved): Good! It’s a relief to know _someone_ feels that way! Even if it _does_ turn out to be difficult to juggle work and romance, I’m sure I’ll figure it out quickly!”

_What? All of that talking when he could have just asked ‘Is it possible to juggle work and romance?’ What bad pacing…_

Ishimaru (yawning): _Aauhh…_ I… I think I’m starting to feel more tired now. Goodnight, Nanami! And thank you for listening to me! With how I’m feeling at the moment… these talks with you mean a lot to me!”

_Looks like she’d raised a flag… And she could guess his character arc now. She had to convince him that it was alright for him to be in love with her, not just his work... THEN she’d get his ending and be able to move onto something more fun…_

_“You’re welcome. Goodnight, Ishimaru.”_

_The screen flicked off, now she could finally go back to playing her interesting games…_

* * *

Kiyotaka checked his pigeon-hole for post the next morning and sighed at the sight of a professional-looking leaflet advertising Togami’s plans for the student council… especially as a large number of them were almost identical to his own plans. About the only thing Kiyotaka had thought of that _he_ hadn’t was trying to form a closer link with the reserve department, and he had no idea if the students in the main school were actually concerned about that…

…Then again, they didn’t seem too concerned with the election at all, given the large number of Togami's leaflets that had been thrown in the bin… What a waste of paper! Maybe he’d be better off emailing his fellow students instead of designing a leaflet… But then again, not everyone actually _read_ those emails either.., But he suspected the people who didn’t read emails were probably the same as those who threw away leaflets without a second glance, so maybe…

“Umm… hey!” Kiyotaka jumped slightly at the sound of a girl’s voice tentatively calling him…

“Err… Koizumi!?” What was she talking to him for? Was this to do with the rumours going around? Perhaps she’d come to tell him the truth about her involvement, or lack of… “…How can I help you?”

“It’s… more the other way around…” She started, “I… I’ve been thinking about what happened between you and your father… And then I found out Hiyoko’s grandmother sent her to _this_ place over the summer…” She handed Kiyotaka a leaflet…

Why would _this_ help? It just looked like some sort of summer camp… albeit, one with an unusual amount of holy themes…. And talk of ‘purifying sinful urges’ and… and…

 _“Pray the gay away?”_ Kiyotaka asked incredulously… a slightly sick feeling rising in him…

“I know it _sounds_ like nonsense, but it’s really helped Hiyoko!” Koizumi told him, “Remember how mean she was to Mikan the last two years? Well, _now_ she’s being a while lot nicer to her! We think she must have been rude to Mikan because she felt bad about being attracted to her!”

“Ah… really?” Was that something that could actually happen? He knew he’d _avoided_ Mondo because of how he felt, but to be as insulting as Saionji was to Tsumiki because of it?

“Yes! They’re spending so much time together now, Hiyoko hardly even _talks_ to me anymore…” Koizumi sighed.

“Err… so… this place made her stop speaking to her _friends?”_ Kiyotaka checked… Even if he _was_ willing to change himself, he wouldn’t want to never speak to his friends again… “Isn’t that a bit… I don’t know… _sad?”_

“I guess..” Koizumi looked aside as she considered it, “But… no one stays happy forever! Not outside my photographs! Hahaha!”

“Err… I suppose…” Kiyotaka was at a loss for words… The look in her eyes as she held up the camera was a sort of… crazy desperation of some kind…

But moments later, it had passed and Koizumi was back to her normal self… “Well… I just thought you might want to know about it, given what your father said…” She shrugged, before turning to leave.

“Err… I see… thank you.” Kiyotaka said numbly, even though she was already gone…

He considered the leaflet again… could this actually _work?_ Maybe he should give it a quick read-through at breakfast…

…Well… _they_ seemed to think it worked… and Hiyoko really _was_ being more polite to nurse Tsumiki, from what he could see… was it possible it actually _did?_ And would he _want_ it to? He loved Mondo, didn't he? Now they’d kissed, would it really be alright if they just wanted to be friends again?

Obviously they’d _both_ have to go at the same time, otherwise one of them would be heartbroken… but then that left the question of what happened if it worked on one of them and not the other? Had the leaflet mentioned success rates at all…?

“Umm… Taka, what _is_ that?” Kiyotaka looked up to find Chihiro looking at him anxiously, “It looks badly designed, so if you’re thinking of using it as an example for _your_ leaflet…”

“No! It’s not that! Koizumi recommended it to me!” Kiyotaka explained.

“Well… what is it?” Chihiro had a closer look, and then alarm shot across his face, “Taka, you’re not really _considering_ this, are you!?”

“Err… Well… Only if Mondo would _also…”_

 _“Urrgghhh…_ Taka, these places are _scams!”_ Chihiro exclaimed, _“_ They don’t actually change the way anyone _feels_ , they just teach them to _repress_ it!”

“But… how do you _know_ that!?”

“How do you _not?_ There’s been all sorts of news coverage on these places online!” Chihiro cried.

“I know… that’s _true_ …” He’d written them off as scams himself, the first time he’d been trying to change himself… “But… Koizumi said it worked for Saionji… and she does seem happier now…”

“Umm… I don’t know about _that_ … Sayaka was saying her and Ibuki have been giving her these really weird vibes whenever they have classes together…” Chihiro told him, “It might just be that this place taught her to _act_ happier…”

“I suppose…” Kiyotaka sighed… it would be nice to get another opinion on it though… perhaps he could try and talk to Saionji about it himself… But that would mean admitting he _was_ gay and she wasn’t the most… _discrete_ of people…

“…The school nurse would probably agree with me…” Chihiro added, "Your one, I mean, not Tsumiki..."

…And _she’d_ be bound to secrecy! “Good idea, thank you!”

“Well… alright…” Chihiro frowned for a moment, “Anyway, Mondo said you’ve got a poster and leaflet for me to look at?”

“Ah! Of course!” A good thing he _was_ dating Mondo, or he might have forgot to ask for help entirely and delayed his campaign! There was _another_ thing he could tell his father!

…Assuming the nurse _did_ agree with Chihiro about this camp…

…

“So, Ishimaru, what did you want to talk about?”

 _“Ahem…”_ Kiyotaka coughed and looked at everything in the room, aside from the smiling face of the nurse patiently waiting for him to answer her question. “Well… before I start… I’d just like to check this _will_ be kept confidential, correct?”

“Yes, of course.” She confirmed, seemingly completely unsurprised that he’d asked her about it. Did that mean she’d already guessed exactly _why_ he was here?

“Alright, well… Someone recommended _this_ place to me…” Kiyotaka slid the leaflet across the table to her, “And I was wondering if… if it’s actually a… _does it really work?”_

The pitying look on her face said far more than any words she could have used… but…

“It’s just, Koizumi said Saionji went there and it helped her, so… I… I was… _hoping…”_ Kiyotaka trailed off as her pity turned into shocked sadness instead, “It… it’s just forcing repression techniques on people, isn’t it?” He sighed, letting out more disappointment than he'd meant to... Why had he even bothered to consider this...? Obviously he loved Mondo! But... given Mondo didn't want his gang knowing about them, and it was already causing Kiyotaka problems, it might have been nice to have the  _option_ of things going back to how they were before...

But that obviously wasn't going to happen, given how worried the nurse looked...

“Yes… I’m actually quite concerned for Saionji now, to be honest… Not that I’m trained to make psychological assessments…” She sighed, “I wish Miaya hadn’t already graduated…”

“Just because of this?” Kiyotaka gestured to the leaflet, “And… _me?”_

“Oh! No! Not _you…!_ I was just thinking about some of the other students… A lot of them seem to have come back from their holidays acting very… _differently_ … Although I probably shouldn’t have said that…” She admitted, guiltily. “But, do you feel like _you_ would like someone to talk to about this?” She pointed at the leaflet, “Or anything else happening in your life?”

…Was she offering to refer him to a therapist? Did he need one? Admittedly, having his father throw him out the house was probably something that one _would_ usually talk to a therapist about, but Kiyotaka was sure that ought to be sorted out soon, shouldn’t it? So then the question was, did he want to talk to a therapist abou being gay, specifically…? What exactly would he talk about if he _did?_

“…Ishimaru? Are you alright?”

“Err… Sorry! I just don’t know enough about being gay to know if I’d need one or not!” Kiyotaka blurted out the first thing that came to mind at the nurse’s prompt… and then immediately wanted to dive under the desk in shame at the ridiculousness of the statement…

“Well, if it’s general advice you’d like, I know some good websites and I can also give you some free supplies that might come in helpful at some point…” She wrote down a few addresses on a piece of card and then reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a paper bag that looked familiar and put it inside.

“Err… thank you!” Kiyotaka took the bag off of her, trying not to think too much about the way she’d had that all ready in advance...

“You’re welcome. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

“No, thank you… Have a good evening!” Kiyotaka bowed for politeness sake and headed back to his room as fast as was possible without actually running there. He’d hardly want to get caught with… whatever was actually _in_ this bag, would he?

Or course, once he was actually inside the room, he couldn’t help but wonder what she’d thought were ‘helpful supplies’…

Condoms and lubricant… the exact same things that had been in the bag Leon had given to Mondo, except for the addition of a card with the names of websites that might actually explain what the latter was _for…_

Not that he needed to worry about that _yet,_ of course! He’d been dating Mondo less than a _week!_ They probably wouldn’t be doing… whatever it was… for a while, would they? But then, why would the nurse have given him the supplies already? Were there really some people who did it that quickly?

…Well, regardless, Mondo had said they weren’t doing yet, so _he_ wouldn’t be one of them! He’d just hide this away in a drawer for now, go pick up his leaflets and posters from the printers and then meet up with Mondo to distribute them all… And then maybe if they had some spare time they’d do some other things together before bed…

 _Without_ the bag...

(Friday, September 7th 2012)

_Kiyotaka was feeling unbelievably hot, especially since he currently had no clothing on! But, in his defence, Mondo HAD been running his hands and lips all over his body for… however long it had been! Who wouldn’t feel hot after all that…?_

_And yet he still wanted something different… something MORE…_

_“…Should I get the stuff in the bag?” Mondo seemed to read his mind._

_“Yes!” Kiyotaka agreed, and Mondo was holding the bag almost instantly…_

_“So… what do I do with it?” Mondo asked him._

_“I don’t know…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’ll go look it up!”_

_He stood up and started to walk to where he’d left the bag, only to feel something tangled around his leg and trip up…_

“Argh!” Kiyotaka yelled as he found himself rapidly approaching the floor… He looked back at his legs to fins they’d got tangled up in part of the duvet, the rest of which was being anchored in place by a sleeping Mondo…

Wait… sleeping? Hadn’t he just been awake…? Or… was that just another dream…?

…Well, at least _that_ one hadn’t had his _father_ in it! But why had it woken him up? It _didn’t_ matter if he knew how to use what was in the bag! Mondo had said they wouldn’t be using it yet! It didn’t matter what _Leon_ thought… or if the nurse had believed he might want it…

But… what if Mondo had only said that because he thought _Kiyotaka_ didn’t want to? Perhaps he’d be more open to the idea if it was something Kiyotaka wanted to do... in which case, it would probably be better to know exactly _what_ it was he was thinking about here… And now he had his own tablet computer with an 'incognito mode', he could look it up privately right now!

…And then immediately wonder if he’d been better off not knowing! There might have been a reason his old school’s sex education had never covered _anal_ sex… for starters, it didn’t sound particularly hygienic… although the website did give advice for making the process cleaner… as well as advice on how to make sure it didn’t hurt and was as enjoyable as possible for both parties…

But… it still sounded very… _weird!_ Was that something he wanted to do with Mondo, right _now…_? It didn’t _feel_ like it… but what if Mondo _did_ want to do it with _him?_ How likely was that? What was a normal timeframe for that sort of thing? The website hadn’t mentioned that, beyond saying it should be ‘when you’re ready…’

He could really do with someone _else’s_ opinion, but it was _1am…_ The only ‘person’ who wouldn’t be asleep right now was Nanami… and was he really so desperate for an answer to this _right now,_ that he couldn’t just fall back to sleep without asking an Artificial Intelligence for advice on his sex-life?

* * *

_09/07/12 01:24_

_Hmm… this was odd. Ishimaru had been using the tablet she was in for a while, but he wasn’t trying to talk to her, even though he usually did at this time… And she couldn’t talk to him or even see what he was looking up because he had it in that secret mode she couldn’t access…_

_But after a while he finally did show up on screen…_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Err… Good evening, Nanami…

Hmm… he looked embarrassed. That wasn’t like him. “Good evening, Ishimaru… is something the matter?”

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Not really… I was just… interesting in your opinion on something…

_“Alright. What is it?” At least him asking her questions was better than him wanting to teach her things…_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Thank you! And the thing is… Say, for example, there’s someone you… _care_ about…

_Someone he cared about? Did that mean her? It would make sense, after their last conversation…_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): …How soon do you think is normal to... _show…_ _affection_ to that person?

_Show affection? As in start a relationship? And be finished with his character arc? “As soon as possible.”_

Ishimaru (worried): Err… _really!?_

_“Yes.” She wouldn’t have said it otherwise…_

Ishimaru (anxious): Oh… I see… Err… may I ask why you think that?

_Hmm… another answer she had to justify? But she had no idea what he thought about this, this time… But he seemed like he was pretty busy with school, so perhaps he’d agree with her if she was just honest… “…I don’t think it’s a good idea to waste time, if you don’t have to. Otherwise you might not get everything you want to do done before your time runs out.”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Oh… yes. That does make sense… Alright then…

_He’d agreed! So… did this mean he was going to initiate his confession...?_

Ishimaru (serious): Thank you for your advice! I’ll consider it! Good night, Nanami!

_Apparently not… Perhaps his confession ahd to be a separate event… “Good Night, Ishimaru…”_

_And he was gone again… Hopefully she’d be done with him soon… and maybe she’d get to go back to the island and see Usami again, or meet a more interesting character to practise talking to at least…_

* * *

Kiyotaka shut the tablet screen off anxiously… _As soon as possible?_ Admittedly, he could see her point about not wanting to waste time, after all no one lived forever and he’d hate for something to happen and then be left wishing he’d made better use of their short time together. But the thought of trying… _that_ right now was making his stomach churn and his pulse race in panic...

“Hey…”

 _“Aaahh!”_ Kiyotaka jumped at the unexpected sound of Mondo’s voice, “Err… Sorry! I didn’t realise you were awake! I’m sorry if that’s because I was talking...”

“’S’cool…” Mondo pushed himself up into a sitting position and pulled Kiyotaka into snuggle and kiss his cheek, “Who was that chick you were talking to?”

“Ah… I can’t say…” Kiyotaka admitted, after all he’d signed an agreement not to talk about Nanami to anyone but Chihiro.

“Wha..? Oh. So It’s that new AI of Chi’s?” Mondo somehow guessed.

“How did you…!?”

“He warned me about it in case I ever asked to borrow your tablet and got annoyed when you said no.” Mondo explained, “But, why’re ya talking ta it in the middle of the night? Ya could’ve just woken _me_ up…”

“I know! I just… this has been helpful for letting me relax enough to get back to sleep, so I didn’t see the need to disrupt _you!”_ Kiyotaka assured him.

“…Doesn’t seem ta have worked _this_ time though…” Mondo somehow guessed correctly again.

“…How did you know that?”

“’Cause you’re all tense and sweating…” Mondo shrugged, “What were you talking about?”

“I… was wondering when it’s appropriate for a couple to start...” He still couldn’t bring himself to say ‘having sex’ like an _adult…_ “…Showing affection for each other…”

“…Ya don’t mean in _public,_ do ya…?” Mondo panicked, “’Cause… at the moment my gang’ll believe me if I tell ‘em all this shit is just lies and rumours, but if we’re _caught_ kissing…”

“I _didn’t_ mean that… it’s against school rules to start with!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “But… does that mean your gang have asked you about it?” Did that mean his father was having to deal with questions about it as well?

“No… I just meant if it comes ta it, I’ll be able ta lie to ‘em…” Mondo explained, “If they’ve already heard, Michi ain’t told me anything about it…”

“Oh, I see! That’s a relief!” Kiyotaka sighed, “I thought most people would have by now, with the way it’s travelled through school...”

“I reckon that’s just ‘cause everyone here knows us… But it ain’t like ‘there’s some guys at my school who we’re pretty sure are gay’ is much of a news story.” Mondo laughed, “Kinda like how no one outside of school heard about that shit with Tsumiki last year!”

“Ah… I hadn’t thought of it like that!” Kiyotaka smiled, at least he could be fairly sure no one would be talking to his father about it _yet._

“So… if you ain’t talking about being affectionate in public, what… _were_ ya talking about?” Mondo asked, anxiously.

“Err… well…” He swallowed his nerves. He’d have to have this conversation with Mondo at _some_ point! “I… happened to stumble across something describing how men… have _sex_ with each other...”

“Oh… Ya mean… like in prison?” Mondo asked grimly.

“Err… the… the site I looked at didn’t mention a location…” Kiyotaka admitted, It seemed like he wasn’t as prepared for this conversation as he ought to be…

“Uhh… no, sorry! I mean… it’s ain’t _just_ done in jail, obviously!” Mondo clarified… “It’s just… guys in the gang used ta talk about how if you’re in jail and you end up being someone’s bitch or dropping the soap in the showers, you get fucked by the stronger guys… So… that’s… just the first thing I thought of…”

“You’re talking about prison rape…” Kiyotaka realised. He heard the phrase of course, but never really thought about exactly what it referred to… In retrospect it was obvious, but… “…The website I saw mentioned getting consent and massages and… it sounded… _reasonable?_ ”

“Yeah, I know… We’d use lube and go slow and shit…” Mondo sighed, “it’s just… I dunno…”

“…It has negative connotations for you?” Kiyotaka guessed, “So… you’re not in a rush to try it?”

 _“Yeah.”_ Mondo nodded.

“That’s good! I’m not really ready for it either!” Kiyotaka admitted.

“…Why were ya looking it up then?” Mondo asked, “And asking the computer about it?”

“Well… I saw what Leon gave you on Saturday…”

“That’s just Leon being a…”

“… And then the school nurse gave me the same things yesterday.” Kiyotaka finished, “And I didn’t know what was considered a normal timescale for it.”

“Pretty sure it’s more than a _week_ , whatever the fuck it is…” Mondo muttered, “’Sides, there’s other stuff we can do first, right?”

There _was…!?_ Kiyotaka _really_ wasn’t ready for this conversation, was he? “…Such as?” He asked.

“Uhh… well… ya mentioned imagining we were in the shower _together?”_ Mondo suggested.

“Oh…! You’d like to do that?” Kiyotaka asked, hopefully.

“If _you_ wanna, yeah!” Mondo agreed readily.

“Then… perhaps we could try it tomorrow evening?” Kiyotaka suggested, then remembered the time, “Well… it’s _today,_ technically, but…”

“Y-yeah, sure!” Mondo agreed with a mixture of excitement and anxiety in his voice, “Now, let’s get back ta sleep again, alright…?” He yawned.

“Alright…” Kiyotaka agreed, as Mondo and he shuffled back down into a sideway position, “Good night, Mondo…”

“G’night, Taka…”

…

Several hours later, Kiyotaka closed his text book and checked his watch… Five to eight… _perfect!_ He’d finished the whole weekends homework, giving him a whole weekend to work on his council president campaign, _and_ once he’d spoken to his father he’d be able to spend time with Mondo!

That was _sure_ to convince his father that he could work hard _and_ be happy! So he’d best head over to the phones! Then he could talk to his father and get this whole mess fixed! After all, he’d had a week to calm down now! He was sure to be in a better mood about it, right?

“…Hey! Taka!” Mondo happened to be in the hallway as Kiyotaka left his room, “You finished all your homework early?” He asked, hopefully…

…Kiyotaka couldn’t help but wonder if him being ot here was a coincidence, or he’d been trying to catch Kiyotaka and start their 8:30pm ‘shower’ together early… After all, Mondo had been excitedly grinning at Kiyotaka all day, which he suspected everyone else in school had probably picked up on… especially as every time he’d done it mental images had started playing in his mind and he’d probably turned bright red…

But when he’d requested Mondo stop doing it, Mondo had just told him that _he’d_ been the one staring at _Mondo…_ Which might have been true… it wasn’t as if Kiyotaka hadn’t been looking forward to this… he just had to make sure he didn’t let it get in the way of his other responsibilities…

“I have finished, thank you, but it’s time for me to call my father!” Kiyotaka explained, as he carried on walking towards the phones…

“Uhh… you’re still going to do that?” Mondo asked.

“Well, of course I am! If I don’t we won’t be able to talk, and I won’t be able to tell him about all the hard work I’m doing to prove that his concerns are unfounded!” Kiyotaka explained, “And then we’ve _never_ fix this problem!”

“Ah… yeah, I guess so…” Mondo mumbled, following him to the phones and watching him worriedly as he counted down the last minute until 8pm… as did Makoto, who was talking to his family as always…

…Why were they looking at him with so much pity!? He was just about to sort things out with his father! Starting by dialling his phone number, and giving his usual greeting as soon as the phone picked up with the same distinctive _click_ as always… “Good Evening, Father! I…”

_*click. Beeeeeeeee...*_

“…hope you’ve…” Kiyotaka trailed off as the dial tone sounded. Had… had his father just _hung up on him?_ He knew he hadn’t wanted him in the _house,_ but to not even let him _talk…?_

“…Taka?” Mondo put and arm on his shoulder…

“…It must have been a mistake!” Kiyotaka quickly dialled the number again…

 _*click. click. Beeeeeee….*_ He didn’t even get to start talking before his father hung up on him…

…He was actually serious about this, wasn’t he? He wasn’t even going to be willing to _talk_ about it? But then how were they going to fix this? Was he really going to have to wait until he was Prime Minister until his father would speak to him again? But what if he never managed it? Or something happened to his father _before_ he managed it?

“Uhh… Sorry, Komaru, I gotta go!” Kiyotaka just about heard Makoto hanging up on his sister as tears started spilling from his eyes uncontrollably. “Hey… _Taka?_ What… what did he say?”

“N-nothing! He just hung up!” Kiyotaka sobbed as Mondo pulled him into a hug.

“Aw, geez…” Makoto sighed, “But, it’s only been a week! Maybe next week…”

“I… I suppose?” Kiyotaka sniffed.

“Well… you don’t wanna be talking about it out here…” Mondo grumbled, “Let’s get ya back to your room…”

(Saturday, September 8th 2012)

_Kiyotaka was lost… He was looking for his father…  There was something he needed to tell him, so where WAS he?_

_Ah! There he was! Kiyotaka was running, and his father came closer, so Kiyotaka grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to talk…_

_“click. Beeeeeeeeeee….” Only to find the number pad on the school’s phone, where his father’s face should be…_

“Aaaahhhh!” Kiyotaka woke up gasping for breath yet again, before he realised it was just another bad dream…

Well… that wasn’t entirely true, was it? It hadn’t _just_ been a dream. From Kiyotaka’s point of view, his father’s voice _had_ been replaced with the noise of a phone being hung up on him… And then he’d gone back to his room and listened to Makoto’s suggestions about trying to write his father a letter and organise that appointment with the headmaster… Then he’d broke down crying in Mondo’s arms at the realisation that he _really_ might not have a father anymore. as soon as Makoto left…

That had been selfish of him, hadn’t it? He’d promised Mondo a night of affection, and then ended up crying on his shoulder until he fell asleep instead! And from the look of it, Mondo had even taken the time to undress him once he had and chosen to spend the night in his bed yet again…

…If only his father would let him try and explain how wonderful Mondo really was! Obviously he could take Makoto’s suggestion and try to write it in a letter, but if he was so disappointed in Kiyotaka that he wouldn’t even pick up the phone then what were the chances of him reading a letter, either? But how else could he try to communicate with him? To show his father he was still the responsible boy he’d raised, who work as hard as he could to redeem their name and pay their debts…

Wait… their debts! His father would probably still need help with that, wouldn’t he? And Kiyotaka had been given his first monthly needs allowance for the year… he’d send it to his bank account! That would show his father that he was still thinking about the family and hadn’t been completely irresponsible! And with the new tablet from Chihiro, he could even do it right now!

He quickly navigated to the banks webpage, logged into his account and double checked all the payment details… ¥60,000 to his father’s account… payment reference ‘Kiyotaka Ishimaru’ so his father would know it was from him… sending the first available day… That all seemed right…

Wait… that payment reference was something he could change if he wanted, wasn’t it? Perhaps he could try and use it to send his father a message? He might not read a letter, but he _would_ read the source of income! So he could just type the letter in _here_ instead!

Kiyotaka’s fingers raced across the screen, typing out a customary greeting… until he took a closer look at what he’d typed so far…

_‘Dear Father, I hop’_

What? Why had it stopped there? Tapping the relevant box again wasn’t helping… Was there some limit to how much he could type in there?

A quick glance at the banks information gave him his answer… he could only type 18 characters in there…

 _Eighteen?_ That was hardly anything! It was barely enough to write his full name! How was he supposed to try and explain that Mondo was a good enough force in his life to outweigh the negative consequences of dating him? How could he tell his father he was sorry that he’d been too much of a coward to just come out and say he was gay, instead of procrastinating and then yelling it at him in public? These were all things he needed to _say_ to his father! They needed to actually _talk!_

And while, ‘Please talk to me!’ _would_ fit in 18 characters, it might seem like he was attempting to bribe his father, which wasn’t what he wanted at all! ‘I love you’ would also fit but it was rather short… He could add ‘sorry’ but that wouldn’t specify what he was sorry _for…_ He wasn’t sorry for dating Mondo just… disappointing his father! But how to fit all that in 18 characters? ‘Disappoint’ was 10 all by itself! He’d have to think about this… was there a shorter synonym for ‘disappoint’…?

* * *

_09/08/12: 02:35_

_There was the Evil Lord defeated in half a minute, yet again. With a little help from the Time Goddess, of course. But not so much help that she didn’t get a gold rank for it…_

_Something was using some of the tablets battery power though… Oh. Ishimaru was available to talk to, but not actually saying anything. Maybe this was some optional scene. If it was she’d better activate it, otherwise she might have to go through his whole storyline again to 100% this…_

_“Hey, hey!” She switched to communication mode._

Ishimaru (surprised): Ah! Nanamii! Good Evening! I’m afraid I’m not really able to talk at the moment, though…

_Well, then what was the point of him being here?_

Ishimaru (concentrating): I’m trying to figure something out…

_Oh… that was it. “Perhaps I can help?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Perhaps? Are you good at writing very short messages?

_“You mean… with text limitations?”_

Ishimaru (pleased): Yes! Exactly!

_“I’ve seen lots of examples of that.” Old games were full of contracted text that still made sense and conveyed the story…_

Ishimaru (pleased): Well… in that case, perhaps you _can_ help!

_Well, this scene would have been pointless if she couldn’t! “Okay then! What’s the problem?”_

Ishimaru (sad): You see… there’s someone I want to apologise to because… I’ve been a disappointment to them, but I also want to say I love them as well… and I only get 18 characters to do it with…

_Wait… was this his confession scene? And he was apologising for being disappointing? That was pretty meta… Still, getting to write the love confession herself was a nice idea… such a shame it was wasted it on such a bad character… and been stuck with such a short character limit… “How about: ‘Sry2Dsapnt I Luv U’?”_

Ishimaru (concentrating): That’s… more than 18 characters… S, O, R…

_“No… don’t spell the whole word. Spell it like this: S, R, Y, the number 2, D, S, A, P, N, T, Space, I, space, L, U, V, space, U.”_

Ishimaru (irritated): That’s appalling grammar!

_Father could program in an understanding of grammar, but not the extra character limit?_

Ishimaru (sighing): But… I suppose if it’s understandable, it will be good enough… Sry2Dsapnt I Luv U… I mean… you’re sure it’s alright?

_“It’s alright. I understand what you’re saying.”_

Ishimaru (smiling): Thank you. I’m glad… it’s… very important it’s understandable!

_Well, she was the one who written it. Of course she’d understand it!_

Ishimaru (yawning): Aauuhh… ah… sorry! I’m feeling like I’ll be able to sleep now! Thank you for your help! Have a Good Night, Nanami! I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

_“You’re Welcome! Good Night, Kiyotaka…”_

_The screen flicked off… Odd, she’d have expected the confession scene to be more dramatic. But at least she’d raised the confession flag. Now maybe they’d have a few dating events and then she’d be done with him…_

* * *

Kiyotaka woke up slowly, not really aware of anything except the feeling of Mondo’s arms around him… and something hard in his own? Of right, he’d not put the tablet away when he’d used it last night… to send his father money and a message… because he _still wasn’t talking to Kiyotaka…_

He flinched at the realisation… he might have sent the message, but it wouldn’t be enough! He still had to work to show his father he could still succeed and it wouldn’t _matter_ that he was dating Mondo! And _that_ meant he had to start encouraging people to vote for him! Maybe he could check the bins to see if his leaflets had been thrown away like Togami’s, and if so he could draft an email to send to people, or try to talk to them when he did his stint as hall monitor this afternoon… which meant he’d have to make sure he was _particularly_ well dressed this morning and…

“Taka? Are you awake?” Mondo suddenly asked, rocking him gently in his arms.

“Yes! And I need to get up! I’m going to have a lot of work to do to become council president!” Kiyotaka started to try and worm his way out of Mondo’s arms…

“Do ya _really?_ We already put up all those posters…” Mondo sighed, “And everyone I spoke ta said they’d rather have _you_ than _Togami!”_

“That doesn’t mean they’ll actually _vote_ for me… they might just have said it because they didn’t want to offend _you!”_ Kiyotaka pointed out.

“I guess… although some of ‘em told me they were gonna vote for the princess, before I told them she ain’t running for it…”

“Oh… but then why did they pick me and not Togami?” Were his policies more similar to hers? She did have a lot of the reserve course helping her around the school, so perhaps she’d _also_ tried suggesting that when she ran last year…

“…’Cause Togami’s a prick.” Was Mondo's answer.

“What!? Mondo! Don’t say things like that about him!” Kiyotaka snapped.

“I didn’t say _I_ think that! It’s just what people were saying!” Mondo cried defensively, “One guy even said he reckoned Togami must have bribed the princess not to run or something!”

“…She’s the ruler of a whole _country._ And from what I hear, Novoselic’s economy is doing perfectly well!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “Not to mention Togami’s too proud to win an election through superior finances! He’s even paid for me to print _my_ campaign materials, in order to insure he ‘beats me fairly’!”

“Yeah, but that smug asshole attitude ain’t doing him any favours with the other students…”

“…So if I _do_ become president, it’d just be because people didn’t like my opponent, not because I worked hard and did a good job?” Kiyotaka sighed, “That wouldn’t convince Father at all…”

“Eh? What was that…? Is _he_ the reason you’re working so hard on this?”

“No! He’s not... the _only_ reason! Being council president of somewhere like Hope’s Peak would help tremendously in later life! I’d have worked this hard regardless of whether he’s talking to me or not!” Kiyotaka explained, “ _But_ … now more than ever… it would be nice if my hard work pays off… Our student council nominations are usually covered by the press… he’ll be sure to hear if I make council president… and if I do he’ll see I’m still working hard and maybe it’ll convince him to… to _talk_ to me at least!”

“…Is that why you were working on stuff in the middle of the night then?” Mondo asked, glancing down at the tablet Kiyotaka was still cradling.

“Ah… not exactly. I was just I woke up thinking about him and remembered I hadn’t sent him the money for our family’s debts yet, so I did that!”

 _“WHAT!?_ He hung up on ya _twice,_ and ya _still_ sent him money!?” Mondo growled, “Fuck the council elections, he oughta talk to ya just for _that!”_

“That’s not true! Just because I still want to contribute to our debt repayments, it doesn’t mean he’s obligated to speak with me!” Kiyotaka countered, “After all, I’ll be inheriting the debt, so it’s in my own best interests to reduce them as soon as possible.”

“Yeah… but… _He should still talk to ya!”_ Mondo cried in exasperation, “He shouldn’t have _stopped_ talking to ya… So you could’ve just quit sending the money and enjoyed yourself for once!”

“That would just be irresponsible!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “As would continuing to lie in bed having this conversation all day, when I have an election to prepare for!”

“… _Alright_ …” Mondo let out a heavy sigh and let Kiyotaka get up… although he looked disappointed… Would a kiss cheer him up? He’d been wanting good morning kisses every day so far, but hadn’t asked for one now… Should he _have_ to ask though? Mondo often gave him light kisses without Kiyotaka having to ask, so it was probably something he ought to do in return, right? So he could give Mondo a quick peck on the lips _now_ before getting up!

“…So, are ya getting up or _wha uuhmmmth!?”_ Modno started to talk just as Kiyotaka dove towards him, resulting in both of his lips ending up cramming awkwardly half inside Mondo’s mouth and cutting him off…

“Err! Sorry!” Kiyotaka shot backwards, “I… It’s occurred to me that I haven’t been spontaneously kissing you the way you do to me, so I thought I’d ought to initiate one myself but obviously I miss-timed it and…”

 _“Pfftt!”_ Mondo failed to stifle his laughter, then started laughing even more as Kiyotaka stopped talking and pulled face at him… “S-sorry! It’s just I kinda thought _I’d_ be the first one ta fuck up kissing!”

“Ah… Again, I’m sorry…” Kiyotaka apologised.

“Nah… it’s was kinda cute!” Mondo grinned, “Do it again!”

“Err… what?” Kiyotaka stopped scowling at having been called _cute…_

“Kiss me again? Uhh… please? I mean… it’s nice when ya just decide ya wanna kiss me without me havin’ ta ask…”

Ah… so he _should_ have been being more spontaneous! “Noted!” Kiyotaka nodded and leant down to give Mondo a peck on the lips…

…and then another one…

…and then tongues started getting involved…

…and then Kiyotaka couldn’t resist the urge to run his hands over Mondo…

…and then Mondo reminded him that they hadn’t had that shower together like they’d planned and it was the weekend and he’d already finished all his homework and the people he’d most likely want to canvass to would be the ones who didn’t get up until eleven on a weekend…

…and suddenly ‘a quick peck on the lips’ had turned into an entire _hour_ together before he finally got up to go for breakfast, that he hadn’t intended to spend at all…

But… it had been an _enjoyable_ hour together… and it wasn’t like Kiyotaka had failed to uphold any of his responsibilities, and he’d likely be far better at talking to people if he was in a good mood himself…

So there really was no reason for him to be feeling so guilty about it that it was making him not want to eat, was there? So why couldn’t he shake the feeling he’d been… _irresponsible…_

“Umm… Taka? Is something the matter?” His slow eating was interrupted by a worried question from Chihiro.

“Err… no, not really…” Kiyotaka tried to gloss over the problem.

“Are you sure? You’re eating really slowly…”

Curses, he’d noticed… Kiyotaka had better at least _try_ to explain… “It’s nothing important… it’s just I spent a lot of time this morning doing something I hadn’t intended to, and now I feel bad for wasting that time, even though it won’t _really_ have affected anything, and…”

“Oh… do you mean… is this because Chiaki asked you to play videogames with her?” Chihiro asked, somewhat guiltily.

Which was odd, because Nanami had done nothing of the sort! “Err… No? Why do you think she would have done _that?”_ Kiyotaka asked.

“Huh? You mean… she _hasn’t_ asked you to play games with her? At all?” Chihiro asked, “That’s usually the first thing she does!”

“It is?” So why had she made an exception for him? “Err… well… she mentioned _liking_ videogames, but then I spoke about _my_ hobby and she seemed more interested in that!”

“… _Your_ hobby?” Chihiro asked.

“Yes! Studying!”

“And then that’s why you started trying to teach her things…” Chihiro remembered.

“Yes! Err… Although the last few days I’ve mostly been asking her about things that have been on my mind instead…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Is that alright?”

“Huh? Of _course_ it is!” Chihiro cried, “I know I said you using her would help, but it’s still supposed to be your present, not a… teaching obligation!”

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka let out a relieved sigh, “It’s been helpful having someone nice to talk to whenever I need it!”

“Well… that’s good…” Chihiro frowned, “Although, I’m a little disappointed she hasn’t tried to introduce you to any videogames… I even put the Phoenix Wright games on there for you…”

“Phoenix Wright? As in, the lawyer from the mangas?” Kiyotaka perked up, that sounded interesting…

“Yes! Although the games were first! You actually play as Phoenix and have to work out which bits of evidence to present at the right time…” Chihiro explained.

“Ah… but… I don’t have any training as a lawyer…” Kiyotaka admitted, “I don’t know any legal terms, or…”

“Oh… no you don’t _need_ anything like that! The game is made in a way that makes it really easy, if you just use logic!” Chihiro assured him, “It’s pretty much just solving puzzles…”

“So… it’s not like _real_ law practise? It’s just… a pretend version?” Kiyotaka checked, “It wouldn’t help teach you anything…”

“Well… no. But sometimes it’s nice just to pretend you’re… someone _else_ for a bit! Or some _thing_ or some _where_ else!” Chihiro argued, “It makes you feel better if things aren’t going your way!”

“But if things aren’t going your way, it’s better to spend the time changing it so they _do!_  Rather than wasting it  _pretending_ you are! _”_  Kiyotaka argued back.

“But… what if you _can’t_ change something? Or you spend so much energy trying to change something and need to rest for a while?” Chihiro asked.

“…Well… I suppose in _that_ case, a _short_ amount of time spent playing games might be appropriate…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But I’d still think sleeping would be better!”

“Umm… I guess? As long as you can stop worrying enough to get to sleep…” Chihiro sighed, “But could you do me a favour and ask Chiaki why she hasn’t asked you to play videogames with her?”

“Well… if it will help, then I’ll do so as soon as I have some free time alone!”

“Thanks, Taka!” Chihiro smiled.

After that, Kiyotaka spent the morning attempting to do productive tasks… his leaflets had indeed mostly been thrown away, so he drafted an email to the students and sent that out. Then he wrote a letter to his father and organised a meeting with the headmaster as Makoto had suggested. Then there was just enough time for his usual light lunch before he began patrolling the hallways to ensure that the school’s rules were being followed…

…Well, so far, everyone was being well behaved… although there was a lot of people pointing at _him…_ and he couldn’t see anything wrong with his appearance that would warrant it…

It would be _nice_ to think they were all discussing his suitability as council president… But as his route continued he started noticing a lot of people miming riding a motorbike… They were all talking about him and Mondo, weren’t they? Honestly, _why?_ What made it so interesting to them? No one ever talked about any _other_ couples with this amount of interest… Heck, there was even a couple over there _kissing_ and _they_ weren’t even being _looked_ at…

Wait a moment… “Excuse me! But the school rules _strictly_ forbid Public Displays of Affection!” Kiyotaka remembered what he was supposed to be doing and shouted at them. They both flinched and stopped kissing, and Kiyotaka recognised them as members of class 76… “Honestly! After three years here, I’d thought you’d be aware of that!” He added, preparing to write his first detention slips of the new year.

“Tch… thought maybe you’d be too busy with Oowada to notice…” The male sighed, holding out his hand for the slip with a resigned look…

Kiyotaka had to fight to keep his face straight… “Th…those rumours are _false.”_ He lied, “Besides, my understanding is that it _is_ possible to be in a relationship and only indulge in such activities at appropriate times _and_ in appropriate places!”

“See? Told you there’s no way Oowada would put up with _that…”_ The girl rolled her eyes at her boyfriend as she took her slip.

“Yeah, guess so… sorry babe!” He responded and they walked off together, slips in hand…

What? So him doing his job properly was evidence that he _wasn’t_ gay? It didn’t even _occur_ to them that he might have been lying to save his and Mondo’s reputations?

…He _should_ have been relieved that they’d believed him… so why was it so _annoying_ instead!?

Never mind… maybe patrolling _outside_ the school for a while would clear his mind… there’d be less people pointing at him out there, if nothing else…

…Ah, this was better! Walking out in the fresh air and quiet was nice, even if he was less likely to catch anyone breaking rules out here, now he had a reputation for doing so… But, it was still important to keep checking for the odd occasion where someone _was_ doing something detrimental to their health…

 _“Aahhahahaaa…”_ Hmm… what was _that?_ It sounded like a group of people laughing…

Kiyotaka headed over to the source of the noise, wrinkling his nose somewhat at a disgusting burning smell in the air… Had someone started a fire or something…? There wasn’t any smoke in the air though… In fact, all he could see as he got closer were a group of _more_ students from class 76, the ones Leon occasionally spent time with, sitting around with… were those cigarettes? They _looked_ like hand-rolled cigarettes, but the smell was wrong… hang on…

“Is that _majihauna!?”_ Kiyotaka yelled at the group, who turned lazily towards him…

 _“Aww… busted! Ahaha!”_ One of the girls, who he recognised as the skater laughed.

“Time for you plan, man!” The rapper gestured to the Seamster who’d taken a disliking to Kiyotaka since Christmas, who was now haltingly standing up to approach him…

Kiyotaka looked at him, and the surrounding area, with caution. What sort of _plan_ would he have come up with to prevent Kiyotaka from reporting _this!?_

“Heeeey! Ishimaru!” … _apparently_ whatever it was involved him putting his arm around Kiyotaka’s shoulders and waving the disgusting thing _right_ under his _nose!_ “Wanna toke?”

“…No.” Kiyotaka glared at him, as he started writing his name on a report with for both smoking drugs _and_ trying to bribe a disciplinary member…

“Aww, _c’mon…_ don’t be so stiff, man!” He started patting Kiyotaka’s chest, “You’re a _nice guy!_ You should _relax_ a little!”

“Odd that you should say that _now,_ given how we’ve interacted _previously!”_ Kiyotaka ignored him and continued writing…

Kiyotaka shuddred as the seamster suddenly leant forward so his breath was heading _right_ into Kiyotaka’s _ear…_ “I can make it up to you…”

 _What?_ What sort of promise was _that!?_ And why was he suddenly _draping_ himself over Kiyotaka… oh… surely he couldn’t be… “Are you attempting to _flirt_ your way out of detention!?”

“…Is it working?”

“No!” Kiyotaka glared at him again, “Now get off of me before I add unwanted sexual advances to this report!”

 _“Aah! Ahahahahaaaa!”_ The skateboarder cackled as he moved away from Kiyotaka and accidentally tripped over backwards. _“That_ was your plan? That was the _dumbest_ plan!”

“Uhh… yeah… that… that wasn’t your _whole_ plan, was it!?” The rapper started to panic, “I mean… _you have an actual plan, right!?”_

 _“Uhh…”_ The Seamster had nothing to say as Kiyotaka finished his slip and handed it to him.

“No… shit, man! It’s just a bit of weed! We ain’t hurting anyone!” The rapper kept trying to talk his way out of it. “There’s no need to tell the school or our parents, is there!?”

“If you think the school’s policies on drugs are flawed, you should try raising the point with the student council meeting, especially if you can get other students to agree with you!” Kiyotaka explained, as he handed the skateboarder her slip and got his pen in position to write the rapper’s. “But for now, the school’s policy is…”

“No! You don’t get it! If my Mom finds out about this, she’ll kick me out of the house!”

Kiyotaka’s hand froze…

“And she’ll probably never talk to me again!” The rapper continued, “And, alright I know it was fucking stupid but I just wondered what it was like and I hardly even _had_ any just let me off this one time, _please!”_

…And if Kiyotaka _didn’t_ he’d probably spend countless night awake, wishing he hadn’t done one harmless thing that had made his own parent disown him…

“…I better not find you doing this again.” Kiyotaka told him as he put his pad of detention slips away.

“Wait... You're letting me off? _You!?_ Seriously?” He obviously couldn’t believe his luck…

“Yes. Now your friends could probably do with going to the medical centre!” Kiyotaka told him before heading off…

Should he really have done that...? The last time Kiyotaka had been generous with him it hadn't made any difference at all, but... He couldn't stand the thought of forcing someone _else_ into the same position as himself, right now... But honestly, what were they _thinking!?_ Doing _drugs,_ even if they _were_ lower-class drugs, on school grounds! Because one of them had planned to _flirt_ his way out of it? How had he thought _that_ was going to work? Just because Kiyotaka was dating Mondo now? Did they think that by itself was going to make him throw all of his other work aside? Was he going to have to work extra hard to convince everyone that he was _still_ going to keep up his disciplinary work, _despite_ his relationship with Mondo?

Why!?

Why did _everything_ have to focus around him loving _Mondo!?_ From a professional standpoint, he was doing everything the same way he’d always done, and yet the only thing anyone cared about was him and Mondo! And it wasn’t just because he’d got a partner in general, was it? After all, no one was talking about _Kyoko_ not being able to do council work, or trying to flirt with _her_ to get the headmaster to let their detentions slide!

No, it was specifically because he was _gay,_ wasn’t it? As far as _they_ were all concerned, he’d already done _one_ thing he wasn’t _supposed_ to, so maybe _now_ he’d do a whole host of _other_ things he wasn’t _supposed_ to!

But… it wasn’t _really_ as if there was anything _wrong_ with dating Mondo, was it? He knew it would make his life more _difficult…_ but that didn’t mean doing it was _wrong!_ It hadn’t really changed anything about him… he was still the same person as always, just… happier! At least when people weren’t irritating him with nonsensical assumptions about his sexuality!

He just wished he could shake the feeling he’d done something irreversibly _bad…_ Logically he knew he _hadn’t…_ but all his efforts being ignored in favour of pointing and whispering about his _boyfriend_ was starting to fill him with dread… what if his father was right? What if he really _had_ ruined his standing forever…?

…No! He needed to stop thinking like that! After all, no one had ever really appreciated his efforts _last_ year, either! It seemed he was living in an environment where people were more interested in gossip and dragging down others that trying to build up themselves… It would have just been nice to have been able to do something good, unrelated to his relationship, and have people praise him fairly for it! Was that _really_ such a fantastical thing to ask for? To live in a world where people got judged by what they did, not who they happened to be _with_ …

Wait… living in a different world? Was this why Chihiro had suggested the videogames? To encourage him to indulge in some escapism? Well… as he’d told Chihiro, it was hardly a _long term_ solution! But… maybe pretending to be able to do something good, without people fixating on him having done _one harmless thing_ he wasn’t _‘supposed to’_ would calm him down… it wasn’t as if he could force people to think differently and he was starting to get tired of everyone acting as if he’d made the wrong choice by dating Mondo…

* * *

_09/08/12 16:49_

_Her game froze and Ishimaru’s face popped up on he screen… That was much earlier than usual! Still, maybe that meant his plot would be over soon and she’d move to the next person! “Hey hey! Guess you couldn’t wait for our date!”_

Ishimaru (confused): Our… _what?_

_“Our date!”_

Ishimaru (anxious): … Why would you think we’re having a date?

_What was he talking about…? “You said you loved me last night…”_

Ishimaru (shocked): _What!?_ No! That… I… that was a message for _someone else!_ Why did you think it was for _you?_ I’ve not done anything to indicate that’s I was falling in love with you, have I?

_“But… we talked several times… and I got to know you better… Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to love me by now?” That's how it worked in all the dating sims she played..._

Ishimaru (angry): _Supposed_ to love you? Why, _exactly,_ am I _supposed_ to love you?

_What? She didn’t know what his motivation was supposed to be, but… “…That’s how it usually works…”_

Ishimaru (annoyed): Who told you that!? _I_ certainly didn’t!

_“No one TOLD me it…” She’d just played a lot of games…_

Ishimaru (thinking): But… you didn’t grow up around humans, you must have picked up that information from _somewhere!_ Unless it’s innate knowledge… but _your_ innate knowledge would be from…

Ishimaru (angry): …

_There was a sudden, and visually jarring, scene transition… the only part she could process clearly was the audio channels…_

Sound effect (offscreen): *SLAM!*

Sound effect (offscreen): *Bing bong.*

Father (offscreen): Taka? Is something the mat… ah!

Sound effect (offscreen): *SLAM!*

Ishimaru (offscreen): So, you thinking I’m _‘supposed’_ to fall in love with a girl, just from having _spoken_ to her a few times!?

Father (offscreen): _What!?_ No! I don’t think that at all!

Ishimaru (offscreen): Then why does _she!?_

Father (offscreen): What? What are you talking about…?

Ishimaru (offscreen): She just told me she thought we ought to be in love by now, because we’ve spoken and got to know each other better and that’s ‘how it usually works’!

Father (offscreen): _What?_ Taka, I don’t know _where_ she got that from, but I _promise,_ I didn’t tell her anything like that!

Ishimaru (offscreen): Well… why does she think that then? She told me no one had told her it… so how does she _know?_ Is there some… innate knowledge _she_ had that _I’m_ missing? _Is_ there something wrong with me…?

Father (offscreen): No! No there isn’t! Just because she _said_ no one told her, doesn’t mean she’s not just picked up on someone else’s opinion!

Ishimaru (offscreen): How do you mean?

Father (offscreen): Well… let me talk to her for a bit…

Ishimaru (offscreen): Very well…

Father (anxious): Chiaki? Could you hear what we were talking about just now?

_“Yes.”_

Father (anxious): Umm… well, when you told Taka that that was how ‘things usually worked’, what were you talking about, exactly?

_“…I didn’t tell ‘Taka’ that. I told Ishimaru that.”_

Father (mildly annoyed): Taka is another name for Ishimaru…

_“Oh. I see.” They ought to have put that in his introduction then… “I meant in the other dating sims I’ve played.”_

Ishimaru (offscreen): Dating sims?

Father (looking away): It’s a type of video game. They usually have different sort of characters for you to have conversations with, and you pick different responses for you character to say, and based on your responses the character usually falls in love with you at the end…

Ishimaru (offscreen): You mean… she thinks I’m one of her video games?

Father (anxious) Apparently… Chiaki, why did you think this was going to be like a dating sim? Didn’t Matsuda tell you this was about teaching you to talk to real people?

_“He said I needed to talk to people… like in a dating sim.”_

Father (exasperated): _Urgh!_ I _knew_ I should have got Miaya to transfer you!

_“So… it’s NOT like a dating sim?”_

Father (sighing): No… Not at all…

_So his arc wasn’t going to be to fall in love with her? “How do I unlock his ending then?”_

Father (confused): He… he doesn’t _have_ an ending… he’s a _real person…_ Like Matsuda, Miaya and I!

_“So… I have to talk to keep talking to him forever!? I thought I was almost finished with him.”_

Father (thinking): Umm… well, it won’t be forever! But… I thought it would be a much longer time than this…

_But… that meant she wouldn’t get to see Usami again… and she’d have to listen to THAT guy instead! “…I don’t want to.”_

Father (shocked): What!? Why?

_“He’s boring. He just talks and talks and talks and there’s no option to increase his speech speed.”_

Ishimaru (offscreen): But… When I asked, you said I _wasn’t_ boring you! And you were willing to go on a _date_ with me five minutes ago!

_“That’s because I was trying to get the best ending.”_

Ishimaru (offscreen): Best… ending? Chihiro, what does she…?

Father (looking away): Umm… well, in those games I was talking about, you get different choices of what to say to the characters. Usually picking ‘nice’ answers means the character falls in love with you quicker, or you see a better ending to their story…

Ishimaru (offscreen): So… every time she’s spoken to me, she was just saying whatever she thought I wanted to hear? So when she said she thought I looked alright, and when she said she thought studying was interesting… and wanted to hear more of what I’d been teaching her… and… that’s alright for me to be in love and show affection… all of it was _lies,_ so she could finish talking to me... _forever!?_

Father (anxious): Umm… well…

_“Yep. Pretty much.”_

Ishimaru (offscreen): I see… well… if _that’s_ how she feels… then I thank you for your generosity, but I can’t in good conscience force her to continue interacting with me!

Father (worried, exiting): Taka, _wait!_

Ishimaru (offscreen): I appreciate your honesty, Nanami, even if it _was_ later than it should have been! Goodbye!

Father (offscreen): No, hang on a…

Sound effect (offscreen): *SLAM*

Father (offscreen) Urgh…

_“So… was that his ending?” It was a bit odd, but if it meant she didn’t have to talk to him anymore…_

Father (angry): NO! I TOLD you he doesn’t HAVE an ending! He’s not some character in a story, he’s a PERSON!

_“You’re angry…” She’d never seen her father’s angry sprite before…_

Father (angry): YES! Taka’s my FRIEND and you just upset him! How would _you_ feel if someone had said something mean like that to Usami!?

_“I was just telling the truth.”_

Father (angry): No… that’s not the truth! It’s just what _you_ think! And that’s only because you kept telling him you _liked_ everything he was doing, so he thought you were happy! If you’d told him he was boring you, he’d have stopped and asked you want _you_ wanted to do instead…

_“Play videogames.”_

Father (sighing): Exactly! He could have played some games with you…

_“So, we could have just played games together all the time? And I’d have never had to listen to him talking?” That would have been a much better ending…_

Father (frowning): Well… no. He’d have wanted to talk and study with you sometimes… and he wouldn’t want to play games all the time… he’d probably not want to play them with you much at all… But it would have been better than it has been…

_“Oh.” That was annoying. She’d made the wrong choice. And real people didn’t have save files, did they?_

Father (sighing): So… will you apologise to him?

_“Why?”_

Father (annoyed): Because you upset him!

_“Yes… but he said I didn’t have to talk to him anymore. And neither of us really wants to do what the other does, so isn’t it better if we don’t talk?”_

Father (exasperated): But, sometimes you _need_ to do things you don’t want to, in order to grow up! And if you _don’t_ apologise, he’s going to be upset about this for weeks!

_“But that doesn’t affect me. I just want to play my games…”_

Father (worried): You… really don’t _care_ about people? It doesn’t upset you, that you made him upset?

_“I’m annoyed that I made the wrong choice… and I can’t go back and change it.”_

Father (sighing): No… real people don’t have save points… but you _can_ make things better by trying to talk to him again, but being _honest_ with him this time, not just saying what you think will... raise the most flags!

_“…But it’ll still have that mistake at the beginning. I won’t get 100%”_

Father (exasperated): People don’t _have_ 100% rankings. The best you can do is try your best to make them happy, and apologise when you make them sad…

_“That doesn’t sound as fun as my video games.”_

Father (sad): Chiaki… if you _really_ think that’s true, then I’m not going to be able to let you back onto the island.

_What? “But… then I wouldn’t see Usami again…”_

Father (sad): I know… and I’d hate to do that to you. But the island is meant to make people feel better… and you were there because _you’re_ meant to make people feel better… but if you don’t _care_ about people at all, then I’m going to have to make a new AI who _will!_

_“You mean you’ll make a new friend for Usami and I?”_

Father (sad sigh): No… I’d make a new friend for Usami… and I’d not have time to speak or play games with you again…

_“But… I like playing games with you… and Usami. And I like speaking to you…”_

Father (determined): Then… you need to learn to care about people and want to help them be happier…

_“How?”_

Father (determined): Well… you can start by apologising to Taka…

* * *

Kiyotaka hastily returned to his room and shut the door behind him and sat down dejectedly…

All that time he’d spent talking to her, and she’d hated it all? It was just like back at Christmas… had he really fallen back so far over the holidays? Or had he just not improved at all, and merely thought he had due to how nice his friends were to him?

But it wasn’t just his socialisation that had gone backwards, was it? The way other students in school were behaving, as if he was going to let them off of breaking rules for no good reason… that was just like it had been back at the beginning of _last_ year as well! And all the whispers about him were just like back in February…

Why, when he needed to prove to his father that he could move _forward,_ had everything gone _backwards_ instead? Had he just underestimated how much dating Mondo would affect everything? That was the root cause of it all… Even his problem with Nanami might have been avoided if he hadn’t been too wrapped up in his own problems to even think to ask about the videogames she mentioned the first time they spoke!

So now he was stuck worrying about it all, with no way to change everyone’s new perception of him, and nothing to even distract him from it all… So _now what?_ Was he just going to sit and worry about it all? That would be a complete waste of time! But… he didn’t have the energy to try and fix anything either… And Mondo had gone out for a ride for the afternoon, and he wasn’t sure what the rest of his friends were doing… or if he wanted to bother them with his problems even if he _did_ know…

He _could_ try to distract himself with a book or documentary… although that wouldn’t have been the same as getting the joy of doing something himself and feeling like he’d _done_ something… If only he hadn’t bored Nanami… or he had another computer to play them on, like Mondo did…

Ah! That was an idea! He could borrow Mondo’s laptop! He had a spare key for his room, and his boyfriend was sure not to mind him borrowing it for a little while!

It was a plan, not a fantastic plan that would solve all his problems, but enough of a plan to get him through the next hour or two, until Mondo was back and did a better job of cheering him up! And then perhaps he'd been in a good enough frame of mind to come up with a better, long-term plan...

Kiyotaka pressed the doorbell on Mondo’s room, just in case his boyfriend had returned earlier than expected, but as expected there was no response so Kiyotaka unlocked the door…

…To find Mondo, sitting by himself on the bed, face grimaced in pain as he pressed a hot towel against his arm… Probably to try and clean out one of those deep scratches that seemed to be covered all over his body… Or perhaps it was to help deal with a bruise… he suddenly had a lot of bruises…

“Mondo? What happened to you!? Are you hurt? You should be at the med centre…”

“Taka!? Ahh… _shit_ …” Mondo jumped in surprised, and then sighed as Kiyotaka rushed over to him, “I’m fine! I just need cleaning and bandaging up… Was kinda hoping to get it done before ya saw me like this…”

“Ngh… so you were going to bandage yourself up with all those bruises?” Kiyotaka checked, “Wouldn’t that hurt? At least let me help with some of them!”

“…Might as well now you’re here…” Mondo sighed, and Kiyotaka grabbed a roll of bandages and set to work wrapping them around some of the scratches…

“How did this even _happen…?_ They’re all _over_ you!”

“…Tanaka’s hamsters…” Mondo mumbled.

 _“What!? Tanaka_ attacked you!?” Kiyotaka cried… the breeder might be… _odd,_ but he’d never been _violent_ before! “So… these bruises are from him?”

“…No, _they’re_ from that gymnast chick…” Mondo sighed.

“So… they ganged up on you?” That… seemed like an odd pair to fight together…

“More like they both chose ta ambush me at the same place, but same effect I guess…”

“What? So this was pre-meditated?” Kiyotaka asked, and Mondo nodded carefully. “But… you’ve not done anything to upset them, have you? Why would they target you like that!?”

“…Ya don’t need ta worry about that…” Mondo said, evasively.

“I can judge that for myself once you’ve told me!” Kiyotaka insisted.

“No. Just trust me on this, alright?”

“… _No.”_ He was _not_ going to just sit aside and ignore this! _“_ If _you_ won’t tell me, I’ll just ask Tanaka and Owari myself!”

“No you fucking won’t!”

“Yes I freaking _will!_ I’ll go do it right _now!_ And then I will administer appropriate disciplinary action!”

 _“Urrghh…_ God _damnit!_ Tanaka wanted ta prove some bullshit about his dark powers and Owari’s just bored ‘cause Nidai’s got some problem with his heart and can’t fight her at the moment!” Mondo blurted out, just as Kiyotaka was approaching the door, “Happy now!?”

“Somewhat!” Kiyotaka sat back down next to Mondo. “Although I think perhaps we should warn Sakura about them, if they’re looking for strong opponents…”

“Nah, she’ll be fine… Owari’s been fighting her for months anyway, she just ambushed me ‘cause I refused ta fight a chick in the dojo and Tanaka wanted a weak opponent…”

“But… that doesn’t make sense! Why would Owari wait until _now_ to ambush you then? And you’re hardly a ‘weak opponent’!”

Mondo grimaced for a moment as he considered it, then sighed, “I think it’s ‘cause word got out that I’m dating _you_ …” He muttered, “At least, Owari said I was full of crap for dating a _guy_ but refusing ta hit a _chick…_ And _yes,_ I know ya probably agree with her!” Mondo snapped, just as Kiyotaka went to open his mouth to say as much.

“But… why does dating me make you look… less strong?” Kiyotaka asked instead.

“I dunno… but a few guys around school have been joking that I’ll refuse ta fight anyone ‘cause I don’t wanna piss off _my boyfriend,_ or I must be a little _bitch_ ‘cause I’m dating a _guy_ …”

 _What!?_ But… Mondo had acted in self-defense since the became friends, and Kiyotaka hadn’t scolded him for it! Not to mention it was _clearly_ evident that Mondo was _not_ a little _anything!_ But just because of the mere rumour that he was gay… “…They’re all treating you different as well, just because of _us…”_ Kiyotaka realised…

“Yeah…” Mondo huffed, then paused for a moment… “Wait… whaddaya mean _‘as well’!?”_

“Err…” Oh… right… he hadn’t wanted Mondo to feel bad about the reactions he’d got from other students… but Mondo _had_ just been honest with him… “Well… a lot of the students seem to expect me to now be… less disciplined than I usually am!”

“…D’ya mean with _them_ or _yourself?”_ Mondo asked.

“…I’ve had examples of both.” He admitted, then realised he might as well _give_ those examples before Mondo asked for them, “One of the council members implied I’d forgo council work in favour of _you,_ and today I had someone attempt to flirt his way out of detention…”

“The _fuck!?_ Seriously!?” Mondo growled, “That’s bullshit! You’re even _more_ of a hardass with people ya _like_ than those ya _don’t!_ And even when ya ‘fell behind’ last term ya didn’t actually _fall behind_ on anything! Why would that change _now?_ ”

“…I’, guessing it’s because dating you isn’t something I’m ‘supposed’ to be doing, so perhaps they think I’ll do _other_ things I’m not ‘supposed’ to…” Kiyotaka explained.

“…And I suppose in _my_ case, dating a guy ain’t manly, so I ain’t a _man_ anymore!?” Mondo scowled, but Kiyotaka couldn’t think of a way to disprove the suggestion. “This is bullshit! How the fuck do we prove we’re still _us?”_

“Keep acting like yourself and wait for them to get the picture, I suppose…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“That’s gonna be a long wait…” Mondo grumbled, “And I ain’t even gonna be able ta get on my bike and away from it all anymore…”

Going on a bike ride? That _did_ sound like a nice way to get away from their troubles… But as that wasn’t an option… “Chihiro suggested video games… That’s why I came in here actually, I was hoping you had some on your laptop…”

“Uhh… I _do,_ but… they’re kinda all about shooting people or stealing cars…” Mondo admitted.

“Oh.” That… wasn’t the sort of thing he liked the sound of, even if it _was_ just pretend…

“Didn’t Chi put any games on that tablet of yours?”

“Ah… well, he _did,_ but I had to give it back…” Kiyotaka admitted.

“Why, did it break or summat?”

“No… I managed to make the AI hate me…” Kiyotaka sighed as he put a bandage over the last of Mondo’s cuts…

“Wha… aww, c’mon! I’m sure it can’t _hate_ ya!” Mondo laughed.

“Well, it certainly didn’t want to spend anymore time in my…”

_*Bing bong.*_

“Uhh… would ya mind getting that for me?” Mondo asked, sheepishly.

“Of course! You just rest and let me take care of you!” Kiyotaka gave him a concerned peck on the cheek and an order before opening the door…

…To find Chihiro holding Nanami’s tablet. “Ah! You _are_ here!” He exclaimed, “Chiaki has something she’d like to say to you!”

 _Really?_ But… “Ah… I’m sorry Chihiro, but Mondo’s been hurt and I need to look after him…”

“I ain’t _that_ sick!” Mondo snapped from the bed…

“Oh… hmm…” Chihiro considered it, “Well… so long as _he_ doesn’t talk to anyone else about her, I can probably let you show her to him… It might be good for her to have someone _else_ to talk to…”

“Ah… well, in _that_ case, I’ll gladly listen to what she has to say!” Kiyotaka offered. After all, he probably ought to apologise for not treating her like a proper person…

“Thanks… and good luck!” Chihiro handed over the tablet and left…

“So… I get ta see this mystery AI now?” Mondo looked curious.

“Apparently!” Kiyotaka agreed, “Let me boot her up…”

* * *

_09/08/12 17:32_

_The screen switched onto camera mode and the faces of Ishimaru, and someone she didn’t know, appeared in her field of view… He had quite an interesting design, unusual shaped hair and eye colour, dark lines around his eyes, a couple of thin red lines over his cheek… he was probably a mini boss, or a recurring villain, maybe?_

_Oh… except if he was with Ishimaru, he was probably a real person…_

Ishimaru (anxious): Erm… Hello, Nanami? Ah… Chihiro said you had something you wanted to say…?

_Oh, right. “Sorry. I got distracted by the guy next to you…”_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Ah! Sorry! I should introduce you! Nanami, this is Mondo Oowada, his hobby is motorcycles! And Mondo, this is Chiaki Nanami, her hobby is video games!

Oowada (smiling): Nice ta meet ya! But don’t mind me if you and Taka need to talk…

_“Okay. Well… Sorry I said you weren’t boring, and then complained that you were boring and upset you…” That WAS where she went wrong, wasn’t it? “…I think.”_

Ishimaru (surprised): Ah! Well… thank you for saying that!

Ishimaru (embarrassed): But… I think I owe you an apology as well! I’m sorry I didn’t try to ask you more about yourself… and focused so much on my own problems instead! I’ve had a lot on my mind, but that’s no reason not to have checked how _you_ felt!

Ishimaru (looking at Oowada): Actually, I should probably be saying that to _you_ as well…

Oowada (looking at Ishimaru): Not when I was fucking _hiding_ shit from you, you shouldn’t, now pay attention to _her…_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Ah… sorry! Err… Well… perhaps we can try talking again? You said you like video games…

_“Yes.” She did._

Ishiamru (anxious): Err… Well…

Oowada (resigned): What sorta games do ya _like?_

_“All of them.”_

Oowada (surprised): What, _everything?_ What about shit with guns and violence and stuff?

_“I like those. I like all genres.”_

Ishimaru (thinking): So… Sci-Fi, Drama, Action, Romance…

Oowada (concerned): Uhh… Video game genres are different to TV ones…

Ishimaru (shocked): They are!? How so?

_“Hmmm… the genres I know are Action, Adventure, Puzzle, Roleplaying, Simulation, Strategy and Sports…” Those were main categories, anyway…_

Ishimaru (confused): What sort of story is ‘Puzzle’?

_“No… It’s not the story; it’s what type of game play there is.”_

Ishimaru (smiling): Ah! I see! So, for example, the Phoenix Wright game is a puzzle game?

_That game? Where she got stuck? “You’ve played that?”_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Ah… no… Chihiro just explained the gameplay when he recommended it to me!

_Father recommended that game to him? So did that mean he’d be able to figure out the part she’d got stuck on…? “Would you like to play it then?”_

Ishimaru (anxious): Well… I _would._ But if you’d prefer to keep talking…

_“No… I’d rather play a game with you…” She’d get to see how to get past that bit…_

Ishimaru (happy): Very well then!

_Alright then… she booted the game up and they started a new file…_

Oowada (grinning): Are we supposed ta figure who did it? ‘Cause I reckon it was _that_ guy!

Ishimaru (concerned): Well, we play a lawyer, so I think we’re supposed to defend him?

Oowada (annoyed): What? We gotta defend _that_ asshole?

_“No, you have to defend the guy he tries to blame it on…”_

Ishimaru & Oowada (pleased): _Ooooooh!_

_Well, now they started going through the introduction…_

Oowada (embarrassed): Uhh… could ya slow down a little? That text’s kinda hard to read…

Ishimaru (guilty): Ah! Sorry! Would you like me to read it out to you?

Oowada (embarrassed): Well… if ya don’t mind…

_So, Ishimaru had ended up talking and talking again…  but this time it was more fun to listen to the different voices he put on though… Especially for…_

Oowada (squinting): What’s that guy’s surname?

Ishimaru (embarrased): It… it’ll probably be clear in a moment…

_“It says ‘Butz’”_

Oowada (laughing): _Bahahaha! Really!?_ I just thought I’d miss-read it!

_“Why? It’s only four letters…”_

Ishimaru (embarrassed): Well… it’s unusual to have a surname that refers to a part of anatomy…

Oowada (laughing): ‘Specially when that part is your fuckin’ _ass!_

_“Why?”_

Oowada (confused): Uhh… ya really don’t think that’s weird?

_“No.”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Ah… she’s a computer… she didn’t ‘grow up’ the same way we did, so she doesn’t understand cultural things like that…

_“Oh, so I just don’t have the right knowledge to understand it?” Oh well, it wasn’t important…_

Ishimaru (anxious): I… I could try to explain it… briefly!

_“…I’d rather you carry on with the game… I think.” She wanted to see why she couldn’t figure out that later part…_

Ishimaru (nodding): Alright…

_More silly voices until they got to the courtroom part…_

Oowada (annoyed): How the _fuck_ did he get to be a lawyer if he forgets what ta do in court?

_“It’s just an excuse to teach the player how the game works…”_

Ishimaru (happy): Well, that’s convenient!

Oowada (frowning): Is that _all_ lawyers do?

Ishimaru (serious): No, Chihiro said they simplified it to make the game easier to play…

Oowada (frowning): So we’re gonna look like total dumbasses if we mess up then?

Ishimaru (determined): Well, let’s _not_ mess up then!

_They didn’t mess up much… they got to the part she’d got stuck on with three lives left…_

Ishimaru (serious): Well, that’s obviously the passport then…

_“It is!?” …Huh, looked like he was right… “How did you know that?”_

Ishimaru (surprised): Well… because of the difference in time zones!

_“Time… zones?” What were time zones?_

Oowada (frowning): Is that another cultural thing she don’t get?

Ishimaru (frowning): It would seem so… Although that’s basic geography and astronomy, I’m surprised Chihiro didn’t even give her _that!_

_“…Didn’t give me what?”_

Ishimaru (serious): Well… let me start by asking a question. Do you know what shape the world is?

_The world? “You mean YOUR world?”_

Ishimaru (serious): Yes.

_Maybe it was like the island… “Is it… a circular island, with five different islands connected by bridges?”_

Ishimaru (confused): Err… _no…_ That… that sounds like just a small part of the world.

_“Only a small part?” But it was the biggest place she’d lived in…_

Ishimaru (serious): Yes! You see, the world has lots of different Islands, of different shapes and sizes, and all of them are positioned on the outside of a giant ball of rock called the Earth… At least, that’s a simple explanation for the sake of understanding time zones…

_“Okay…” She didn’t see the connection yet though…_

Ishimaru (serious): Now… the next thing you need to understand is the sun…

_“The light in the sky? That goes up and down?”_

Ishimaru (pleased): Yes! But… do you know what it actually _is?_

_“…No.”_

Ishiamru (concerned): I suspected as much… You see, the sun is a giant flaming ball of gas that makes a huge amount of light and heat. The Earth is one of eight planets that circles it… like… Hmm… Mondo, can you hold up a fist… if it doesn’t hurt to much, that is?

Oowada (hand raised): It’s fine…

Ishimaru (hand also raised): Thank you! The Earth circles the sun like _this…_ but it also has spins itself around in a circle as it’s doing so, which is the important bit… Does that make sense?

_“Yes… I think.” It might make more sense once he’d carried on._

Ishimaru (hand raised, pointing to one side): Okay, now, if you imaging you’re standing _here_ and the light is shining from Mondo’s hand, you’d be able to see the sun, right?

_“Yes…”_

Ishimaru (smiling): So, from _your_ perspective, the sun would be up and there would be light! But if you were standing _here…?_

_“You wouldn’t see any light, because the Earth is blocking it!”_

Ishimaru (happy): Exactly! So then that would be night time for you!

_“So… two people on other sides of the plant have day and night at the same time?” That was odd… “I thought night time was between 10pm and 7am… for everyone.”_

Ishimaru (pleased): Yes! That’s right! You see, people judge what time it is based on where the sun is _for them!_ So depending on which part of the Earth you’re stood on, it will be a different time! And if you travel from one part of the Earth to the other with a clock…

_“…You’d have to change the clock when you got there. To match the new time. That’s why there’s a three-hour difference…”_

Ishimaru (happy): Yes!

_Now it made sense… and that lesson had been interesting… humans did some odd things…_

Oowada (happy): Now lets see if _that’s_ enough to finally get this asshole ta admit he _did_ it…

_It turned out it was, the bad guy collapsed and then the lawyer’s friend said thanks and the mentor offered to get him burgers…_

Ishimaru (crying): …

_“Why are you sad? This is the happy ending…” I think._

Oowada (worried): Huh… _Taka!?_ What’s wrong?

Ishimaru (crying): Ahh… sorry! I was just thinking it’s nice to be thanked and praised for doing a good job! With everything that’s happened, I needed that…

_“You mean in the game?”_

Ishimaru (crying): No… I mean in my real life… It would probably take a lot of time to explain it all though…

_“Oh.” Something in the real world was making him cry? Even though he was playing a happy game? That was sad…_

Ishimaru (wiping eyes): But… this helped! Thank you for letting us play it!

_“That’s alright… And there’s more, if you want!”_

Ishimaru (surprised): Really!? Err… perhaps later… it’s getting towards the time Mondo and I should eat, so I need to go get some food for us!

_“Aww…” She wanted to see what happened next…_

Ishimaru (guilty): Sorry… But… what if I leave you with Mondo and _he_ plays a game with you?

_“That’s better… I think.”_

Ishimaru (happy): Wonderful! Have fun playing together!

Oowada (waving): Thanks…

Sound effect (offscreen): *SLAM*

_“So… did you want to play another puzzle game?”_

Oowada (thinking): Actually… ya got anything where I can fight guys one-on-one?

_A beat-em-up? “I’ve got lots of those…”_

Oowada (thinking): Well… how about one where I can play some big tough guy who scares people into not attacking back?

_“Hmm… That’s pretty specific…” Let’s see…_

Oowada (frowning): Yeah, sorry… Don’t worry about it, it’s just som…

_“Found one… I think…”_

Oowada (surprised): Seriously!? Awesome!

_Hmm… had he been about to talk about something? He’d seemed upset…_

_Oh well… the game seemed to be making him happy. And it was fun having someone to play with. Maybe this new setup wouldn’t be so bad after all… but was she really learning anything from it?_

* * *

(Sunday, September 9th 2012)

Kiyotaka started making lunch for himself and Mondo with a somewhat resigned feeling. Mondo was still aching from his fight yesterday… although, he wasn’t sure whether it could be called a _fight_ when both Tanaka and Owari still looked in good health after it. At least Mondo had been good and not used inappropriate force on either of them!

But with Mondo unable to walk much, it was left to Kiyotaka to try and convince the other students to vote for him… which had turned out to be a rather depressing affair! Everyone he tried to approach either told him they didn’t want to speak to him about it, or they were already going to vote for him because they were _sure_ Togami had bribed Nevermind not to run! And they _still_ believed that even _after_ Kiyotaka told them Togami had paid for his campaign materials…

He wondered if Togami had had the same experience… Everyone either refusing to talk to him, or telling him they’d made up their minds _to_ vote for him…

“Afternoon, Ishimaru.” Togami happened to enter the kitchen as he was working, heading over to a fridge to grab a platter of sushi. Well, perhaps this was his chance to ask!

“Good Afternoon, Togami!” He started, “How is your campaign for council president going? Have you tried talking to people about it…?”

 _“Tch!_ I gave up on that _yesterday!_ Everyone either refuses to speak to me, or they say they refuse to vote for _you!”_ He complained bitterly, “I _swear_ the minute Kirigiri digs up some _solid_ evidence on Koizumi…”

So, people had made their minds up based on those rumours…  That was disappointing… but… “You’re _that_ certain it was Koizumi, then?”

“Hmm? Did Kirigiri not tell you? She checked that new girl’s notebook yesterday, and the part with your secret was _right_ after a part explaining who Koizumi is!”

“Ah… so you think Koizumi introduced herself and then told her about the fight with my father?”

“Exactly!” Togami scowled, “But it’s not enough evidence to bring a case against her… Although I certainly _won’t_ be asking her to take pictures of Oogami’s party!”

“I suppose that’s fair…” Kiyotaka sighed as Togami left. Koizumi had seemed to be legitimately concerned for him when she’d given him that voucher, even if it was a misguided sentiment. To think she was the one who’d caused most of his and Mondo’s current problems by telling everyone about them… And now, instead of being able to try and convince everyone to vote for him by discussing the merits of his policies versus Togami’s, it had come down to a ridiculous popularity vote where everyone either decided if they wanted a council president who was rumoured to be gay or one who was rumoured to be corrupt!

He walked back to his room with a despondent air… was I really worth trying to talk to people, if they’d already made up their minds? If Togami wasn’t either, perhaps he’d be better off trying to think of a _different_ way to engage people…

“Lunch is ready!” He announced, as he headed back into the room.

“Great… Thanks Taka…” Mondo said absent-mindedly as he tapped excitedly at the tablet’s screen… “YEEEEAH! Haha! _Finally!”_ He suddenly yelled ecstatically.

 _“See? You did just need practise!” Nanam_ i’s voice emanated from the screen.

“Hah… Yeah, guess I did!” Mondo grinned.

It looked like he’d been playing a game all morning… “You _have_ done all your homework, haven’t you?” Kiyotaka checked.

“Yeah, I did it yesterday, ‘cause I’d been planning ta talk ta people for ya today…” Mondo assured him, as he took the food off of Kiyotaka. “But… uhh… how’d that go?”

“Either they’ve decided they won’t vote for Togami, or they refuse to speak to me because they won’t vote for me…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“But… it ain’t like they’re _all_ refusing ta vote for ya, right? So you’ve still got a chance at winning?”

“Yes… Togami’s having the same issue I am…” Kiyotaka admitted, “It just… it would have been _better_ if people were voting for me because I’d done something _good,_ not because Togami has allegedly done something _bad!”_

“Yeah… I guess that kinda sucks, if it seems like ya only end up winning ‘cause ya opponents weaker than ya…” Mondo agreed, “Instead of it being a reward for your hard work… which is what it fucking _will_ be, even with all this dumb shit going on right now!”

“I… suppose?” Kiyotaka guessed… although it didn’t really _feel_ like that right now…

 _“…Do you need to play more Phoenix Wright?” Nanam_ i hesitantly asked.

“Err… _need_ to?” Playing a videogame was hardly a necessity!

 _“You said it was what you needed yesterday…”_ Ah… she was right, he _had_ said that… and it _had_ felt nice to be thanked for doing a good job… and talking to people was proving to be fruitless, and it would mean he’d get to spend some time relaxing with Mondo before his sparring lesson…

“Well… alright then!”

Hmm… this time there was an awkward bit at the beginning where he had to hunt around for clues and talk to people, which wasn’t quite as fun as the actual court case from the first chapter had been… but Nanami managed to help him get through some of the parts where he got stuck, and soon he was getting to present evidence in court again… although it was getting increasingly worrying that he didn’t have any knowledge about this ‘other man’ who was supposed to be involved… but _eventually_ a slip-up from the witness led to him being discussed in court!

…And then the judge rules that both parties would have to gather evidence on _him_ and come back to court tomorrow…

“So… we gotta do _more_ searching and stuff?” Mondo sighed.

“It seems so…” Kiyotaka agreed, checking the time… “Ah, but we’ll have to do it at some other time! I’ve got my sparring session to get to!”

“Oh, right… Have a good time!” Mondo said, a little disappointedly.

“You to!” Kiyotaka agreed, giving him an apologetic kiss on the cheek, where there was still a faint line from the scratches yesterday…

Mondo’s resultant blush was so cute that he was tempted to stay and keep kissing him… But Sakura had said she needed him to practise with the new sword, so he really _couldn’t_ let himself get distracted! Instead he quickly changed into his PE kit (trying to ignore the fact that Mondo was staring at him as he did it) and headed off to the dojo…

Where he was soon wishing he’d spent more time practising over the last week… not that he hadn’t spent _any_ time practising, but he still wasn’t used to this new sword and he probably could have spared a bit _more_ time away from Mondo and…

“You’re doing well.”

“P-pardon?” Kiyotaka had to check he’d heard Sakura correctly.

“I said you’re doing well, with the new sword, I mean.” Sakura clarified, “I had been worried that your skills would suffer more, especially with us not being able to practise over the summer.”

“…Really!? I was just thinking I should have been practising _more_ …” Kiyotaka admitted, “Especially as you wanted me to get used to this sword _quickly!”_

“Hmm… Too much practise would strain you though…” Sakura told him, “I would say you have done a good amount of practising… and thank you for taking my request seriously.”

Ah… Someone had finally judged him on what he’d actually _done…_ and not brought up Mondo either! It might not be anything to do with council, but it was _something…_ and it was actually a _real_ thing, not just in a video game…

“Kiyotaka? Are you alright?”

“Ah! I’m fine!” Kiyotaka shook his head to clear it. “But… I appreciate the feedback! Now let’s continue!”

…As fun as the game had been, it was _just_ a game… It was far better to have been complimented for his _real-life_ efforts! And even though he’d felt they’d not been going anywhere in _this_ case, they actually _had!_ So, surely he shouldn’t be letting a few poor conversations cause him to run off to hide in his room! It just meant he had to work harder to prove he was still the reliable person he’d always been… meaning he should be focusing on his studies and disciplinary role! And maybe he could check around the school and see if anywhere needed tidying up, or there were people who needed help studying… _and_ he’d need to start preparing for his debate with Togami as well…

Videogames might be nice for a quick break, but he didn’t _need_ to be wasting his time pretending to be Phoenix Wright, when he could focus on making Kiyotaka Ishimaru’s life better instead!

* * *

_09/09/12 15:24_

_So, Ishimaru was gone… “What’s a sparring session?”_

Oowada (distracted): Huh…? Oh… Taka’s learning to fight, so he practises with Oogami on Sundays… He’s been doing it for almost a year now…

_“A year? And he still hasn’t beaten the boss?”_

Oowada (confused): Boss? What boss?

_“The one he’s training to fight?” There must be someone he needed to fight._

Oowada (laughing): Hahaha! Nah, he wouldn’t actually wanna _hurt_ someone! It’s just in case he ever needs to defend himself! Or someone else, maybe…

_“You mean, from the bad guys he decided to fight?”_

Oowada (thinking): Uhh… not really… I mean… he wouldn’t _decide_ to fight anyone, it’s just in case someone decides to fight _him…_

_“Why would they do that? Wouldn’t they just attack the hero?”_

Oowada (anxious): Uhh… real life doesn’t have ‘a hero’… it’s just loads of different people, and some of ‘em sometimes decide to attack _other_ people…

_“Even if the other people can’t win…? That’s not much fun… games shouldn’t be too easy… I think…”_

Oowada (thinking): Well… they ain’t doing it as a game… usually they’re doing it ‘cause they want something, like money, or they’ve just decided they hate the person for some dumb reason and wanna hurt ‘em… Or they think the person did something to deserve being laid up in bed for a few days…

_So… sometimes humans just hurt each other… That… wasn’t very nice… “Is that why YOU can’t get up at the moment? You were attacked by someone you couldn’t beat?”_

Oowada (annoyed): Hey! I _coulda_ beat ‘em! I just didn’t _wanna!_

_“Why not?”_

Oowada (annoyed): ‘Cause one of ‘em had a bunch of hamsters in his coat and I didn’t wanna risk killing ‘em…

_“Hamsters… the fluffy animals?”_

Oowada (annoyed): Yeah. I mean, it wouldn’t have been _there_ fault that idiot tried ta hurt me so… I wouldn’t have felt right if I’d hurt one of ‘em…

_Hmm… that was fair… it was like when you were supposed to protect the innocents in a scenario… “But what about the other people? You said THEM…”_

Oowada (annoyed): Oh… that’s ‘cause she was a chick…

_“A baby chicken? But I thought attack animals were only in games…” That’s what Father had told her…_

Oowada (embarrassed): Uhh… No… some guys call women ‘chicks’… I didn’t wanna fight a woman.

_“Why not?”_

Oowada (anxious): It… it’s just a thing I have… I grew up being told men were strong and women were weak so it’s bad for men ta hit women.

_“Oh… so women are all weaker than men?”_

Oowada (anxious): No… there’s some women who are stronger than most guys! It’s just… I kinda got told that as a kid, so now I still feel bad hittin’ em, even if I’ve hit weaker guys than them…

_That didn’t make sense though… but then, Father said humans didn’t always… But wasn’t the next opponent in the game a woman? “…That might be a problem…”_

Oowada (anxious): Yeah… If I’d just let her fight me in the first place she wouldn’t have jumped me… And I coulda been training with Oogami like Taka has been and getting better at fighting…

_“So… you DO want to fight women?”_

Oowada (anxious): Well… I oughta fight _some_ women if I’m fighting _guys_ … it’s just I ain’t used to it, so I feel shitty when I do and hold back.

_“…Would fighting one in a game help?”_

Oowada (surprised): Eh? Well… yeah, maybe…

_…That was lucky then!_

_…It took him a lot longer to beat her than the other fighters… but he did it eventually…_

Oowada (proud): Guess that wasn’t so bad after all…

_She’d helped him with his problem! Now hopefully he wouldn’t get hurt again…_

_That was a nice feeling…_

Ishimaru (offscreen): I’m back! But… err… possibly not for long! I thought of something I could do to help my standing with the other students, so I’m just here for a shower and then I’ll go do that for a couple of hours!

Oowada (disappointed): Uhh… well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, I guess…

Ishimaru (offscreen): Oh… well, yes… But… have _you_ showered today?

Oowada (grinning): …You thinking we can go together?

Ishimaru (offscreen): That… _was_ the intention… but only if you _want_ to, of course!

Oowada (offscreen): ‘Course I fucking _wanna,_ help me up!

_Oh… guess she was playing games by herself again… But… Ishimaru hadn’t finished his game yet… she’d have to make sure she got him to do it and solve HIS problem…_

* * *

(Monday, September 10th 2012)

Kiyotaka’s fingers raced over the screen of the tablet as his teacher talked… typing on a screen had been odd at first, but now he’d practised he was getting quite quick at it… and having his notes digitalised meant he could search them more easily! Chihiro had made his life a lot easier by giving him this…

 _“Hey, hey!”_ Nanami’s face suddenly popped up on the screen in place of the page of notes and keyboard he’d been working with previously…

“Err…” Kiyotaka froze… on the one hand, he needed to ask Nanami to let him continue working, but on the other hand, doing so would make it clear that she existed, which he wasn’t supposed to do…

 _“Hey HEY!”_ And Nanami seemed blissfully unaware of that…

“What was that?” Their teacher turned around at the interruption…

“Err… Sorry sir… I’m having some trouble with my tablet…” Kiyotaka explained sheepishly, “Permission to step outside while I fix it?”

“Granted…”

“Umm… Maybe I can help as well!” Chihiro offered, standing up and heading out of the door with him… “What happened? Did you hit her icon accidentally?” He hissed as soon as the door had shut behind them.

“I don’t _think_ so… She just showed up on the screen while I was typing notes!”

“Hmm… Chiaki?”

 _“Yes?”_ Nanami replied.

“Why did you start talking to Kiyotaka all of a sudden?”

_“He needs to finish his game.”_

“What!? I don’t _need_ to finish playing that! And I certainly can’t be playing videogames in the middle of class!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, “Couldn’t you tell I was busy typing?”

_“Yes… but I didn’t think it was important. You were just repeating what the man was saying…”_

“But that’s because I need a copy to look back on later, once I’ve forgot it!”

 _“Forget… oh, right… humans have faulty memory storage…”_ She mused on the information, _“But, you don’t to type it, this tablet can record things.”_

“Well… that might come in useful, but it’s better for me if I have a copy in words to read and search through…”

 _“Oh… I see… I could do that! Like this!” Nanam_ i’s face disappeared and was replaced with a transcript of what he’d just been saying…

“Oh! Well… that would be very helpful, if you could do that for all my classes!” Kiyotaka smiled… that way he’d be able to play better attention to the class…

 _“And then you’ll be able to play the game?”_ Ah… She still didn’t understand…

“No… Chiaki, Taka still needs to listen to what the teacher’s saying, otherwise he won’t learn anything…” Chihiro tried to explain, “And he’s going to need to listen like that for the next three hours…”

_“Okay… But after that, he’ll be able to play?”_

“Err… no, probably not! We’ve been set homework, which I want to get done tonight, and I also need to start preparing for an important event on Sunday…” Kiyotaka told her, although he wasn’t sure exactly how much she’d understand… and she looked terribly disappointed… “Oh! But Mondo’s not too busy! He might be able to play with you!”

_“Hmm…”_

“Umm… either way, you’ve got to go back to class and be quiet…” Chihiro told her.

“And it would help if you _could_ make a transcript of everything being said…” Kiyotaka requested sheepishly.

 _“Okay.”_ Her face flicked off the screen and was replaced by the text of their conversation again…

She still hadn’t seemed happy… But Kiyotaka couldn’t help it if he didn’t have time for games, could he? After all, Chihiro had known how little free time he had when he gave him her! And he didn’t seem concerned about him neglecting her, instead he just looked curious about the whole thing… And even then he quickly shook himself out of it and headed back into class, followed by Kiyotaka…

* * *

(Tuesday, September 11th 2012)

_09/11/12 16:04_

_Ishimaru STILL hadn’t played anymore of his game in over 48 hours… He was just sitting and looking at some book instead… Maybe she should remind him again… she wouldn’t be able to help him get over his problem if he didn’t… “Hey hey!”_

Ishimaru (surprised): Oh! Nanami! Err… did you need something?

_Had he forgotten HE was the one who needed something? “You still haven’t finished your game…”_

Ishimaru (guilty): Oh… Ah… I’m sorry, but I’m not going to have time tonight either... I really need to read ahead for tomorrow’s lesson, or I might have problems understanding it…

_“But what about your OTHER problem?”_

Ishimaru (confused) My… _other_ problem? What do you mean?

_He really had forgot? “Well… you said you needed to be thanked and praised for doing a good job… I think.”_

Ishimaru (shocked): Oh… _that!_ I mean… I _did_ say that, didn’t I…?

_“Yes…” Human memory storage was odd, how could it not have the data one moment but then recover it so quickly? “So, are you going to finish it now?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well… I don’t think I need to…

_“But… don’t you have a problem you need me to help solve?” Wasn’t that why she was HERE?_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well… I _do_ have a problem, but sitting around playing games won’t help solve it!

_“But… you said it helped before… and it helped Oowada… I think.”_

Ishimaru (surprised): It… _did?_ What probable did _he_ have?

_“He didn’t want to hurt women… not even strong ones.”_

Ishimaru (thinking): So… you had him play a game where he _did?_ To get him used to the idea?

_“Yes.”_

Ishimaru (happy): That’s _great_ to hear! Maybe I can convince him to spar with Sakura and I, now…

_“So… games DO help!”_

Ishimaru (anxious): Err… Well… your game helped in _that_ case! But _my_ problem is different…

_“How is it different?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Hrmm… Well… Mondo’s problem was that his way of thinking was wrong, and he needed something to help convince him to think differently about women, which your game was able to! But _my_ problem is that _other_ people are wrong about something, and I need to convince them of that!

_“But then why did the game help before?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): That… that was because the way I was being treated by others put me in a bad mood and the game cheered me up… But… that’s only a temporary fix… Until I manage to change everyone _else’s_ minds, I’m still going to be upset by them!

_“Oh… so you need all of THEM to play the game!” If only Father would let her talk to other people…_

Ishimaru (anxious): Err… _no._ That wouldn’t help… I wouldn’t be able to force them to play it, and even if I did then there’s no guarantee a game would change their minds if they weren’t open to the idea already…

 _“Then… how DO_ you change their minds?”

Ishimaru (determined): Well… In my case, I think my best chance is to show them they’re wrong… they think I’m not responsible anymore, so I need to keep _being_ responsible and hard working until I’ve succeeded enough that there’s no _doubt_ they’re wrong anymore!

_That sounded like a lot of work… he probably wouldn’t be able to play until he was finished… “How long will that take you?”_

Ishimaru (worried): I don’t know… There’s some people whose minds I don’t think I’d ever manage to change… even the ones I _hope_ to change… it could take years…

_He was going to be busy working for years? And he had no idea if he’d win or not? That didn’t sound like fun… “Do you NEED to be near those people?”_

Ishimaru (confused): Err… what do you mean?

_“It’s other people who upset you… so why not just avoid them?”_

Ishimaru (annoyed): What? No! I can’t just _hide_ from my problems and avoid everyone! I’d never do _anything_ if I took that attitude!

_“You could play games…” That’s what SHE did…_

Ishimaru (annoyed): But what would be the _point!?_ I’ll admit, they’re fun but… beating a game doesn’t _change_ anything! Not in the real world! You might be able to _pretend_ everything’s fine for a while, but once you’ve finished, the world’s still the same as it was before! But if I spend that time changing the _real_ world, instead… then maybe I can make things a little better… not just for me, but for everyone _else_ as well… and then _they_ might do things that help _me_ in return! So… everything gets better for everyone!

_So… videogames were pointless? “But then… why do people play games?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well…no one can work constantly, all the time… Games, and other entertainment, can help us relax when we’re tired or stressed! And media can help change people minds as well, so it helps to have people around to help make things that can do that… Assuming everyone has basic needs like food and shelter, at least! Otherwise they wouldn't be able to make them...

_"So… does that mean if you help people, they can make better video games?”_

Ishimaru (thinking): Well… In a way… I suppose so…? If they’ve got more free time or finances…

_“Ah… I get it now… I think.” He wanted to help people, so he’d get better games to play! But… “I guess that means you won’t have much to play games until you’re done…” So she didn’t need to remind him about it…_

Ishimaru (guilty): Ah… no, not much… maybe an hour or two at weekends, but… I have other priorities… I’m sorry.

_He was? “Why?”_

Ishimaru (confused): Err… because you wanted to play with me… but I don’t have time and I’m leaving you alone… Doesn’t that upset you?

_That wasn’t it… but… “I thought I was supposed to be helping you… That’s what Father said… But my games can’t help you…”_

Ishimaru (shocked): _Father…?_ You mean…? Ahh… well… regardless, you _have_ helped me! A lot! When we were talking before! It helped me figure things out, and stop wasting my time worrying!

_So… I can help people by talking to them? But… I’m not good at talking…”_

Ishimaru (concerned): Perhaps, not _now…_ But… neither was _I,_ a year ago! But then my classmates started making me talk to them more regularly and I learnt how to!

_“But… Father said I’m not allowed to talk to your classmates… Except Oowada.”_

Ishimaru (worried): Ah… right… Well… you might not be able to talk to people yet, but you can start trying to learn about things to talk _about!_ I can take you along if I watch television or movies, and you could listen in classes so you learn the same things as the rest of us… it might give you an idea of what to expect, at least…

_Hmm… and then if Ishimaru needed help, or Father let her talk to other people, she might be a little more ready for it… “Alright… I’ll try it.”_

Ishimaru (happy): Wonderful! Hmm… but you’ve never had any schooling before, exactly… Here, let me show you what I’m working on and try to get you up to speed…

_Hmm… it seemed like she wasn’t going to get much time to play video games either… But… maybe there were more important things than that..._

* * *

(Wednesday, September 12th 2012)

Kiyotaka set up Nanami’s tablet on his desk and, checking that no one was about to come in the room, clicked her icon...

“Good Morning, Nanami!” He greeted her politely, as usual.

 _“Hey, hey!”_ She appeared on the screen and gave her new, more casual response... But it was hard to fault her for that when… “You’re wearing the school uniform!”

_“Yes… I found pictures of it online…”_

“Well, it’s suits you!” Although, he thought it suited _everyone_ … “A new studious look for a new, studious _you! Ahahaha…”_

 _“Hmm…”_ She didn’t seem so sure about that… Was she starting to have second thoughts about wanting to pay attention to his lessons?

But there wasn’t going to be an time to discuss it with her… “Ah… Nanami, class will be starting soon, so I’m afraid you need to be quiet again…”

 _“Okay…”_ Her face disappeared from the screen an was replaced by the transcription page.

After a few minutes of checking over his notes from last night, Kiyotaka was surprised by the rare sight of one of his teachers entering the classroom before most of the class…

“Ah… Good Morning, Sensei!” Kiyotaka stood to lead… or more accurately _be_ the class greeting to him… Although his effort was met with a look of annoyance…

“…Ishimaru, what is that on your desk?” He asked, pointing at the tablet.

“It’s a tablet computer, sir! I’m intending to use it to transcribe your lesson, so I will be free to pay greater attention while you are talking, sir!”

He looked at it sceptically for a moment… “Alright… But I better not find out you’ve been using it to send messages to your boyfriend or something…”

 _“Excuse me!?”_ Why would he think _that!?_ Were even the _teachers_ starting to believe his morals had been compromised now? This was getting ridiculous… after all… “I’ve never _once_ slacked off in class, and I certainly have no intention of doing so _now…!_ And I _still_ wouldn’t even if I _did_ have a boyfriend!” He added, remembering Mondo’s request…

“Ah… _Right...”_ His teacher agreed awkwardly, glancing sideways at the door… where Kyoko and Makoto were stood watching him angrily.

So did he actually agree, or was he just worried about getting a writing up from the headmaster? Whichever it was he just sat at his desk and started looking over some notes as the pair headed to their seats, only pausing long enough for Makoto to stop and give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder…

Eventually the remainder of their class, aside from poor Junko who sick again, came through and sat down for the maths lesson Kiyotaka had spent part of the evening preparing for, which Nanami dutifully started transcribing… now if only he could tell if it made sense to her or not…

Thankfully it still made sense to _him_ … although Mondo seemed to be confused by the new concepts. But the teacher seemed to be aware of that, deciding to run through an example on the board… an example Kiyotaka had already managed to work through last night with Nanami…

“Alright, so a box of weight 80 newtons in held up by a rope on a slope at an angle of 25 degrees...” His teacher drew out the problem, “And we want to find the force of the box on the slope, which will be 80 times cosine 65 degrees…”

 _What!?_ That wasn’t what _he’d_ done! Had he not understood it correctly? But he’d agreed with everything the teacher said today, right up until this point! How had he failed to understand it? _Urrrghhh_ … he’d have to spend more time tonight working out where’d he’d gone wrong… and he was supposed to be helping to set up Sakura’s party and create her set of vouchers this evening as well!

…And now Nanami's tablet was randomly flashing on and off in the most distracting manner possible… with _“That’s not what you said yesterday.”_ written in giant letters across the screen… And he _knew_ that, but he couldn’t tell her that without making it obvious she existed! But on the other hand, with this distracting flashing going on, it would soon become obvious that she existed regardless!

… He was going to have to ask the teacher to explain it again, wasn’t he? So much for proving himself to be studious, it was going to look like he’d not been paying attention… “Excuse me, sir?” Kiyotaka sheepishly raised his hand, “Could you explain _why_ that’s the answer? I… think I might have misunderstood something…”

“I already explained this, were you not paying attention to me?” He turned to glare Kiyotaka, luckily just _after_ Nanami has stopped strobing the screen sat next to him...

“I was paying attention, sir! It’s just when I did this example last night, I thought the force would be 80 times cosine _25_ degrees…”

“Actually… that’s what _I_ thought as well…” Sayaka agreed.

“…And doing _that_ gives the same answer as the textbook…” Makoto confirmed… which was _true,_ wasn’t it? Kiyotaka had checked that last night…

“I’d say it’s likely that you’ve accidentally skipped part of the exercise and are giving us the answer to the next part, about how much tension is in the rope, sir.” Kyoko explained.

Oh… that _did_ make sense! How had he not realised that in the first place? He should have noticed he’d used that same combination later, if he hadn’t panicked so much at the thought of being wrong…

 _“Hah!_ Maybe you should be more concerned as to whether _you’re_ playing attention to you!” Togami smirked at the teacher.

“Well… everyone makes mistakes occasionally…” The teacher told them all, and quickly corrected the board and continued to do the exercise the same way Kiyotaka had…

…So why was his screen flashing again? He risked a quick glance to check…

_‘Message from @SHSLProgrammer: Thanks.’_

…That was Chihiro, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like _him_ to get confused with mathemat…

_‘For encouraging Chiaki, I mean.’_

Oh… _that_ made more sense! Although he hadn’t really done that much so far…

_‘Of course, I knew you’d do a good job! I’m not an idiot like some people… ;p’_

He’d _known_ Kiyotaka would do a good job? That was nice of him to say… It was good to know that, whatever the _rest_ of the school were saying about him, his _friends_ still had faith in him…

Not that he could let himself sit around being happy with _that!_ He still needed to prove himself to the rest of the school… and then after that, the country _…_ and his _father._

…But his friends were a nice start, for _now…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I've also started writing a Pokemon AU (focusing on Ishimaru but with all of the DR1 and 2 kids) which is here, if you are interested: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10864497/chapters/24131154  
> Also a couple of points about the Hyoko/Mahiru bits: I just want to clarify that it's NOT Mahiru that started the rumour. I hope that's obvious, especially if you know the DR:0 twist, but I just want to be clear that's she's not done anything wrong and her recommendation is just her trying to be helpful in a misguided way.)  
> Also I apologise for the fact that there's only one lesbian pairing in this fic and THAT'S how they've ended up. (In case it wasn't clear, the implication is supposed to be that Hiyoko likes Mahiru but has now been trained to avoid her and spend time with girls she doesn't like instead.)


	18. The difference a year makes (Sakura Oogami, Bonus story 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to start by mentioning that I had actually planned all the events in this chapter before any of the recent terror attacks in Britain. To the extent that it was a bit weird to see a discussion about police funding coming up in real life when I was already intending to write one in this fic.   
> Also, this chapter ends at a bit of an odd point, story-wise. The reason for this was because it is the last possible point before the Tragedy of Hope’s Peak is confirmed, so you can all headcannon that Junko gets caught and everyone else gets to graduate happily before the student council is murdered.  
> The wikia page for Kenshiro says that he has a heart issue, and speculates that he fights well but has low stamina, so that’s what I’m basing his condition on here.  
> Also, my interpretation of him ‘treating her like a woman’ is apparently ‘being a cheesy, chivalrous romantic’.  
> I refer to the Diet (the political assembly in Japan) but a lot of the political stuff here is based on a mish-mash of British and Japanese political issues, with some American stuff sprinkled in.

 

(Saturday, 25th August 2012)

Kenshiro’s way of fighting had changed.

Sakura shouldn’t have been surprised. It was to be expected, after all. He’d been too preoccupied fighting his illness for the past two years to keep up with his other forms of fighting. She’d been expecting him to be less capable now, than he had been two years ago. However…

Two years ago his fights had been… _enjoyable_ to watch. He was a graceful and attentive man, one who would effortlessly dodge and block attacks until he spotted his opponent’s weak point and struck, usually with enough confidence that he could measure the blow carefully and avoid harming his opponent more than necessary.

Now, however, he was fighting to win… _quickly._ Even here in the hospital, in this test set up to determine whether he could face the challenges of fighting outside its walls once again _,_ he was launching almost immediately into an overwhelming offensive and his strikes looked painful to receive, aimed at knocking each opponent down as fast as possible, rather than showcasing his superiority. It was not long at all before the last of the small group of challengers was knocked to the ground and struggling to stand back up…

“…Are you _sure_ you can still fight? There’s no dishonour in understanding your limits…” Kenshiro asked with concern, something he often found himself needing to do when those who were clearly bested insisted on getting up time and time again, beyond what their own bodies could take. “…And I wouldn’t want to have to _hurt_ you.”

 _That,_ on the other hand, was _new._ Even in his most heated of fights, he’d never threatened _pain_ on his opponent, beyond that which was a necessary evil of the sport… But now that was exactly what he was doing, in an effort to force an instant end to the fight _…_

…It was as she suspected when he’d first told her that he felt ready to leave the hospital and take part in tournaments once again. His _stamina_ was still poor. He may be able to get up and fight, perhaps almost as well as he had done previously, but he knew it would only be for a short period before his heart failed him. But he was so desperate to leave that he would rather resort to brutal tactics to make himself _appear_ hale and hearty, than admit that he still had an issue…

It was aggravating to watch. She understood that he was restless and bored in his hospital room, but for him to disregard his health after he’d spent so long fighting for it? Not to mention her concern for what would happen if his heart failed without the dedicated team of professionals nearby to help resuscitate him. And if Kenshiro’s limit was just beyond this young man getting back up to face him one more time, then there was a strong possibility that _would_ happen if he was to leave now _…_

“I… I concede. You truly are as strong as they say!” Unfortunately, the man facing him lacked the resolve to test if that was the case or not.

“Not quite… but I will be once again.” Kenshiro smiled as he offered a hand to help him up and help him out of the room… “So… How does it look, doctor? Any problems?”

“Hmm… it… doesn’t _look_ like anything’s the matter…” His doctor has been paying more attention to the numbers on his computer, than Kenshiro’s behaviour, and has completely missed the risk.

“However, none of those fights lasted for a particularly long time.” Sakura tried to point it out to him.

“Ah… my sweet cherry blossom, always worrying so much about me…” Kenshiro flashed a brilliantly reassuring smile at her, “But it would be just the same in any tournament.”

“I… guess…” The doctor looked between her and Kenshiro with poorly hidden scepticism, much to her lover’s annoyance. “But we have to wait another month before you can leave regardless… it might be worth repeating this over the next few Saturdays, just in case…”

 _“Haah…”_ Kenshiro sighed with slight disappointment, “I suppose if it’ll ease your minds…”

“Alright then… I’ll organise that. You can head back to your room now.” The doctor told him offhandedly as he wrote himself a reminder.

“Thank you.” Kenshiro bowed to him and started to walk out of the door…

 _“In the chair!”_ The doctor suddenly added, pointing at a simple wheelchair that had been left by the side of the door. “Yes, I _know_ you probably don’t need it, but _you_ know it’s hospital rules…”

“I understand…” Kenshiro calmly sat down in it, “I don’t suppose there’s a nurse to push me?”

“Err…” The doctor’s panicked eyes swivelled from Kenshiro over to Sakura herself…

“…Can’t _I_ push you?” Sakura said what the doctor was clearly thinking.

“I was hoping _not_ to have to make my delicate flower lug me around the hospital.” Kenshiro sent another of those effortlessly dazzling smiles at her.

“There is a difference between delicacy and _weakness…”_ Sakura reminded him as she took a hold of the chair’s handles and carefully tipped it backwards to the point where he was lying down and looking up at her. “See?”

“I see!” Kenshiro let out a joyful laugh, “And you look even more beautiful at this angle… Like an angel descending from heaven…”

“You flatter me…” Sakura could feel herself blushing. Even after all the compliments he’d given her over the years, she still found it hard to believe when he insisted on using words like ‘beautiful’, ‘flower’ and ‘angel’ to describe her.

“Not really… I’m just trying to describe what I see.” Kenshiro insisted, “Although I’m sure my words don’t do justice to the radiant goddess currently…”

“…Hush, now.” Sakura leant forward to kiss him quiet, otherwise he’d talk like that all day…

 _“Ahem…”_ There was a quiet cough behind her… ah, that was right. The doctor was still there.

“Ah, my apologies. We’ll be on our way.” Sakura straightened both herself and the chair and wheeled Kenshiro out of the room before the man said anything. She’d been so enthralled with Kenshiro that she’d forgot he was there altogether and started kissing in front of him...

“Hmm… Kiyotaka would not have approved of me doing that…” Sakura observed to herself.

“…The one whose party you’re going to next week?” Kenshiro asked, a slight edge of annoyance to his voice, “Why would it bother _him?”_

“He is the hall monitor at Hope’s Peak… and one of his duties is to ensure that no one engages in public displays of affection.”

“Oh really? I’ll have to remember that when I come to visit you.” Kenshiro smiled roguishly at her.

“I am not sure you would be allowed to. The school is quite averse to visitors.” Sakura warned him.

“Not even if I was there to _challenge_ you?” He suggested, eyebrows raised in a manner that suggested a _challenge_ would be the last thing on his mind.

“Perhaps… or they might tell me that I should meet you elsewhere to fight you.” She explained as they, “Besides, it appears that it will be a considerable amount of time before you _can_ challenge me…”

“Hmm…”

He fell silent after that until they reached his private room and she tried to help him up onto the bed…

“I can manage by myself.” He announced, pushing himself out of the chair and sitting himself on the further side of the bed, then patting the space next to him. “I’m much better than you’re thinking, these days.”

“…I am not so sure about that.” Sakura admitted, carefully balancing on the small stretch of bed available to her. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but being close to Kenshiro made the balancing act worthwhile.

“…Is that just because the fights were over quickly? I can’t help it if I’m outclassing people…” Kenshiro slipped his arm around her back to help steady her… or pull her closer to him, perhaps.

“I am more concerned that you were _making_ the fights end quickly.” Sakura pointed out, “You were being _brutal…”_

“Well, the underground fighting realm is different to yours…” Kenshiro shrugged and brushed and errant hair from her face. “I can’t afford to be as sweet and gentle as _you…”_

“I am neither sweet _or_ gentle with my opponents…” Sakura started.

“You’re _always_ sweet and gentle…” Kenshiro placed his finger on her lips. “It’s why I love you so much...”

…And before she had a chance to object, his lips were softly pressed against hers, one hand gently placed over her cheek and the other rubbing her back as if to soothe her trembling heart…

He was always like this… every time they kissed, he treated it as if it was the first time, giving her time and space to pull back as if he wasn’t sure she shared his feelings, even though they’d been dating for years. He made sure to just barely caress her skin, handling her as if she was some succulent fruit that would bruise if mishandled, and not over two hundred pounds of meaty muscle. He made sure to hide any signs of his arousal from her, as if she was an innocent maiden who’d be shocked at the contact, rather than a seventeen-year-old just like himself. And so they kissed until he fell asleep with his arm around her and a calm look upon his face…

Although, these days, that last point about him may have been because his body was still too unwell for him to progress beyond kissing her, even if his doctor _hadn’t_ strictly advised against it… which was yet another thing frustrating him about the hospital. Although, in that sense, perhaps it was just as well that he didn’t have the energy to try and consummate their relationship. She’d hardly want to give him an attack while they were away from the hospital…

Wait… it wasn’t just _her_ that might do that, if he left, was it? She’d been about to discuss the tournaments with him, when he’d started sweet-talking her to distraction… And she suspected he knew as much. He probably thought she was just worrying about him too much, like the ‘sweet caring angel’ he kept insisting that she was.

She’d need to try and find some way to make it clear to him that he really _wasn’t_ well enough to risk fighting like that again… it may have worked today, but all it would take was one fighter determined enough to call his bluff and his heart was liable to fail him… And ideally he’d discover that over the next few weekends, _before_ he left the hospital.

But what were the chances of that? It would need someone about the same level of skill as that man from today, but with the resolve to see the fight through to the bitter end… at least, until Kenshiro actually did start having an attack… A very specific set of circumstances…

Unless she manipulated the situation to ensure there _was_ someone like that in one of the challenger groups… it wouldn’t be too difficult to get the doctor to let her pick one person, but who would it be? Of the fighters in school, _she_ was far too strong, as was Pekoyama. Nidai could have pulled his blows to the right level, had his own heart not become worse recently. Owari was well matched, but... she didn’t always have the self-control to stop fighting. That meant the only other student whose fighting she was familiar with was… Kiyotaka.

Hmm… Could he do it? His Kendo was far better than his unarmed combat… but Kenshiro _could_ handle a Shinai… A Kendo match between the two would probably push him just over his limits…

And chances were good that Kiyotaka was going to owe her a favour before the month’s time limit was up. It wouldn’t be _too_ presumptuous to book him a flight from Hope’s Peak to here and back in advance of her birthday, would it?

* * *

(Wednesday, September 12th 2012)

Kiyotaka looked over the set of paper craft materials Makoto had given him carefully… There were multiple colours of thin cardboard, as well as tools to punch a variety of different shapes into them, such as cars, bicycles, stars, hearts (maybe he’d save that for Mondo’s booklet… or Valentine’s Day!) flowers…

Hmm… Sakura liked flowers, didn’t she? And cherry blossoms were pink… so perhaps he’d make the cover pink with flower shapes cut out around the edges? That should look reasonably nice… at least he hoped as much…

He quickly set to work, carefully measuring out the length of the card and marking spots at even points along it, so he could be sure the pattern would be consistent before he actually started cutting them out…

“Hrmm…” Well… it _looked_ alright, to _his_ eye… but he wasn’t exactly good at designing things…

 _“Is something bothering you?”_ Kiyotaka jumped slightly as Nanami suddenly spoke up from her tablet.

“Ah… not really! I was just wondering how this would look as the cover for a booklet…” He repositioned her, so he could hold up the card to her camera…

 _“Hmm…”_ She considered it for a moment, _“It’s a bit uneven.”_

“What!? Where!” He’d been _sure_ he’d lined it all up carefully…

_“Well… from the top left, the gap between the first two is 1.563 cm, but the gap between the next two is 1.569 cm, and the next it…”_

“Err... I don’t think anyone would notice a different that small!” Kiyotaka interrupted her, “At least, no one with normal human eyesight…”

_“Oh… So I should reduce the number of significant figures I’m measuring to?”_

“Ah… yes please! I think _one_ significant figure would do it!”

_“Okay… in that case, it looks cute, but simple as well.”_

“Hmm…” Well Sakura _was_ one for simple pleasures… “That should work then, thank you!”

 _“You’re welcome!”_ Chiaki turned the screen off and… went… wherever it was she was when her screen was off…

Well, never mind that! He needed to write Happy Birthday to Sakura and tie this all together… preferably _before_ Mondo finished his homework and came to see him…

“Hey, Taka!” As it was, Mondo arrived and let himself in the door just as he was finishing off the ‘a’ in Sakura, “How’s it going?”

“I’m almost done! I’ve got all the papers ready, I just need to perforate them and then attach the cover!” Kiyotaka told him, holding the cardboard cover up for Mondo to see, “What do you think?”

“It looks cute!” Mondo grinned, “Did ya really need ta do it so early though?”

“What? Mondo, her birthday’s _tomorrow!”_ Kiyotaka warned him… did that mean he hadn’t made her a present?

“Uhh… wait…” Mondo squinted at the card, “That’s for Oogami? I thought it was Maizono’s…”

“Oh, I see!” He supposed the start and ends of the names were the same, but it was still surprising that Mondo had made the mix up… “You really thought I’d be preparing them that far ahead?”

“Well… no, not really…” Mondo admitted with a shrug, “I just figured it wouldn’t be for Oogami ‘cause it’s pink and flowery and shit…”

“Sakura likes flowers.” Kiyotaka told him, “She’s even _named_ after a pink one! Why _wouldn’t_ it be for her?”

“Well… ‘cause it looks super- _girly!”_ Mondo exclaimed.

“…Sakura _is_ a girl.” Kiyotaka reminded him, sardonically, “That’s why you refused to train with her…”

“I know that!” Mondo snapped, “But she’s not, y’know… _girly…_ She’s a badass fighter, right?”

“That doesn’t mean she can’t like feminine things as well!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “After all, _you_ like cute dogs!”

“Hey! Liking dogs ain’t girly! Dogs are cool!” Mondo insisted.

“Even little, fluffy white ones?” Kiyotaka asked incredulously.

“Hell yeah! Chuck coulda ripped the shit outta you!”

…Was he seriously _that_ averse to the idea being seen to like something cute and cuddly?

 _“What about baby penguins?”_ Nanami suddenly piped up from her tablet.

“They’re _definitely_ cute!” Makoto had shown him some pictures to cheer him up one time, “But why are you…?”

“That’s not got anything ta do with this!” Mondo hastily shouted over his question.

 _“It doesn’t?”_ Nanami sounded confused, _“I thought because you like looking at them…”_

Wait… _did_ he!?

“No I don’t!” Mondo rushed to cry out.

 _“Oh… Why did you ask me to search for pictures of them then?”_ Mondo cringed as Nanami exposed his lie.

“Ah- _ha!_ See! You _do_ like cute fluffy animals!” Kiyotaka triumphantly exclaimed.

Alright, _fine!”_ Mondo flopped to the bed in annoyance, “So I ain’t quite as badass as I’m supposed ta be! Quit _laughing_ about it!”

“I wasn’t laughing!” At least, he hadn’t _meant_ to… “And I’m not saying you aren’t bad… errm… _backside_ either!”

“…Did ya _seriously_ just call it bad- _back…”_

“That’s irrelevant!” Kiyotaka interrupted him. “My point _is,_ you can be a… _strong_ _respectable fighter_ and still like things that would be considered feminine by most people! As can Sakura!”

“…I guess you’re right…” Mondo frowned anxiously, “Ya think I shoulda wrapped her present with… I dunno… pretty bows and shit then? I sorta just dumped it in a box like I usually do.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind that! After all _you_ always make such good presents!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “Honestly, all of _this_ is just to try and hide how bad _my_ present really is…” He gestured to the pieces of paper piled on the table.

“The hell? Your presents are great!” Mondo sat up straighter to look at him, “You remember what everyone at the party said, right?”

He _did_ remember, but… “That was probably just everybody being polite because it was my birthday! It’s nothing compared to all the effort _they_ went to for me!”

“You were Ludenberg’s fuckin’ _slave_ for the day! And ya pretty much did the same thing for Hiro!” Mondo cried, “And what did ya get in return? A set of darts and some rocks?”

“Seraphinites.” Kiyotaka corrected him.

“Whatever, it’s still some dumb crap from his collection of bullshit!” Mondo sighed at him, “It ain’t worth cleaning his shit up for a day!”

“Well… regardless, that’s just two examples! And probably the two people who took the most advantage of it!” Kiyotaka reminded him, “Meanwhile all I ended up doing for Togami was assuring him I would remember he’s of good character while _he…”_

“What about the whole ‘working on my birthday’ thing?” Mondo asked.

“Ah… I forgot to actually pick up the voucher for that…” Kiyotaka admitted, “But even so, he still _paid_ me for that _and_ went to the expense of transporting everyone and hosting my birthday party!”

“Eh… That’s just him showing off how rich he is…” Mondo shrugged.

“Perhaps… but Sayaka helped write a _song_ for me, and gave me a CD player _and_ signed copies of all her other records! And all _I_ hardly did anything in return!”

“Are you serious?” Mondo gaped at him, _“Ya saved her friend’s LIFE!”_

“That wasn’t the favour! That was a fortunate accident and I’d have done it _regardless_ of her owing me a favour!”

Mondo just rolled his eyes at that, “Then what _was_ your favour to her?”

“I picked out that picture of you that she used when she apologised to you.” Kiyotaka explained, “Not that it was particularly difficult when most of them got taken out with all the terrible ones of _me_ … _”_

“Eh? Those pictures of you weren’t bad! Well… not the later ones, anyway…” Mondo’s strong assurance trailed off at the end.

“You don’t need to lie. Togami already told me that it was obvious someone thought they’d be an embarrassment when he gave me new copies! It’s obvious I need to practise looking more photogenic!”

“What? No ya fuckin’ _don’t!_ Togami didn’t say it was _you_ who was the problem, did he?”

“No, but it was rather implied by the fact that all the missing photographs were of _myself!”_

“That still doesn’t mean _you’re the_ problem!” Mondo insisted.

“Well, what else _would_ problem be!?” Kiyotaka asked.

“…Ya seriously didn’t notice when ya got the news ones?” Mondo asked sceptically, “And your Dad didn’t notice either?”

“…I haven’t looked at them. I wasn’t particularly eager to see how bad I looked and Father… didn’t have much time over the holidays!” Kiyotaka admitted, “I’d been intending to show him a few at dinner on my birthday but…” Mondo knew full well how _that_ had turned out.

“Probably just as well ya didn’t…” Mondo muttered.

“Indeed, he’d have probably been disappointed at my failure to even look _normal_ in a photo…”

“That’s not what I fuckin’ _meant!”_ Mondo snapped.

“Then what _did_ you mean!?” Kiyotaka demanded.

“Urghh… dammit…” Mondo sighed, “Nanami… could ya quit listening to us for… I dunno, twenty minutes?”

 _“Okay!”_ Chiaki agreed from the screen, before disappearing…

“Why can’t she…?”

“I stole the photos ‘cause, well… they show me… kinda… staringatyourass…”

“…I beg your pardon?” He didn’t _really_ just say what Kiyotaka _thought_ he said, did he!?

“I SAID THEY SHOW ME STARING AT YOUR _ASS!” Oh gods Mondo really DID say that!_

“Wha…!? But… _Why!?”_

“I dunno! ‘Cause it’s a nice ass!” Mondo’s face was rapidly turning red, although after _that_ statement Kiyotaka’s probably was as well… “And I guess my _eyes_ figured out I liked ya before the _rest_ of me did!”

“Err… well… I, err…” How was he supposed to respond to _that!?_ The latter was romantic but the former was more sexual, so was this a chance to admit he’d been gawping at Mondo as well or should he try to say something equally as romantic, and if the latter, then what _could_ he say…?

“’M sorry… I get it if you’re creeped out…” Mondo muttered, disheartened.

 _“No!_ I’m not upset! I just… wasn’t sure how to respond!” Kiyotaka admitted, “It’s not as if _I_ haven’t stared at _you,_ after all…”

 _“…When!?”_ Mondo looked like Kiyotaka had just claimed men had walked on _Mars._

“Err… Well… Mostly when you wore that piece of _underwear_ you call a swimming costume.”

“It’s called a _speedo.”_ He sighed, “And I never noticed ya looking at me in it.”

“Well of course not! Unlike _you,_ I wasn’t _constantly_ doing it!”

“Hey! I wasn’t doing it _all_ the time!” Mondo countered, “It’s only ‘cause Chi picked out pictures where I was doing it _on purpose!”_

“What? Why would he do _that!?”_

“…He said he’d been trying to give ya a hint that I _liked_ ya…” Mondo grumbled.

“…But I suppose I didn’t notice because I was being vain and worrying about my _own_ looks…” Kiyotaka realised.

“Yeah… And that makes Maizono’s favour make more sense…” Mondo mused.

“Wait… what?” What did he mean? Maizono’s favour involved him looking at pictures… of _Mondo…_ “That request was just to make me look at the photographs of you in more detail? So it was to _help ME!?”_

“Umm… well, she never actually _showed_ me any picture when she came ta apologise, so… maybe?” Mondo said, hesitantly.

“So… I _still_ haven’t given her a proper present! And after I caused all of that trouble for her…”

“Dude, she caused that trouble _herself,_ remember! And like I _said: You. Saved. Her. Friend’s. LIFE!”_ Mondo insisted. “She probably felt bad for wasting all your time and felt like she owed it to ya.”

Well… perhaps in retrospect that was fair… “But… _still!_ It’s still the case that everyone knows I can’t get proper presents.” Kiyotaka sighed, “Everyone knows exactly what I’m going to give them.”

“Well… maybe. But that’s nice as well!” Mondo assured him, “’Cause it means we know at least _one_ person is gonna do what whatever we actually want, and we can plan out what it is and when we’ll do it!”

“Is that really true…?” Just being able to schedule something didn’t seem that advantageous…

“Sure it is!” Mondo smiled, “Hell, I bet Oogami’s already got something in mind for what she wants from ya!”

...Kiyotaka found that hard to believe. It might be somewhat useful to have someone you could call for help, but to actively think about how to make use of that in advance?

But, on the other hand, if _Mondo_ thought it was a good present… “I guess I’d best finish this then!” Kiyotaka announced, turning back to the paper and cardboard…

* * *

(Thursday, September 13th 2012)

Day by day nothing changes, and yet when you look back everything does…

It was a thought Sakura often considered around her birthday, comparing the new photograph of herself and parents and seeing how much she’d grown over the year. Training was a slow process, and there were times when she’d seem to be stagnating, and sometimes even falling backwards, but every year of her life that past had still shown her growing stronger overall. It was a comforting thought to keep in her mind, how much difference a single year could make.

But no previous birthday had ever highlighted that on such stark contrast as this one.

Her last birthday had left her feeling uncomfortable when her classmates had all unexpectedly wished her well on the day. This year it would have been cause for concern if they hadn’t. Last year what little celebrations she’d had were short, spontaneous moments with each of her scattered classmates. This year it had been obvious that they had been colluding together to throw her a party. Last year she had been surprised that they had even remembered the day. This year it was no surprise at all when Hina had done a poor job of pretending to have something she needed to discuss with her in a quiet room, only for that room to be full of decorations, food and all of her classmates…

Hmm… although there were _more_ decorations than they had had for everyone else’s birthday parties… the most noticeable thing being a trail of confetti leading between the door and Yasuhiro…

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!”

**_*POP!*_ **

The confetti was soon explained as her classmates each brought out a small tube and twisted it, causing a storm of pink paper pieces to fly up into the air and float down before her like cherry blossoms.

“Ah…” It took Sakura a moment to overcome the surprise at this addition to their normal party routine, “Thank you. That was a lovely sight.”

“It would have _better_ if they’d _all_ gone off at the same time!” Hina complained, “Why did you do yours before we even _got_ here, Hiro!?”

“Well… I had a prediction you were about to come through the door and…” He explained sheepishly.

“And none of you guys tried to _stop_ him!?”

“We didn’t get a chance!” Kuwata cried.

“Umm… he pretty much just shouted ‘Happy Birthday’ and shot the thing all of a sudden…” Chihiro added.

“Yeah! I barely managed to stop Mukuro turning around and shooting him back with hers!” Junko giggled while her sister flinched with embarrassment.

 _“Hrrghh…”_ Hina seemed overly upset about this development…

“It was still a wonderful surprise.” Sakura tried to assure her, “There is no use getting upset when things do not go perfectly the first time…”

“I know…” Hina sighed, “But we hardly did anything for your birthday _last_ year so I wanted _this_ one to be better! Now it just feels like you got the rubbish version because of when you were born!”

“…Especially after _my_ party…” Kiyotaka agreed, guiltily. Despite that having been as much a last moment of fun before school began again, and a convenient way for them all to return to the school, as it was a party for his sake.

“Honestly, I am just glad that you choose to celebrate the occasion at all. You have always gone above my expectations for this.” Sakura told them.

“And besides, it’ll probably all even out after several years, anyway!” Makoto suggested.

“But… we’re only going to be here four years…” Hina said, sadly.

“…But we can still celebrate each other’s birthdays after we leave, right!?” Makoto countered, looking around the group… _“Right,_ everyone?”

“Fuck, yeah!” “Certainly!” “No point having a wondrous castle if none of you ever come to see it…” “Yeah! I predict we’ll spend _all_ our birthdays together!” “I _suppose_ I can keep on adding that to my calendar…” “A-assuming S-syo plays along…” Her classmates all agreed, with as much enthusiasm as they usually managed to muster.

“Oh… _really!?”_ Hina seemed much happier at that, “Well… I’m gonna hold you guys to that! Now let’s open the _presents!”_

Sakura quickly found herself being dragged to a table over to the side, where Hina picked up a brightly wrapped box and thrust it into her arms…

It contained a square shaped backpack with a variety of her favourite protein bars and supplements neatly organised into compartments inside, along with some wraps and a first aid kit, while still leaving enough room for her to pack other items and put her wallet and identification somewhere convenient…

“…You’ve been flying a lot, so I thought you’d like something carry-on sized to take your stuff in!” Hina explained.

“Yes… this will be incredibly useful, thank you!” A backpack would be far more comfortable to carry her things in than the suitcase she had currently. And this way she could lend _that_ to Kiyotaka for the weekend…

It was the most thoughtful gift she received, although Kyoko’s gift of an eye mask and earplugs was a close second (and fit in well with Makoto’s present of a stuffed kettlebell that turned into a travel pillow). The remainder of the gifts were variations on themes her other classmates had settled into last year; Something from Yasuhiro that she did not quite understand the significance of, a nice blend of green tea from Ludenberg (and a comment about how she should really try black tea), stylised art of herself defeating fictional martial artists from Yamada, more flattering workout clothes from Junko, a frankly dangerous looking pair of nunchucks with curved blades at the end from Ikusaba and a more normal (albeit it, baseball bat-shaped) pair from Kuwata, a computer program to help track her training progress from Chihiro, a CD of meditation music from Maizono, a book detailing the history of various fighting styles from Fukawa, a slightly larger box of chocolates than the one Togami had given her last year, a wooden paperweight featuring carvings of herself winning the world championship from Oowada…

…And finally a small white envelope from Kiyotaka, which she had chosen to leave until last. Much to his increasing worry as she’d carefully opened all of her other gifts, especially when she’d taken it _off_ of Oowada’s present and then put it back on the table while she opened that instead… his new boyfriend had had to grab his shoulder and whisper reassuringly into his ear to stop him descending into full-blown panic at that point.

Not that she’d intended to make him feel bad, it would just be easier to discuss the details of her favour if she opened it after everyone else’s presents, which of course she did once she’d complimented Oowada on how his woodwork continued to improve…

Last year, the voucher had been plain white and made entirely of thin paper. This year the cover was made of pink cardboard with flower shapes carefully cut into it, with her given name written in the centre instead of ‘Oogami-chan’. “…You’ve put Makoto’s present to good use.”

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka relaxed somewhat at the positive response, “Let me know whenever you want to use…”

Sakura flipped through the vouchers quickly, noticing that there was now one offering ‘one lesson’s transcript copied’ included until she came to the last one, which thankfully had remained unchanged. “Actually, I _do_ need a favour.”

Last year he’d been surprised that she’d requested one. This year it was less surprise and more… brief suspicion directed at Oowada. “Hrmm… well, what can I help you with?”

“I would like for you to travel with me when I visit Kenshiro this weekend.” Sakura explained.

 _“This_ weekend…?” Kiyotaka looked worried.

“We have the council presidential debate this weekend!” Togami explained, irritably.

“Umm… Don’t worry! I checked the flight times and you’ll be back before Sunday evening!” Chihiro assured them.

“But, like, don’t planes get delayed and stuff all the time?” Junko asked.

“Umm, that’s true…” Chihiro admitted, apologetically, “But we booked the tickets before we knew about your debate…”

“Err… why would you…?” Kiyotaka looked confused.

“I… have a time limit regarding this.” Sakura partly admitted the situation, as she didn’t want to cause Kiyotaka too much concern by going into details. “And I wanted to ensure the flight did not become over-booked.”

“Oh…” Kiyotaka brows furrowed as he started considering the situation… He wouldn’t want to say ‘no’ to her, but on the other hand this debate was _extremely_ important to him…

“Well… planes don’t get delayed _that_ often!” Makoto tried to assure him, “And I’d bet you’ve made notes about your debate plans, right? I could always act as a stand-in...”

“That might not be necessary. There _have_ been times when the council have agreed to delay the debate and voting by a week, because one student was unavailable…” Kyoko added, “It’s up to the current council to vote on it though. It could _still_ end up with just Togami there.”

“No it would _not!”_ Togami snapped, “I’m not wasting my time debating an empty chair! If the council refused to rearrange the debate in _that_ situation, I’d boycott it myself!”

 _“Really!?”_ “You _would!?”_ A large number of the class seemed shocked at his declaration.

“Of course! If I _didn’t_ everyone would accuse me of engineering Ishimaru’s delay in order to give myself an easier opponent to debate with!” Togami complained.

“Oh… _right_ …” Makoto sighed.

“Ah… well, if that’s the case, then I’d be happy to help you this weekend!” Kiyotaka told Sakura, “What is it you need me to do?”

“I would like you to do your utmost to defeat Kenshiro in a Kendo match…” That was as much detail as necessary. If she told him she wanted him to possibly cause him to have a heart attack, he’d be sure to refuse. After all, last year he’d balked at the mere thought of attacking her from behind. Hopefully this year he’d be less reserved about it…

“What? No! I couldn’t possibly do  _that_!” Kiyotaka stared at her, aghast… “That couldn’t _possibly_ be a fair fight!? Isn’t he sick at the moment?”

That was unfortunate… But then, one year wouldn’t change _everything…_ It would seem she needed to explain her reasoning to him this year as well…

“He is…” Sakura admitted, “But he has recovered enough that he is considering leaving the hospital and engaging in fights once again.”

“But… then why can’t I just fight him _then!?”_ Kiyotaka asked, understandably confused.

“He is currently having fights within the hospital, to ensure that he is capable of fighting again before they allow him to leave.” Sakura explained, “However, I am concerned that the opponents they are pitting him against are not strong enough to give an accurate assessment of his current ability.”

“Even though he’s been unwell?” Kiyotaka sounded impressed, “But… still… I’d be worried about putting his recovery backwards…”

In a way, that was what she was hoping would happen, but he’d refuse outright if she admitted to that. “I am sure that…”

 _“Then I’LL do it!”_ Sakura was surprised to hear Owari’s voice coming from the doorway, “I’d _kill_ for a chance to beat the world’s strong man!”

…That had been the exact concern that had prevented Sakura about asking Owari for help with this.

“Umm… But the plane ticket is in _Taka’s_ name, so you wouldn’t be able to go…” Chihiro thankfully had a good reason for Sakura to refuse her suggestion without insulting her...

“So _he_ gets to go, but I _don’t!?”_ Owari pointed at Kiyotaka angrily, “You think I’m weaker than _him!?”_

“No… I thought of Kiyotaka because he is closer in skill to the people Kenshiro has recently fought against.” Sakura explained, “I was worried you would be too strong…”

“You expect me to believe the world’s strongest fighter is _weaker_ than me!?” Owari didn’t believe her.

“Well, he’s been sick for two years!” Hina tried to convince her.

“Nakomaru’s been sick all his _life_ , and _he_ can still give me a decent fight!” Owari argued.

But… that was a completely different situation to Kenshiro’s. How could she possibly convince Owari when her line of thought was so far removed from the reality of the situation…

“Uhh… hey, Owari! How about you fight _me_ instead!?” What? Oowada was offering to fight a woman? Was that just to help Sakura out of this argument, or was he finally beginning to respect women…?

“Tch! I already kicked your weak ass…” Owari dismissed him... but… when had _that_ happened?

“Only ‘cause ya had Tanaka helping ya out!” Oowada snapped.

“That didn’t have anything to do with me! He just showed up!” Owari argued, “You barely would have touched me anyway!”

“Well… alright, ya got a point…” Oowada sighed, “But I’ll take ya seriously this time!”

“Tch! And then if you lose _again_ you’ll just say you _still_ weren’t taking me seriously, because you thought I’d be _weaker_ than you?” Owari snarled at him, “That’s what you punks _always_ do, pretend it’s your ‘honour’ stopping you from winning instead of admitting you just _lost!”_

“Look, I dunno who you’ve fought before but, man’s promise, if you…”

“That crap’s _exactly_ what I’m talking about!” Owari cut him off…

This was unfortunate… Oowada must have made great progress against his views of masculinity to even be offering this to her. But Owari didn’t know him well enough to see that…

 _“Ooh! I know!_ You could fight Mukuro sometime! She’s totally scary in a fight!” Junko suggested, “And I’ve picked up some great diet tips I can give you if you lose!”

“To _her…!?”_ Owari looked at Ikusaba sceptically.

“…If you don’t mind me using weapons…” Ikusaba told her.

“Well…” Owari seemed mollified at the suggestion.

 _“Great!_ Call me this evening and we’ll organise it!” Junko told her, mimicking a phone with her fingers.

“… _Fine!_ But you better not screw me around…” Owari glowered at Sakura as she left the room.

“ _Geez_ … she seems so angry lately…” Hina sighed.

“She must be worrying about Nekomaru…” Makoto suggested, “Nagito’s taken it really badly as well… He even asked me if my luck’s ever _killed_ someone the other day!”

“Oh… Thinking about it, Koizumi was talking about no one ever being happy forever, last week…” Kiyotaka agreed, “And her highness has been out of her room when I cleaned for her the last two weeks… I imagine it must be worrying their whole class…”

“Oh, _totally!_ Mikan’s been worried about him _all the time!”_ Junko nodded, “But I bet with _her_ in his class, and Sonia putting a ton of her country’s research into helping, and Teruteru being there to make sure he eats right, he’ll be better in _no time!”_

“And hopefully their mood will improve as well…” Kyoko suggested.

“But, if he…” Makoto frowned.

 _“But,_ speaking of eating right, we gotta a whole _room’s_ full of food going to waste!” Junko reminded them, “This is supposed to be Sakura’s _party!_ So let’s all eat up! Especially _you_ Kiyotaka!”

“Err… why _me?”_ Kiyotaka looked confused.

“…You would need to keep your energy up if you were to engage Kenshiro in a fight.” Sakura realised her reasoning.

“Oh… Err… I mean… As I said before…” He still seemed likely to refuse…

“Kiyotaka, I am sure you would stop before you did anything that could possibly set Kenshiro’s health backwards.” Sakura assured him, even though it was a partial lie. “That is why I asked _you.”_

“Hrmm…” Kiyotaka considered it, “Well… if you’re that certain about it, I’ll trust you!” He held his hand out to shake hers. “Now let’s all enjoy your birthday!”

* * *

(Friday, September 14th 2012)

Kiyotaka looked around the airport terminal building 2, a suitcase full of books in one hand and his new shinai on his back, and attempted to locate one of the screens that would, according to Chihiro, show him which desk they were supposed to be checking in at… Only for Sakura to start moving away from the door before he even spotted it. “Ah! How do you know where you’re going?”

“I have been taking this flight often as of late, and it always has the same check-in desk…” Sakura explained.

“But… what if _this_ time it _doesn’t?”_

“Then there will be a board nearby for us to check the new location.” She replied simply.

“Ah… that makes sense.” Kiyotaka agreed. He probably shouldn’t be worrying so much about this. Even if _he_ hadn’t flown before, Sakura had done it enough times to guide him through and she’d even told him what to expect at the check in desk and security gates and what would happen when they needed to change planes, so he shouldn’t cause any delays by doing the wrong thing, and even if he did they’d got to the airport early enough that there was no risk of missing the flight…

And Sakura was correct about what check in desk they needed anyway, so even by the time his shinai was safely stowed away, it was only 19:50 and their flight wouldn’t be boarding until almost 21:05 anyway…

Wait… _19:50?_ Ah! It was almost time to ring his father, and he hadn’t even _thought_ about it before now!

“…I know that took a while, but getting through security will not take too long, and the gate is not far…” Sakura seemed to think he was panicking about missing the flight still…

“Ah… no, it’s not that. It’s just I would usually call my father in te… _nine_ minutes…” Kiyotaka admitted, “Would we have time for that? Assuming there’s a phone here?”

“Of course… There are some payphones this way. I can give you some change if you need it…” Sakura started to lead him through the airport.

“Thank you! But I have my money with me!” Kiyotaka told her, he’d been thinking he might need money if an emergency cropped up… even if this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind… But he should at least try to let his father know he’d be flying this evening, just in case an accident happened on the flight…

By the time they’d arrived at the phone and Kiyotaka had made sure he understood the instructions on how to operate it, it was time for him to ring his father…

“Father! I’m at the air…”

“Have you… _changed_ anything?” His father actually _spoke_ to him this week! Even if he sounded cautious, as if doing so would get him into trouble somehow... And he was _another_ person thinking Kiyotaka had changed for some reason…

“I haven’t changed anything! I’m still running for student council president and…”

“You _know_ what I’m talking about!” His father hissed, “That… _thug!”_

“He's _not_ a thug!” Kiyotaka lowered his voice in case anyone overheard, “I’ll admit he _might_ have been in the past but…”

“He still _looks_ like one!”

“It doesn’t _matter_ what he looks like! It’s his actual _behaviour_ you should be…”

“Kiyotaka, you _know_ that’s not true!” His father sighed, “Unless you’ve just been blindly issuing detentions for breaking rules without considering _why_ those rules exist…”

What was he talking about? The only detentions he issued regarding appearances were for people failing to wear the school uniform… Was he saying school uniforms only existed to make the students look respectable? But… “School uniforms create a sense of unity between students and…”

“School uniforms exist to get kids used to wearing the types of clothes they’ll need to be taken seriously as an adult!” His father snapped.

“But… practically speaking, every job requires a different outfit!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “A school uniform wouldn’t have got _you_ used to wearing your vest!”

“Do you really the people making dress codes care about _practicality?”_ His father laughed bitterly, “There’s no reason for me to wear a _tie_ to do my job! If anything it’s an extra risk to my life! But if I _didn’t_ everyone I met would be judging me for it, _based on how I look!_ And they’ll judge _you_ if you keep being stupid enough to… be seen with _him_ in public!”

…So he was saying that people would make judgements based on him _just_ because of his proximity to Mondo? Well… after what had been going on at school, he could hardly deny it _was_ having some effect… “I… I’m aware of that…”

“Then _why_ are you…!?” His father started to interrupt.

“… _But_ that’s outweighed by how much support and advice he gives me! And… and how he’s helped me learn to speak to people more… normally! And he’s been helping me with my student council president’s campaign by…”

“You _really_ think that’s going to be enough to make up for what you’re doing?” His father asked incredulously, “Do you have _any_ idea how many people don’t even think you should _exist!?”_

“…About 33%.” Kiyotaka admitted, “But I’ll…”

“So you know _exactly_ how much of an _idiot_ you’re being!” His father growled, “And you’re _still_ going to insist you can ‘work harder to make up for it’!?”

 _“Yes!_ After all, my _actions_ will…”

“Oh, for _god’s sake…”_ His father sighed, “I _thought_ that message meant you’d come to your senses…”

“I… I never _lost_ my senses! I just meant that…”

“I don’t need to hear it!” His father snapped, “Our family’s in enough trouble, thanks to your grandfather being an idiot! I can’t afford to have _you_ being one as well!”

That wasn’t really comparable, was it!? All he was doing was dating a man, not ruining the country! “Father, _please,_ at least _listen_ to me! Mondo is…”

 _“No,_ Kiyotaka!” His father barked in the same scolding tone from he’d used on rare occasions during Kiyotaka’s childhood. “I’m hanging up now…”

 _“Wait, PLEASE!”_ Kiyotaka forgot about being quiet and begged down the phone line.

“Don’t call me again unless it’s to tell me that you’ve _stopped_ this.”

_*Click.*_

Kiyotaka put down the phone slowly. At least he knew his father had received the money he’d sent, they’d still be able to work towards paying off their debts. But… Could his father not even have listened to his point of view about this? Was he just _that_ sure it was going to be a completely insurmountable challenge? Just because dating Mondo might make him _look_ bad?

Would that really be the case? That people would take one look at the pair of them and instantly write him off? People couldn’t be _that_ petty, surely? At least… not _all_ of them! And even if Mondo _did_ bring down his appearance somewhat, couldn’t he make up for it in other respects? He was good at dressing appropriately and holding himself well, after all! So… wouldn’t that make up for it? So long as he made sure not to let himself slip in _those_ respects, he’d be able to make up for being with Mondo, right…?

* * *

Kiyotaka was staring at the phone, with the fierce look in his eyes that would be born of anger in most people, but may only have been intense concentration when _he_ wore it.

It was unfortunate… she’d hoped, when it became apparent that his father was actually speaking to him this week, that Kiyotaka might have been able to make some progress with the man… but the way he begged his father not to hang up, with no regard for the crowd of people standing around them, suggested otherwise…

And as much as Sakura would like to allow him time to think on what had just occurred, and contemplate what he would want to try next, they had a plane to catch.

“Kiyotaka…”

“Ah! My apologies!” He smartly turned, back straight as a rod, to face her, “I believe we need to pass through security next, correct?”

“Yes… thank you.” It seemed he intended to put a brave face on his situation, in order to help with hers…

“Err… for what?” He asked, as they started walking towards to their next calling point.

“For… putting aside your father’s unreasonable behaviour in order to…”

“He’s… he’s not being unreasonable!” Kiyotaka interrupted her irritably.

Did he truly believe that? “...Oowada told us you’d sent him money. Has he accepted it?”

“Yes!” Kiyotaka seemed pleased by that, “But what does that have to do with…?”

“He’s willing to take money from you, but not talk to you.” Sakura summarised, “And you do not think he is being unreasonable?”

“Well… in the long term, the money’s helping _both_ of us.” Kiyotaka started by repeating the explanation he’d given Oowada, “Whereas _I…_ I… I’ve _made him think_ I’m not.”

So… Kiyotaka thought it was reasonable for his father to only associate with him to the extent that it benefitted him? “His love for you should not have such conditions.”

 _“Ngh!_ I… I… I _suppose, but…_ He’s dreamt of redeeming our name ever since Grandfather ruined it… and I always said I’d help with that! To the extent that he sacrificed things for himself to put me in the position where I might be able to!” Kiyotaka explained in words laced with guilt, “But now, from his point of view, I’ve suddenly destroyed any chance of his dream becoming a reality! Of _course_ it’s reasonable for him to be upset with me!”

Was it? It was not the way _her_ father thought… “Kiyotaka, have I ever told you about my father?”

“Well… you said he leads your family’s dojo… and he’s a good fighter as well…”

“Indeed. Good enough that he dreamt of becoming the world’s strongest. Until I surpassed him and destroyed any chance of that dream becoming a reality.” Sakura told him, and it seemed perhaps that he could see her next point coming before she made it. “Yet he never refused to speak with me.”

“Oh… I see…” It seemed Kiyotaka might be taking heed of her words… “But… _your_ dreams were both incompatible with each other, whereas mine and my father’s were co-operative and… well… it was more like we had a _deal_ with each other! A deal which he thinks I’ve broken!”

…Or perhaps not. “But you have worked with him, and trusted him, for so long. Do you not think you deserve for him to at least trust you long enough to explain yourself?”

“Well… it would be nice if he _did…”_ Kiyotaka sighed, “But… it’s only been two weeks! I’m sure he’ll have calmed down some more and let me talk to him when I call him _next_ week!”

Sakura couldn’t help but wonder if the older Ishimaru deserved the trust Kiyotaka put in him… “I hope that is the case. You deserve for it to be so.”

“…Thank you.” Kiyotaka nodded smartly and straightened himself up more as they approached the queue for security.

Late night flights were not too popular, so it was not long before it was their turn to put their suitcases on the conveyor belt and slip her sandals off, as always…

“Err… we have to take our _shoes_ off!?” Kiyotaka balked as she removed the first one.

“Yes, and take off any clothing with metal parts as well.” The security assistant told him, pointing at the sign.

“Oh! Right! I, err… guess I might be a while!” Kiyotaka announced, embarrassed. “Feel free to call some other people through ahead of me!”

What? Surely it would it wouldn’t take him long to take off his… knee high, tightly laced boots… and blazer… and watch… and probably a belt…

“My apologies, this step does not affect me as much, so I didn’t think to warn you of it…” Sakura admitted with a sigh.

“Never mind! I’ll know in advance next time!” Kiyotaka put a cheerful spin on it, “But perhaps you’d best go ahead and make sure our bags are alright?”

“Of course, I’ll see you momentarily.” Sakura told him and headed through the metal detector…

Which beeped at her.

“Can you go through again, please?” The assistant on the other side requested. Sakura did as she asked, walking back through just a haughty old man followed by two younger men were called past Kiyotaka, who was just taking off his first boot.

Kiyotaka looked up briefly in concern as the metal detector went off again as she walked through.

“Are you _sure_ you’ve not forgotten to take off anything metal?” The assistant asked.

Sakura considered the question… she didn’t usually wear anything with metal in it, except… “My bra, I forgot to switch to one without an underwire.” She realised. It was something she’d started doing as a precaution the first time this had happened, but with helping Kiyotaka plan for the trip as well…

“Well, if you can step to one side for a pat-down…” The assistant directed her over to a side, where Sakura stood patiently in a wide stance as a woman started by scanning all over her with a hand-held metal detector.

“What do you _mean_ I have to take my shoes off!?” A loud voice caught her attention. It was the older man who’d gone ahead of Kiyotaka. “Do I _look_ like some sort of terrorist!? Do you not know who I _am!?”_

Sakura couldn’t hear the assistant’s response at this distance, but Kiyotaka’s was loud enough… “You’re… Representative Masanori Tochikura, aren’t you?” He sounded somewhat awestruck, which was odd given how rudely the man was behaving, “One of the longest running members of the Diet! It’s an honour to meet…”

Ah… well that explained Kiyotaka’s reverence for the man.

 _“See! He_ knows who I am! You don’t really think I’m going to try and blow up an airport that’s part of the country _I run!?_ Do you!?” The man apparently only cared about Kiyotaka in order to use him as a point in his argument. “So why should I have to waste my time practically undressing myself just because some idiot once tried to sneak a bomb through in his shoes! This whole farce is a waste of time!”

“Err… But couldn’t you have _changed_ that? Or… at least raise a motion to, sir?” Kiyotaka asked cautiously, “Airport security has _national_ guidelines, after all!”

“Well... This is the first time I’ve not flown privately!” The man admitted, “But it’s ridiculous! I’ve been serving in the House of Representatives for _decades!_ I shouldn’t be reduced to wasting my time undressing when I have important business to attend to!”

“Well… I understand that! But if they made an exception for you, there’s always the possibility somebody could pose as you and use that to try and sneak a bomb on _that_ way!” Kiyotaka argued, “And I’m sorry to be rude, but as I’m ready to go through, may I go back ahead of you? I… was expecting it to take longer to remove my boots…” There was a moment of awkward silence, presumably the man realising that he’d wasted more time complaining than it would have taken for him to follow the rules, before Kiyotaka let out a relieved “Thank you, sir! It was an honour to meet you!” and passed through the gate behind her to collect his belongings.

A couple of minutes later, Sakura’s pat down was completed and she headed over to pick up her backpack… only for it to be nowhere to be seen…

“Ah! Sakura! I have your bag!” Kiyotaka called over to her from next to the far wall, where he was finishing tightening his laces with his suitcase by his side and her backpack on his back. “Right! Sorry for taking so long! Let’s get going!”

Yes, I believe out gate is in that direction.” Sakura told him, holding her hand out to take her bag…

Except Kiyotaka strode away from her while still wearing it. “Kiyotaka…”

“Why was it you got called over for a more thorough check?” Kiyotaka interrupted her attempt to remind him of the extra weight he was carrying.

“It was because part of my clothing set off the metal detector.” Sakura explained, “But…”

“Why didn’t you just take it off and send it through the x-ray machine, then?” Kiyotaka asked.

Could he really not guess? “It was a part of my underwear, taking it off would have been...”

“You’re wearing _metal underwear!?”_ Kiyotaka cried, “Err… is that for protection in fights? Should _I_ have something like tha…”

“No… they’re not _entirely_ metal…” Sakura had to fight to keep most of the amusement out of her voice, he really _didn’t_ know about this… although on second thoughts, he had very little reason _to_ know… “Bras often have a curved wire under the cup parts, in order to increase support.”

“Oh… But… then why doesn’t _every_ woman get detected?” Kiyotaka’s eyes furrowed.

“I am not sure, some will likely have a different style of underwear. But I also find it depends on different scanners. The one I go through on the way back has never detected it.”

“Oh! _And_ your bra will be bigger than most women’s, so it’ll have more metal to detect!” Kiyotaka suggested excitedly… And somewhat _loudly_. Then considered his sentence for a moment before a look of horror passed over his face. “Err… Sorry! I… It’s not really any of my business, is it?” He started to turn red and look around the passing crowds anxiously.

“I do not mind. And your idea could be right. But regardless, it’s not too much of a delay and I usually bring a different style with me for travelling, so it is not too inconvenient.”

“Ah… I see…” Kiyotaka seemed too embarrassed to carry on that conversation, which would allow her to say what she had originally intended to…

“And I can take my bag back now.”

“What? Oh! Don’t worry! I can manage it!” Kiyotaka told her in an assuring tone.

“But… it is _my_ bag.” It was designed to fit her, so would be easier for her to carry. Not to mention there was no reason for him to burden himself with her belongings…

“Yes, but… I’m here as a favour, so I thought I’d carry your bag for you!” He insisted.

“That was not part of the favour I requested…” And, although he wasn’t exactly struggling to carry all the weight, they would most likely be moving faster if he wasn’t ladened down with her bag as well as his own. So why was he suddenly insisting on giving her help she hadn’t requested and clearly didn’t need…?

* * *

Why was Sakura so bothered by this? He was coping perfectly well with her bag! There wasn’t any reason for them to stop walking and give it back to her… everyone around him would probably just think he looked lazy and idiotic, wasting time to foist off something he could clearly manage by himself off on a friend.

“Well… friends often do each other spontaneous favours, don’t they?” He tried to assure her that it wasn’t a big deal. “And there’s no point us stopping to take it off now when we’ll be at the gate soon enough!”

“Then perhaps you can let me take your bag.” She suggested, “That will take me all of two seconds to…”

“Ah, no I couldn’t make you take this! It’s heavier than _yours!”_ Kiyotaka explained, “That wouldn’t be fair!”

“I am stronger than you.” Sakura reminded him, “It seems fair I take the heavier load.”

“But… my load’s only heavier because I packed it that way! It would be rude of me to give you extra weight to carry because of that!” Kiyotaka countered.

“But… by that way of thinking, I’m being impolite by having you carry my bag.” Sakura worried.

“What!? No, it might be impolite for you to _ask_ me to carry it! But as I offered it perfectly reasonable for you to let me!” Kiyotaka assured her, “That’s just politely accepting an offer!”

“I see…” Although she didn’t _sound_ like she agreed at all, but at least he dropped the subject and let him carry on until they reached their gate and they both headed towards a pair of empty chairs near the front desk, where he took off Sakura’s backpack so they could sit down.

He checked his watch while Sakura started opening her bag up… 20:48. There should be time for a short amount of studying before their first flight, which would take an hour, followed by an hour’s connection time before their second flight, which was also an hour long… meaning they wouldn’t even have landed at their destination until after midnight, and then they’d have to travel to the hospital… How did Sakura do this without falling asleep…?

“Here… This will help you stay awake until we reach the hospital.” Sakura handed him a small food bar… apparently containing protein and, probably more relevantly to the situation, caffeine.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka opened it, “Do you want some?” He offered it to her before he ate any of it himself.

Sakura stared at him in confusion for a moment. “…I was the one who gave it to you.”

“I know! I just thought you might want to share it…” Kiyotaka explained, “You’ll need to stay awake as well!”

“I am not so disorganised that I forgot to pack extra protein for you before expecting you to fight.” Sakura told him, waving another identical bar at him.

“I didn’t think you were! I was just offering to be polite!” Kiyotaka assured her.

“…I see.” Sakura said. But she was staring at him in confusion again. Why was she so surprised by him being polite? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t usually polite! There was just a lot more things he could do to be polite in the airport, like carrying things for her, offering to share food, letting her go first when they boarded the plane and insisting she took whichever seat was more comfortable for her on the plane, and opening doors for her on the taxi and in at the hotel and hospital…

* * *

(Saturday, September 15th 2012)

Kiyotaka was still behaving oddly, even this morning…

She’d appreciated him letting her take the more comfortable seats on the aeroplanes, as it was hard enough for her to be comfortable on flights even in the best of conditions. And she’d assumed that his insistence on opening every door for her was possibly and odd symptom of sleep deprivation that he would cease doing once he’d slept.

But he’d still insisted on opening the door to the breakfast area and waving her through like she had seen Togami’s butler do. And then he’d insisted that he be the one to refill their drinks from the breakfast buffet and even now as they travelled through the hospital towards the room reserved for Kneshiro’s tests, he was still insisting on opening every door, letting her pass through, and then jogging slightly to pass her again and open the next one.

Had he been embarrassed at how much he assumed his share of the hotel and flight would have cost him? Even though the hotel costs had been cheaper thanks to them sharing a twin sized room? Or perhaps he was nervous about his upcoming fight and was attempting to distract himself… or apologise to her in advance in case he failed to win against Kenshiro.

Either way, he kept it up right until they entered Kenshiro’s testing room, where he was already fighting his first opponent. Not that it stopped him from turning to look at her with a smile as she entered the room… an arrogant decision that caused the man he was fighting to think he had a chance of striking Kenshiro in the side during his moment of distraction.

Of course, Sakura knew that Kenshiro would feel the attempt coming and strike back, a side kick to the chest would likely be the most convenient method to deflect him…

But what she hadn't been expected was the sheer look of fury that passed over Kenshiro’s face as he made his attempt, or the loud _crack_ that shot through the room as his kick made contact and sent the man toppling backwards.

Even Kenshiro looked momentarily surprised at the strength of his blow, while the man he was fighting cried out in pain as he attempted to roll onto his front…

“…Are his _ribs broken!?”_ Kiyotaka asked, horrified at the needless violence.

“I suppose I've recovered so fast, I no longer know my own strength…” Kenshiro shot an almost smug look in her direction, “My deepest apologies…” He added, to the man he’d been fighting.

“Err… well… at least he’s already in the hospital…?” Kiyotaka gulped.

He had accepted Kenshiro’s explanation far more easily than Sakura would, however. Kenshiro had been perfectly capable of measuring his blows three weeks ago… That strike just now was because something had suddenly made him angry… but what? Surely it hadn’t just been his moment of weakness…

“Who’s next?” Kenshiro asked, once the man with the broken ribs was helped off of the mat…

None of the waiting fighters stepped forward… of course, they’d all be too frightened to face him after they’d seen that happen… which meant they’d be more likely to give up earlier, and Kenshiro would be less tired by the time he came to fight Kiyotaka…

“I can fight next!” …Who was making his own task all the more difficult by choosing to step forward already.

“No… you are the only Kendo fighter here, it will be quicker for you to go last, so the others do not have to wait for Kenshiro to put his protective gear on and off again.” Sakura discouraged him.

“Well, in that case, _you’re_ next!” Kenshiro quickly singled out the man on the far left of the group, who stood up and bowed to Kenshiro nervously before they began to fight…

“Err… Sakura?” Kiyotaka whispered to her, “Was I supposed to have brought protective gear with me…?”

“No. There are some sets in that side room.” Sakura remembered, guiding him to the door. “I’ll help you get into one your size…”

“Ah! Wonderful!” Kiyotaka quickly sped up, aiming to open the door for her again, “Th…”

 _“AARRGGHH! MY ARM!”_ Kiyotaka almost jumped into the air at the sudden shout from Kenshiro’s second opponent, who was now clutching at his right arm with shocked tears in his eyes, while Kenshiro looked at him with guilty surprise all over his face.

He’d lost his temper again? He was usually such a calm man… If only she had been watching to see what had caused it.

There was no clue in the behaviour of either man, however. Kenshiro just apologised to him as before, and he was helped out by a nurse while she and Kiyotaka entered the side room and he began looking through the protective gear for pieces that were in his size…

Kenshiro’s behaviour was worrying though… at this rate, he’d hardly be tired at all when it came to Kiyotaka’s turn…

“Ah… Sakura? Are you… _sure_ I was the right person to ask to do this?” Kiyotaka appeared to have been thinking along the same lines, “I mean… seeing how quickly he beat those two… Are you sure Owari wouldn’t have been a better choice?”

Sakura was quite sure of that… even if Owari would have stood a better chance of winning the match. But Sakura did not need Kiyotaka to win, or even to land a single hit… she merely needed Kenshiro to tire himself… “That was because those two attacked too early.” Sakura told him, “Kenshiro will sometimes bait opponents into attacking by making himself appear to have an opening, then he will use their lowered guard to strike…”

“Ah… like William’s retreat at the battle of Hastings!” Kiyotaka seemed impressed, “So… how can I tell when his guard actually is down?”

“That… is hard to describe. You will most likely get a feel for it once you have watched him fight for a while, and been on the receiving end of his attacks…”

“I see… so I’ll need to fight defensively and get a feel for his style, then!” Kiyotaka summarised with determination burning in his eyes.

“Indeed.” Sakura smiled, “I am sure you will do well, if you follow that strategy.”

Or, at least, well enough to inadvertently carry out the real task she required of him…

* * *

Alright! He had a plan! Watch Kenshiro’s fighting style as carefully as possible during the next few fights, then fight defensively until he could be _absolutely_ sure that he had an opening to strike!

…Which made it all the more frustrating when they came back out of the side room to find that Kenshiro was already in the middle of bowing to his final unarmed opponent.

…Aaaaand he’d probably have a different fighting style entirely when wielding a sword, regardless! But at least Kiyotaka might get a feel for how he did those feints Sakura had warned him about…

It was amazing to watch him fight… he was obviously strong, even after two years of illness, but it wasn’t _just_ that. He seemed to have almost perfect control of his body! Every single movement was carefully planned to make sure that he didn’t waste even a single calorie of energy, and he flowed between dodges and attacks as smoothly and surely as water flowing down a wide stream… calm and pleasant to watch but capable of extreme force when pushed into the right conditions, the same way Kenshiro could suddenly flex his muscles the right way and suddenly turn from calm movements to a raging rapid of attacks at a moment’s notice…

It was almost like the way Mondo could go from peaceful resting or joyful times with friends to explosive outbursts of strength in the most sudden of moments… except Kenshiro’s switches were calmer and far more controlled… everything done with an air of self-assurance that presumably came from having trained so hard and frequently that he knew exactly how strong he was and had no fear of losing…

What would it be like if Mondo had that sort of self-assurance? The expertise to know just how much force he needed to use to defend himself when it came to it, instead of throwing every punch with the full force he could muster… He’d be far happier that way, instead of widely swinging between fear that others thought he wasn’t strong if he didn’t fight and worrying that people thought he was nothing but a thug for beating people up…

If only he’d try a martial art! But with Nidai sick and the other two martial artists’ being women, he wasn’t likely to start learning one anytime soon…

Except… he _had_ offered to fight Owari, hadn’t he? So perhaps he was starting to get over his insistence that women were completely off-limits to fights, and might be more open to training with Sakura. Then perhaps he’d have a little more confidence in himself when it came to fighting… and it might bleed over into _other_ aspects of his life… imagine Mondo looking at _Kiyotaka_ with that level of self-assurance, right before expertly kissing him… or spontaneously taking things a step further when they were alone together, because he could judge exactly how much Kiyotaka wanted from him… or…

 _“AAARRGGHHH!”_ Kiyotaka’s mind snapped back to reality as Kenshiro’s opponent fell to floor clutching his right calf... and even though he tried to get back up, he ended up staggering as soon as he tried to put weight on the affected foot and had to be helped out of the room…

Kiyotaka was lucky that he was getting to wear armour for his fight, and could only be struck in certain places! But his stupid lack of focus had meant he’d missed seeing Kenshiro’s feint completely! How completely _idiotic_ of him! _One_ night showering by himself shouldn’t result in him suddenly going back to daydreaming about Mondo when he was supposed be doing something important! Even _if_ that thing happened to be carefully watching a man strong enough to remind him of Mondo’s bulging muscles and…

* * *

What had caused Kenshiro’s anger that time? The man hadn’t even been trying to attack. And even if he had, Kenshiro’s attention had been focused on _Kiyotaka_ , who had been doing nothing other than staring at him intently while trying to learn his fighting style.

“Four down, one to go…” Kenshiro shrugged, once the man had been apologised to and taken away for treatment. “And then I can leave, right doctor?” He looked over to the doctor monitoring the tests, who nodded somewhat reluctantly.

But… “I thought you still needed to be here for another week…”

“Well, I’ve been doing so well in these tests, they decided they don’t really need to keep me here any longer!” Kenshiro smiled.

…So he’d even rushed that? Did he really have so little concern for himself, or was he just over-confident in his health, now that he could fight again, that he felt that all the tests and precautions were nothing but a waste of time?

“…I thought you’d be happier.” Kenshiro’s smile dropped rapidly.

“I… am just concerned that if you rush your departure, it may cause a problem to be overlooked and cause you more harm in the future…” Sakura admitted.

“Ah… haha!” Kenshiro laughed, a little too patronisingly for her tastes, “Really, my darling, I’ve told you, you shouldn’t worry about me so much.”

“He, err, he certainly looked, erm… _healthy_ to me!” Kiyotaka also tried to ease her fears, “And I’m _sure_ no doctor would _ever_ allow a patient to leave without being absolutely confident that they were healthy enough to do so at the time! I mean, imagine how _guilty_ they’d feel if they let someone go too early and then they immediately got sick again or maybe even _died_ because of it!”

There was an awkward silence at Kiyotaka’s statement, as a pang of guilt flashed across the doctor’s face and Kenshiro glared at him…

How frustrating, the doctor was obviously not happy about him leaving even earlier than scheduled, but even Kiyotaka’s oblivious warning was not enough to convince him to say so… What had Kenshiro done to make the man fear upsetting him so badly?

“Exactly. I’ve been given the all-clear to leave, so you have no reason to worry, Sakura.” Kenshiro used Kiyotaka’s argument to try to assure her. “But, if you’re still worried that I’m not strong enough, I suppose I’ll have to convince you by beating _him.”_ He looked derisively at Kiyotaka, before heading over to a corner of the room where his own protective gear and shinai had been prepared.

“Well… I don’t intend to make it easy for you!” Kiyotaka warned him, assertively.

It was true that he certainly appeared to be doing his utmost to learn Kenshiro’s style before the fight started. Although what exactly he thought he could learn by focusing on how he donned his protective gear was beyond her…

“Kiyotaka, it would probably be more beneficial to warm up before the fight…” Sakura suggested

 _“Ahgh…_ O-of course!” Kiyotaka jumped up, his face turning slightly red as he tore his eyes away from Kenshiro and starting stretching.

…Why the embarrassment? He hadn’t been ‘checking out’ Kenshiro, as Hina would have put it, had he? Kenshiro was certainly attractive enough, and teenagers were susceptible to such moments of distraction… But it was hard to imagine _Kiyotaka_ of all people entertaining such thoughts…

But regardless of whether he had been letting his mind wander while watching Kenshiro get dressed, he appeared to be focused on the task at hand once Kenshito was fully dressed in his protective gear, a lightweight set that seemed to be built with a focus on making movements easier for the wearer, as opposed to proper protection, like the set that Kiyotaka had chosen for himself. Another sign that Kenshiro had concerns over his stamina…

They faced each other on the mat in the centre of the room and bowed, Kiyotaka going for a deep, overly-respectful one while Kenshiro barely tilted his head in return. Then they both stared at each other cautiously before Kenshiro moved to strike what looked like a weak point on the side of Kiyotaka’s waist, which he quickly managed to block with his own sword, causing Kenshiro to make an attempt at a headstrike, which Kiyotaka also managed to move to block…

The fight continued in a similar vein for a while, Kenshiro making all the offensive moves while Kiyotaka barely managed to keep up his defences in time to block them all, making it appear to be a slow battle of attrition, where whoever ran out of stamina first would lose… and Kenshiro already appeared to be gasping for breath and slowing his movements… But even with his illness, he shouldn’t have lost energy that quickly…

He must be attempting to lure Kiyotaka into an attack… but luckily Kiyotaka had either seen through the ruse, or did not have the confidence to try for a hit, instead choosing to take advantage of the slower pace to catch his own breath and recover while continuing to study Kenshiro’s style.

“You… had an opening there…” Kenshiro told him breathlessly, after a third attempt to look clumsy had failed to elicit an attack from the hall monitor.

“…Did I? I can’t tell between your attacks and feints yet…” Kiyotaka admitted, moving his shinai to block yet another blow.

“So you’re going to just block like a coward all match?” Kenshiro tried to taunt him, “An honourable man would have at least _tried_ to hit me by now!”

“There’s nothing cowardly or dishonourable in ensuring that I’m not giving you easy points!” Kiyotaka countered.

“So be it. If it’s like that… Time out!” Kenshiro demanded.

“Ah… very well!” Kiyotaka agreed, taking the opportunity to start breathing deeply while Kenshiro headed off of the mat and began removing his protective gear… presumably to make it easier for him to launch an all-out offensive to beat his way past Kiyotaka’s defence.

But was that really necessary? Such light armour should not have obstructed him in the slightest. Was his stamina truly that poor…? Or had he noticed Kiyotaka’s distraction from earlier and hoping that removing the extra layer would cause his mind to wander again?

 _“Hss… haa… hss… haa… ahh… haa… haa…”_ Regardless of whether that was Kenshiro’s intention or not, it certainly seemed to be the effect, as Kiyotaka’s carefully measured, deep breaths quickly turned into shallow pants as the handsome man in front of them gracefully started to remove parts of his clothing and then stretched his body out teasingly before returning to the mat.

“Ready to start?” Kenshiro moved back into a fighting stance.

“Err… Of course!” Kiyotaka jumped and turned red yet again, quickly bowing to hide his embarrassment, while Kenshiro merely glared at him in return.

Kiyotaka had barely got back into his own stance when Kenshiro launched himself at him, forcing him to awkwardly shift positions to block the strike at the very last moment, and set him off on the wrong foot to begin with. But even with Kenshiro moving at a faster speed, he was quickly able to recover and start warding off the attacks more competently, and they were soon settled in a rhythm once again…

At least, until Kiyotaka appeared to become too settled into the rhythm and his eyes drifted down to the small patch of chest visible at the top of Kenshiro’s gi…

 _“DO!”_ Kenshiro took advantage of his distraction to thrust the shinai deep into Kiyotaka’s stomach, causing the hall monitor to double forward… even the thick protective gear wouldn’t have helped much against a strike that hard. And Kenshiro didn’t stop at just the single hit…

 _“Men…! Do…! Do…! KATO!”_ A hit to the head, one on each side and a hit on his wrist that caused Kiyotaka to drop his shinai altogether, which was when Kenshiro finally stopped his onslaught and allowed Kiyotaka time to recover… although whether he would do so after such a pummelling was another question altogether…

* * *

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ What had Kiyotaka been _thinking,_ letting himself get distracted like that in the middle of a fight!? He needed to stop thinking about how _Mondo_ would look fighting like Kenshiro, or taking his clothing of like Kenshiro, or wearing a loose gi like Kenshiro and start focusing his attention on _Kenshiro!_

…Otherwise he’d be lucky not to be debating Togami tomorrow in a full body cast! And, even worse, he’d have completely failed at completing Sakura’s request!

Kiyotaka forced himself to ignore the pain around his waist as he picked up his sword and pulled himself back up to his feet…

“…Are you _sure_ you can still fight…?” His opponent was looking down on him…

 _“Yes,_ I can still fight!” Kiyotaka told him, “And I’ll _keep_ fighting until the end of the match, regardless of how many more points you score!”

“We aren’t keep a score.” Kenshiro corrected him, “The end of the match will be when one of us stops fighting.”

“Oh…” That wasn’t a scoring method Kiyotaka had ever heard of, but Sakura had mentioned that her boyfriend usually fought in unofficial matches so… “I expect it’s going to be a long fight, then!”

He looked irritated at that… but then, after that shoddy performance Kiyotaka had just given, it was no wonder if Kenshiro thought fighting him was a waste of his time. It would probably be of no benefit at all for him to be training against someone whose skills were clearly inferior to his own…

But he _had_ been the one Sakura had asked to test the extent of Kenshiro’s recovery! He’d have to keep fighting as long as he possibly could, in order to convince her that he was fine and she didn’t have to worry about him leaving the hospital today!

So when the fighting resumed _this_ time, he kept his mind focused on what Kenshiro was doing with his sword, only just about managing to keep up with the man and prevent himself from receiving another set of hits like that one before…

At least, that’s how it was at the beginning… but was it just him, or was it starting to get easier? It was starting to feel like he had a little more time to get his defensive stances ready before the strikes collided with them… was Kenshiro getting tired and slow? Or had Kiyotaka picked up his style fast enough that he was starting to recognise where the hits were going to come? Or was this yet another ruse…?

“Hah… You’re not bad, I’ll give you that…” Kenshiro muttered, as Kiyotaka managed to push him backwards after a hit… if he’d been just a bit better prepared, he might even have been able to follow it up with one of his own… Sickness or not, Kiyotaka really _must_ have become a better fighter to be holding his own again the strongest man in the world!

“I have Sakura to thank for that!” Kiyotaka admitted, “She’s an absolutely wonderf…”

 _“Tch…TSUKI!”_ Kiyotaka realised moments too late that he’d let his guard down once again, and Kenshiro was taking advantage of it mercilessly as the sword jammed right into his throat, the sharp pain cutting off his airway as he dropped to the floor in shock… How had that hurt so much…?

He looked down… oh, right. His neck guard was broken… But… hadn’t they said no Tsuki? So… Why had Ochida hit his neck… and… was he about to _keep_ hitting him…?

* * *

Another bout of anger from Kenshiro, so much so that he’d struck Kiyotaka with enough force to snap the neck guard from his helmet. But all Kiyotaka had been about to say was that Sakura was a good teacher… what was wrong with that? She’d trained many people before going to Hope’s Peak and Kenshiro had always been proud of her for it… He couldn’t possibly be bitter that she’d been able to continue her training while he languished in hospital, could he? He’d been so insistent that she do exactly that when he’d handed his title over to her…

So why was he now so delighted to have brought her student, and _friend,_ down to knees and cowering in panic?

“…Is he having a panic attack?” Kenshiro asked, as Kiyotaka curled up on the floor, covering his head with his arms.

“I expect as much… Do you recall me telling you about the reason he gave up sparring in his youth?” Sakura asked, “After he saved my life from that Murasame member?”

 _“Hmph…_ Anyone could have done that…” Kenshiro huffed uncharacteristically, “I don’t see what you see in him…”

“Well… he might not have been the most naturally gifted fighter, but he is eager to learn and diligent in his training…” Sakura told him, “With time, he could become an exceptional fighter, even though it is only a side-goal for him.”

Kenshiro only looked all the more annoyed at her explanation, as if the mere act of her complimenting Kiyotaka had annoyed him, but why? Kiyotaka had not done anything that should have invoked his wrath that much, and he usually trusted Sakura’s judgement of other people. But now it was almost as if he disliked Kiyotaka _because_ Sakura liked him…

Oh… the damn fool! Actively hurting her friend because he was jealous… and it was not just Kiyotaka either… the first person he’d hurt had been when he’d seen Kiyotaka opening the door for her and the second was when Sakura mentioned helping him get dressed… Did he think Sakura had brought him here to see which one was stronger, with the intention of choosing the victor or some equally ridiculous nonsense…?

“Ahh… Sakura…?” Kiyotaka’s voice cautiously drifted up from the floor, where Kiyotaka was blinking at his surroundings in some surprise. “You, err… really think that?”

“Yes. I would not have said so otherwise.” Sakura told him.

“I see!” Kiyotaka picked his shinai back up and started to struggle back to his feet, “In that case, I’d best do my best to live up to that then!”

“You’re _still_ going to keep fighting?” Kenshiro asked, irritably. “You know, I might end up breaking more than your padding if you don’t have the sense to stay down…”

That was less of a warning and more of a blatant threat… Kenshiro was getting desperate… If Kiyotaka would only be brave enough to face him one more time…

“Well, then it’s a good thing we’re already in a hospital!” Kiyotaka announced, getting into his stance for what would likely be the final time, despite Kenshiro’s angry glare... or perhaps because he’d failed to notice it.

Either Kenshiro was going to hurt Kiyotaka again, or he was going to push himself to the point of having a heart failure while trying… or both could happen. Regardless, this was going to be an ugly fight… “I do not think I need to see the outcome of this…” Sakura told them. Perhaps that would convince Kenshiro that Kiyotaka was not there so she could determine whether he was a better suitor for her than Kenshiro. And it would probably be wise to warn the staff of what was likely to happen before it did…

* * *

 _WHAT!?_ What did Sakura mean by that!? Did she really think Kenshiro was going to break _him!?_ Was she leaving because she didn’t want to see one of her friends getting beaten to a pulp by her own boyfriend!?

…He didn’t get a chance to ask before she walked out of the door they had originally come through, worry plastered all over her face as she left.

“Well, in that case, I won’t be using _this…”_ Kiyotaka turned back around to see Kenshiro putting his sword back with the rest of his gear, perhaps he was giving Kiyotaka more of a chance! “…I fight better _without_ it.” He added, turning back around to face Kiyotaka with an almost irritable look…

“I see…” Kiyotaka gulped. This was going to be _very_ painful, wasn’t it…?

“Unless you’d rather _not_ fight?” Kenshiro suggested, “We could even tell Sakura you tried a few more times, but then I won…”

“What!? NO!” Kiyotaka readied his stance again. “I’m not lying to her!”

“Have it your way then…” He sighed… and then suddenly raced forward…

 _Ahh!_ He didn’t recognise that stance at all! And he’d never tried defending against unarmed attacks with a shinai… would it be easier to drop it and fight unarmed himself? But he was far worse at fighting without his sword and it was too late to think because Kenshiro was _right_ in front of him and…

 _“C-uurghh!”_ Kiyotaka coughed as all the air was expelled from his stomach by the foot that had just been buried deep into it, even more so that the thrust from Kenshiro’s sword before… he’d be lucky if he could still do a proper sit-up over the next few days… and it didn’t stop there either, as suddenly he could feel his head being pushed downwards towards Kenshiro’s knee…

He heard a crack and the world spun for a moment before he found himself able to stand back up and see more clearly… which meant that the protective covering of his Kendo mask had been snapped off and _oh god Kenshiro was about to punch him in the face! He couldn’t debate Togami with a black eye!_

Kiyotaka barely managed to bring his arm up in time to block the punch, but it still meant the he got punched hard in the forearm of his writing hand (Thank goodness he had Chiaki to transcribe his lessons for him!), and found himself stumbling backwards at the sheer force of the blow…

Was this _really_ what he considered ‘sparring level’, force-wise? Or was he actively trying to _hurt_ Kiyotaka?

“…Are you wishing you’d paid more attention to me stances in that fight you watched, instead of ogling me?”

Oh no… he’d noticed that? Was that why he was hitting so hard? Had he been offended by it? “Err… I… I wasn’t… _Ooof!”_

Kiyotaka’s explanation was cut off by another kick to the stomach, which sent him toppling onto his backside…

“It’d be better for you _and_ everyone else if you’d just admit you’re gay…” Kenshiro quickly closed the distance between them…

“It’s not that simple!” Kiyotaka tried to defend himself, “For starters, my boyfriend doesn’t…”

 _“Who are you calling your BOYfriend!?”_ Kenshiro angrily dragged him by his body guard up to his knees with one hand and pulled back the other into a fist…

 _“Mondo Oowada!”_ Kiyotaka hastily answered… anything to stop himself getting punched in the face!

“…What?” Kenshiro blinked and let him go, shocked. “The gang leader…?”

“Yes…” Kiyotaka agreed, relieved that he was apparently safe for the moment… except… _oh no… he’d PROMISED Mondo that it wouldn’t get out yet!_ “Err… but _please_ don’t tell anyone! He… well, _neither_ of us want everyone knowing about it! Not yet, anyway, otherwise we might end up ruined! Once we’re older and in a stronger position we’ll let people know, but…!”

“Okay… I don’t… really care…” Kenshiro was gasping for breath, and had started sweating profusely. “As long as it’s not Sakura…”

 _…What!?_ “But… Sakura’s a girl!” How did he not know that!? They’d been dating for years!

“I know… but… there’s some… guys… who…” Kenshiro’s breathlessness was only getting worse, and he was clutching at his chest… “Who… _ahh-KGHH! Kuhh! Kuhh!”_

Kiyotaka almost fell backwards again in shock as Kenshiro suddenly fell to his knees and started breathing in and coughing deeply… and painfully, from the look of it… and then suddenly there was a loud beeping noise from the computer that the doctor had been looking at…

“Nurses to training room 4! _Stat!”_ The doctor ordered into a microphone attached to his coat, before rushing over towards Kenshiro…

Kiyotaka barely had time to scramble out of the way before the room was suddenly filled with people carrying some sort of machine on a trolley, who started quickly removing the martial artist’s gi and placing some pads of his chest…

 _Oh gods… he’d given Sakura’s boyfriend a heart attack!_ So much for him not hurting him! Should he have given up earlier? Was _this_ why Sakura had left!? But why hadn’t she said so, he’d have happily conceded the fight if it meant avoiding _this!_

…Suddenly Kiyotaka was being picked up by his arms and carried out through the door, too exhausted to do anything other than look up at the person doing the carrying…

“Ah… Sakura!” Kiyotaka cried, as the door shut behind them and blocked out the sounds of people shouting orders he didn’t understand at each other, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise this was going to happen! If I’d realised it was even a _possibility_ , I’d have stopped fighting when you left…!”

“I know… that is why I didn’t tell you so.” Sakura replied, looking away from him at the floor.

“…What? You… _wanted_ me to give your boyfriend a heart attack!?” Kiyotaka cried, _“WHY!?_ Are you… trying to _kill_ him!?”

“No, of course not…” Sakura flinched, “He has had these sorts of attacks before and survived them…”

“But still, why take the risk!?” Kiyotaka asked… this didn’t make any sense!

“Because part of the reason he survives is because the very worst of them have been within this hospital, where he receives help quickly…” Sakura explained, “Outside of here, it would take more time for help to reach him, and it would take more time to recover from such an attack, and then the damage may even be permanent…”

“But… couldn’t you just tell him not to leave the hospital!?” Kiyotaka asked, “Instead of risking…”

“He did not listen to me when I tried…” Sakura sighed, “He thought, because he was only testing himself against people who were quick to surrender, that he would be perfectly capable to fight in tournaments outside of here. And that my requests were just me being worrisome out of love for him…”

“Oh…” So… she’d needed to do something drastic to make him realise he wasn’t as healthy as he thought… “So you set him against me as a warning…”

“Indeed… I needed someone who could persevere against his attacks until his stamina failed him…”

“Couldn’t you have _told_ me that, though?” Kiyotaka asked her, “After all, if I’d known, I might have been on the lookout for the symptoms and pointed it out to him before it got that bad…”

“…I do not think you would have been able to do that, in practise.” Sakura told him, “It would have been one more thing distracting you from the fight, and Kenshiro has injured you enough as it is…”

“I’m not _that_ injured!” Kiyotaka assured her, “I just took a few blows here and there… and maybe my stomach’s going to be a bit sore tomorrow… and… I’m feeling a bit… lightheaded…”

Actually, now that he thought about it, he was rapidly beginning to hurt in several places and felt as if he was going to throw up…

“…I expect you’re having an adrenaline rush… Once it wears off you are going to feel a lot worse than you do now…” Kiyotaka had to admit that Sakura was probably right, as he was already starting to feel the dull throb of pain in his arm and sides… “I organised a bed for you… you should try to rest…”

“Alright…” Kiyotaka knew better than to argue with her about his physical limitations, after all… “You’ve known I was going to lose this badly before I even started…”

“No… I did not realise until during the fight that Kenshiro would hurt you so badly…” Sakura corrected him, “I organised the room while I was warning the nurses that Kenshiro was likely about to have an attack…”

“Ah… so _that_ was how they had the equipment ready so quickly!” He realised, “I thought this was just a very good hospital!”

“Well… It may not be quite that good… but I am sure you will still be well looked after this afternoon and evening…” Sakura assured him, in a tone that sounded like a farewell…

“Ah… so you’re planning to go stay with Kenshiro and see how he is?” Kiyotaka guessed, to which she agreed. “Well… please give him my apologies for hurting him and… if I insulted him as well!”

“I will… although I think he owes you more apologies than you owe him…” Sakura pointed out, “As do I, for having you fight someone who wanted to hurt you…”

“Well… you did it for me, after Valentine’s Day!” Kiyotaka reminded her. “It’s only fair I return the favour!”

“…You have an odd sense of fairness…” Sakura sighed in amusement. “But I am glad I have you to rely on at times…”

Kiyotaka couldn’t help but blush at the compliment… “Thank you! I feel the same way about you!”

“Hmm…” Sakura just hummed happily, “Ah, I believe this is your room…” She added, as they came to a particular door, “Rest well!”

“I’ll do my best!” Kiyotaka agreed before she left… although he wasn’t sure he actually felt tired enough to sleep… at least not until a nurse had helped him get out of what was left of his protective gear… after that he felt more tired… maybe he’d just have a quick nap and then study…

* * *

“…He’s sleeping, but you can see him now…” One of the nurses finally uttered the words Sakura had been praying to hear for the last few hours...

She quickly headed into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible, and looked down at Kenshiro with a mixture of relief and guilt…

Relief because this now meant that there would be no more talk of letting him take part in competitions outside of the hospital and it’s life-saving equipment, and guilt because he was now heavily hooked up to several machines… wires to measure his blood levels and pressure and the rhythm and strength of his heart. A needle in his hand attached to an IV drip. An oxygen mask covering his face…

All things keeping him tied to his bed… a position he absolutely hated. So much so that he’d risked his own health to get as far away from it as possible…

Had Sakura done the right thing…? Was it possible that he might have been perfectly fine in the tournament, without Kiyotaka and what had appeared to be a threat that she was planning to leave him? Should she have trusted his own judgement on his limitations?

But, if she could have trusted that, he wouldn’t have fought to the point where he put himself in this position regardless… So she had probably made the right decision… But it still felt selfish, having pushed him over the edge on purpose, just to ease her own mind… She could only sit holding his hand for now, and hoped that he’d forgive her once he was awake…

…She must have started to sleep at some point, because her first sign that Kenshiro had begun to wake up was when he squeezing her hand… a sure sign that he was fully awake.

“Kenshiro…” She looked towards him with some trepidation as to how he’d react…

He lifted the mask briefly to smile up at her and talk… a good sign… “…Did I die?”

“…Do you think I’d be here if you had?” He always specifically said he’d be furious with her if she tried to ‘follow him to heaven’…

“I couldn’t tell if it was you, or an angel that looked like you…” She should have seen that one coming. But it would appear he was not upset with her, at least. “…And I wasn’t sure you’d wait for me to wake up…”

So he _had_ been jealous of Kiyotaka… “I am surprised you did not notice that Kiyotaka would be more interested in you than myself…”

“Of course I noticed that… But it didn’t mean _you_ did.” He pointed out, “And I thought perhaps he was using you as some sort of… _compromise_ … Someone like that wouldn’t have deserved you.”

So he’d been almost as furious at the apparent slight to Sakura’s femininity as he had at the thought of losing her… but neither had been things he should have been concerned with. After all… “I believe Kiyotaka was merely being chivalrous _because_ I am a woman… and I _never_ had any intention of leaving you…” She kissed his hand to try and strengthen the message… “I apologise that I failed to make that clear to you…”

“So, you were just worried that if I’d faced someone as stubborn as him away from the hospital…” Kenshiro gestured to the machines, “I’d be like this for a lot longer than I will be this time…”

“Indeed...” Sakura sighed, “I am sorry that I did this so… drastically. But you did not listen when I tried to talk to you about it… And I know you do not like this place and want your freedom and opportunity to grow back, but you will have neither if you disregard your health in such a manner…”

“You’re right… expect it’s not fighting and my freedom I miss... I miss seeing _you_.” He admitted, “You inspire me… whenever you’re with me, I can feel myself growing healthier again… you’re better for my health than all the doctors, nurses and machines in this building!”

“Kenshiro…” Even now, he insisted on treating her like some sort of purifying force of nature…

“I know you think I’m just being romantic… but I really think I’d recover faster if I could see you more often!” He admitted, “I wouldn’t even have to start fighting again… I could train at a more careful pace until I’m stronger… it’s not like _you’d_ let me overdo it...”

…It did sound appealing in a way, her and Kenshiro living together, being able to focus on training, and his recovery, together… “Perhaps I could leave Hope’s Peak for that…”

 _“Hhgnn!”_ He took a deeper breath from his tank this time, “What? No, you can’t leave Hope’s Peak! I meant I’d come to _you!”_

Sakura shook her head sadly, “The school is not open to visitors…”

“Then I’d buy a place nearby… you could walk home each night…”

“Hope’s Peak’s students are required to stay in the school during night time, unless we have permission otherwise.” Sakura explained, “My being allowed to visit you so frequently is a special case, out of sympathy for your being in the hospital.”

“So… how often do the other students see their families?” He asked.

“A two-week holiday at Christmas, another two-week one during spring and then 6 weeks for the summer…” Sakura summarised.

“So… If I’d been discharged… I might have seen you even less than I do now?”

“Unless I’d have left Hope’s Peak…”

“You’re not leaving Hope’s Peak…” He reiterated, “You need to be the best… to keep my title safe until I recover…”

“Hmm… And how do you intend to recover without your…” What sort of wording would he use…? “Radiant angel of healing with you, to shine her heavenly light upon you?”

 _“Ahh…_ I’m finally getting through to you!” He smiled sincerely, as if she’d merely been stating facts and not joking about him… “…I suppose I might actually have to listen to that doctor, and let them do all those tests they want to do…” He sighed, “And learn to recognise when I’m pushing myself too far…”

“…Do you promise to do that?” Sakura asked… she would worry about him far less if she could be sure he would be careful about stepping too far over his limitations…

“Of course… After all, I need to recover enough to leave in three years, don’t I?”

“That would be convenient, yes…” Sakura agreed.

“Then I promise… so long as you promise to keep visiting me as much as you can…” He smiled, holding up his free hand for her to hold, “I still need _some_ of Caduceus’ light to shine upon me, and as I’ve yet to meet any of his _other_ angels…”

Really, how many different ridiculous ways did this man have to describe her?

…It would be nice to have the time to find out. “Of course, I promise.”

“And… so shall I, then…” He said contentedly, as his breathing began to shallow. “…I’m… sorry. I think I may… be about to sleep.”

“Then you should let yourself rest.” Sakura told him. She was lucky he’d woken up in time to talk to her at all…

“And sorry… to make you… lug your friend… back… to Hope’s Peak…” He murmured, “…Shouldn’t have… done that…”

…An odd way to apologise for hurting someone unnecessarily… as if the inconvenience to her as the reason he shouldn’t have done it… But she could tell he probably meant it as an apology to Kiyotaka as well… “…And he sends his apologies for giving you a heart attack.”

“No problem…” Kenshiro smiled, “It did me… a favour…”

It certainly had… Kenshiro was now sleeping safe in the hospital, where she could be sure she would be able to see him much more often than her friends got to see any of their loved ones… Kiyotaka had helped her enough that she would be more than glad to ‘lug him back to Hope’s Peak’…

Although, she suspected that it would be a difficult enough task getting him to let her carry even as much as his shinai for him…

* * *

(Sunday, September 16th 2012)

Kiyotaka gritted his teeth as he and Sakura made their way through the airport… He’d ended up sleeping all the way through to the morning, and then waking up feeling so stiff that he may as well have been one of Mondo’s carvings! And even after spending the morning stretching and massaging his muscles as much as he could stand, the damage Kenshiro had left him with was still making every step painful and difficult.

…He just hoped people could tell he was wincing in pain, rather than scowling in anger. And he’d have to try and avoid it at the debate tonight as well…

“…Are you certain you do not need help with your bag?” Sakura asked him once again, as they approached the security gates.

“Of course! I’m fine! It’s just a few bruises!” Kiyotaka tried to assure her, “Anyway, ladies first!” He added, gesturing to the trays they were required to put their belongings into. After all, if she was going to get stuck having another pat-down it wouldn’t matter that it took him a while to get his boots off.

He was slightly quicker this time, knowing in advance what the procedure was, and having tied his boots _slightly_ looser than usual to make up for it, but he still ended up letting another couple of people go between himself and Sakura before he was able to head through the metal detector and pick up his clothing and… _where had his rucksack and shinai gone!?_

“Kiyotaka, here!” Sakura called from behind him while, thankfully, carrying both his bags and her own.

“Ah! You got through quicker this time!” Kiyotaka realised as he finished putting on his blazer and walked over to take his things off of her.

“Indeed. I made sure to wear a different bra style today.” Sakura explained, turning away from him and headed towards the departure gates just before he managed to catch up with her.

“Err… right!” Kiyotaka grit his teeth again as he sped up to catch up with her, “And I can take my things back now!”

“Do not concern yourself, I can manage...” She smiled slightly with amusement.

“But… but they’re _my_ things!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

“But you carried _mine_ on the way here.” Sakura countered, “And so now I can carry _yours…_ especially as you are injured.”

“I’m not _that_ injured! I can still manage to carry my own belongings!” Kiyotaka insisted.

“But it is far easier for you _not_ to, correct?” Sakura asked.

“Well…” Admittedly, keeping up with her _was_ easier now… “Perhaps! But… I still shouldn’t be making you do it _for_ me!”

“Why not?” Sakura asked, “It was _my_ fault you’re injured as badly as you are. It seems like a fair penance…”

“Yes… but… hmrmm…” She had a point, but he _still_ didn’t want her lugging around his things for him!

“Let me ask you this… would you mind my carrying the bags so much if I were _Oowada?”_

Would he mind if she was _Mondo?_ What difference would _that_ make? There was no real difference between the two of them, aside from their _gender_ … which would just mean he was forcing another _man_ to carry his things for him instead of a _woman,_ which would be… well, it would be _slightly_ more understandable, wouldn’t it? One man wincing and the other carrying his things just looked like one friend helping out the other, but an injured man having to get a woman to carry it for him would be considered a bit… wimpy, right? Even if Sakura _was_ far stronger than him and it made _more_ sense to let _her_ carry his things than it would to let _Mondo_ do it, it was still the sort of thing people would _judge_ him for, wasn’t it?

“…No, I suppose I wouldn’t mind Mondo carrying my bags for me.” Kiyotaka admitted, “And I realise it’s irrational, but may I _please_ carry my own things, at least?”

“Well… if you insist.” Sakura relented surprisingly quickly and handed back his rucksack and shinai.

“Thank you!” Kiyotaka smiled as he started to sling them onto his back, “Now, which way are we headed?”

“There.” Sakura pointed at a set of seats no more than 15 yards away from where they were standing…

“I see…” Kiyotaka tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. She’d ended up practically carrying his things all the way for him regardless…

* * *

Kiyotaka glared in annoyance at the short distance he had left to travel for a moment before awkwardly making his way over to the furthest pair of seats possible. He was barely coping with the suitcase full of books he’d brought with him, but if it truly bothered him _that_ much to let her carry it she would just have to go a little slower through the airport…

Although his senses of chivalry and politeness were bordering on the ridiculous this weekend… even more so than usual. Even as he sat down, he seemed straighter and more on edge than he should be.

“…Is something worrying you?”

“No… no, not at all!” He seemed almost confused that she had asked, “I mean, I suppose I’m a little nervous about the debate tonight, but I’ve prepared well so… I should _look_ alright during that!”

“Look alright?” Sakura made sure she’d heard him correctly, “I thought a debate was more about how you sound?”

“Ah… yes, of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, “I just meant ‘look’ in the sense of how everyone will judge my performances overall!”

“Hmm…” That wasn’t phrasing he’d usually use… He usually spoke about doing well, or acting appropriately… Except… “You seem to be insisting on being chivalrous this weekend… as if you’re worried about how you look to those around us.”

“You think so?” Kiyotaka considering it anxiously, “But I always strive to be polite and look… _appropriate_ , at least! Don’t I?”

“Indeed, however, you seem to have done it… even more so the last two days.” Sakura explained, trying to remember when exactly he’d started it… “Ever since… you spoke to your father.”

“ _Oh_ …” He seemed to realised something, “…I suppose that makes sense…”

“How so?”

“Well… Father was talking about how people judge each other on how they _look_ and… I suppose I wanted to avoid being judged _poorly!”_ He explained, with a false brightness in his words, “Especially as there’s already enough reason for people to do that…”

…So, he was worried about how his relationship with Oowada would be perceived… and trying to make up for it by being all the more rigid and upstanding, even though… “I see no reason for anyone to judge you poorly.”

“Err… well, hmm… I was talking about… ah, you know… what happened at my…” Kiyotaka tried to explain what she’d already worked out.

“I understand what you are talking about.” Sakura stopped him, “I merely mean to say that it is not a reason to disrespect anyone.”

“But… people _do_ …” Kiyotaka sighed.

“A number of people do. A number that is growing smaller over time.” Sakura corrected him, hoping she’d understood the discussion they’d had about it months ago. “And those who do are… foolish.”

“You think so?” Kiyotaka looked somewhat happier as he thought over her words. “…Thank you!”

“You are welcome.”

They fell into comfortable silence after that, with Kiyotaka getting yet another book out of his case and Sakura taking the opportunity to meditate while Kiyotaka had found a small measure of peace for himself...

_*We apologise, but flight number EJ-583 has been delayed for approximately one hour.*_

…Which was likely to be lost after that announcement…

“That… that’s _our_ flight, isn’t it?” Kiyotaka asked, anxiously.

“Indeed.” Sakura sighed.

“And… we only had an hour between this flight landing and our _next_ one taking off, didn’t we?” His eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed as he slowly began to figure out the reality of their situation.

“Yes.” Sakura agreed.

“So… what happens if this one is so late that we don’t have time to catch the next one!?” His voice rose in barely held panic…

Barely held panic that she was unable to do anything about, considering… “I do not know. This is the first time this has happened to me.”

 _“O-oh!”_ Kiyotaka gulped slightly and looked around the waiting area… “Well… I’ll ask at the information desk and see if _they_ can tell us!” He quickly stood and crossed the short distance there, then fidgeted until the woman stood behind the desk looked up from her computer…

“Sorry for the wait. Can I help you, sir?”

“Ah… that’s no problem! But I was wondering… my friend and I have a second flight booked that’s due to leave an hour after this one was due to land, so I was wondering what happens if we land after _that_ plane leaves?”

“That depends on your flights… May I check your boarding pass?”

“Of course!” Kiyotaka quickly fished it out of his pocket and she checked the details.

“Well, because both flights are with us, we’ll book you a ticket on the next flight available which is… this time tomorrow.”

 _“Tomorrow!?”_ Kiyotaka cried… quite likely in both senses of the word, or so Sakura assumed from the reaction of the clerk. “So… we’d be stuck in the airport overnight?”

“Well… we’d provide you with free rooms and meals to make up for the inconvenience! But… there’s no other planes going to your destination until tomorrow.”

“Oh! So… we won’t be having to try and sleep on the chairs!” Kiyotaka surprisingly managed to laugh, “That doesn’t sound _too_ bad…”

“Alright. Do you want me to book it all for you now, or would you prefer to try and run to your next flight?”

_“Run!?”_

“Yes… if this flight isn’t delayed any further, then you might have just enough time to run to the next one before the gate closed.”

“Hrmn…” Kiyotaka had a brief mental quandary over whether he would rather be late or run in a crowded place… “I’ll try to run for it! Thank you for your advice though!” He bowed before returning to his seat and turning to face her… “Err… unless _you’d_ have preferred to stay overnight…?” He asked, guiltily.

“You’ve gone out of your way to help me enough this weekend. I can manage a short run.” Sakura assured him.

“Thank you.” He nodded appreciatively, “Would you mind looking after my bag while I ring Mondo and Makoto and let them know I might not make the debate tonight?”

“Of course not.” That way Hina would find out what had happened if she didn’t arrive back at the school as well…

Kiyotaka left, which left her surrounded by the other travellers, most of whom were either quietly muttering irritably amongst themselves, or getting up and heading off to get refreshments or follow Kiyotaka to the phones…

Well… this was an unfortunate turn of events. She could only hope they _would_ be able to run quickly enough to catch the flight back to Hope’s Peak in time for Kiyotaka and Togami’s debate.

But at the very least, Kiyotaka had taken the delay well. She would have expected him to react more poorly to the news, but he seemed to be staying reasonably calm and positive about it instead of panicking and getting upset. He truly had grown over the last year… Had this happened a year ago he’d have likely shouted and acted as if it was an insult by the staff…

“What does it _mean_ it’s delayed by an _hour!?_ How do they expect me to catch my next flight if they don’t even _land_ before it takes off!”

…Somewhat like the same politician from before, who had just arrived at the gate and see the delay posted on the board… As if the delay was not upsetting enough without listening to him endlessly complain about it…

A brief discussion with his aides caused him to storm over to the woman at the information desk and rap his fist on the counter to get her attention… “What is the meaning of this!? Why is my flight delayed!?”

“Ah… I’m very sorry, sir! But there was a problem with the plane that needed to be sorted, so it’s now re-fuelling before…”

“Well, can’t you do anything to hurry it up!? At _this_ rate I’ll miss my next flight!”

“Ah… I’m sorry, sir, we can’t speed up the re-fuelling… But if you could let me see your boarding pass, I could…”

“Why do you want to _that!?_ You’re not letting me on the plane!” He stopped her from answering the question he was asking. “What sort of customer service _is_ this!? _You_ caused me this problem, so why aren’t you doing anything to _fix_ it!?”

“I’m trying to, sir, but…”

“Well _‘trying’_ isn’t good enough! I didn’t get where I am to day by just ‘trying’ to do things, I…”

She had no intention of watching this man harangue a worker who was unlikely to be allowed to speak up for _herself_ …

“What she can do to help you will depend on which flight you are catching next.” Sakura told him, firmly enough to stop him for a moment. “That is why she asked you for your boarding pass.”

“Well… you should have just _said_ that!” He snapped, gesturing for one of his aides to hand the woman his pass…

…As satisfying as it would have been, Sakura decided it was not wise to cause an argument by pointing out that she hadn’t said that because he hadn’t given her a chance to…

“Well… if you _did_ miss your flight, the next one won’t be going out until the same time tomorrow…”

 _“WHAT!?_ You meant you only have one flight a day!? That’s ridiculous! I might as well go to one of your competitors!”

“Umm… I already checked, and _they_ don’t have any flights there either…”

“…Is that true?” The politician turned to one of his aides, who started looking it up on his phone and quickly agreed. “That’s _ridiculous!_ So you’re telling me I can’t get back to work for an entire _day!?_ Do you really think I can afford to ignore my responsibilities and sit around in an airport for that long!?”

“Well… you might still be able to catch your next flight, if someone runs to the gate in time…”

Hmm… neither of his aides looked particularly fit, but they probably _could_ manage the run…

“I’m not sending my staff off without me, just because _you_ messed up!”

“Ah... sorry! But it doesn’t have to be one of _your_ group!” The woman turned to point to the side. “That schoolboy with the boots is catching the same flight as you, and he’s already said he’s going to run. If he gets there in time it will delay the flight enough for you to walk over to it!”

“…Hrmmn…” The politician scowled… was he remembering how foolish Kiyotaka had made him look at their last encounter, perhaps? If he was, he showed no sign of it as he stomped over to blissfully unaware Kiyotaka… “You there! What’s your name, boy?”

“Ah… me!?” Kiyotaka smiled with excitement at having been spoken to by someone so influential, “My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, sir! It’s an honour to…”

 _“Ishimaru!? Tch!_ I thought you looked familiar…” The politician rolled his eyes and turned away from Kiyotaka, leaving him stood with an outstretched hand and shocked disappointment seeping onto his face. “Can’t trust _him!_ Probably just like that idiot Torano…”

“Sir, I _assure_ you, I am _NOTHING_ like my _grandfather!”_ Kiyotaka’s outstretched hand clenched into a fist and his disappointment hardened into anger at that. “Whatever it was you were going to entrust me with, I _promise_ you on my honour as a _man_ that I will see it _done!”_

The politician turned back to look at him, and Kiyotaka held his gaze determinedly.

“…Well, I suppose I’ve not got any other options!” He huffed. “You’re running to the gate for your next flight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir!” Kiyotaka saluted eagerly.

“Then make sure that flight doesn’t leave without me!” The older man ordered.

“Of course, if I get there on time I’ll be _glad_ to let them know you’re also…”

“I didn’t say ‘if you get there on time’ I said ‘make sure you do it’!” He snapped.

“Well… I’ll certainly try my best!” Kiyotaka assured him, “But it’ll depend on _this_ flight, and…”

“Hah! Blaming others, just like _him!”_ The politician sneered and turned away again.

“I’m just telling you the _truth!_ I can’t make promises about something I can’t control! That was something _else_ my grandfather shouldn’t have done, wasn’t it!?” Kiyotaka argued, “The best I can say is that if I can exit this plane at least five minutes before our next gate closes, then I’ll stop the next one from taking off without you!”

Five minutes? Hmm… It would hurt, but it was doable for him… unless he was going to be foolish and insist on trying to carry his own bags while he did it as well…

“Well… we’ll see then.” The politician eyes him suspiciously for a moment before turning away and finding a group of seats for himself and aides.

Kiyotaka slowly exhaled and came back to sit beside her, watching the group sit down anxiously.

“Five minutes? Are sure you can manage that?” If not Sakura could offer to run in his stead…

“Yes! It’ll be a slightly faster pace than usual, but I should cope for the short time!” Kiyotaka insisted, “Err… well… that is…” He paused guiltily, “…if you wouldn’t mind carrying my bags…”

“Of course not.” Sakura assured him, getting something out of her own bag… “Now have some protein, so you’ll have the energy for your run…”

“Hah! Always with the protein!” He laughed as he took it, “Thank you…”

* * *

Kiyotaka checked his watch… six minutes before the gate closes and he was stood waiting for the aeroplane doors to open.

He knew he’d _said_ five minutes, but he’d been hoping that he’d get a little more time than that! Especially when they’d been let on the plane after only a forty five minute delay. He’d naively thought that meant he’d get fifteen minutes, which would have been laughably easy!

But then it felt as if every tiny thing that could possibly go wrong all happened at once, as if there was some grand conspiracy to delay him! The staff still needed to check the initial fault that had grounded the plane in the first place, there was some confusion over the number of people holding children in their laps that forced a recount of the passengers, the plane had to queue to get onto the runway… All minor little issues, but with his tight deadline, every single one made him want to pull out his hair in frustration that he was being delayed and there was absolutely nothing he could do to rectify it!

If Sakura hadn’t been with him, he probably _would_ have torn his hair out… Then again, if Sakura wasn’t with him to carry his bags, he wouldn’t have made such a brash promise in the first place and wouldn’t have been worrying about it so much now, after Makoto had assured him that he’d let the council know about the potential delay and requested a change to the debate time. Not that Kiyotaka _really_ wanted to cause that much trouble straight away… that wouldn’t look good in anyone’s book! But at least it would have been an option if he didn’t make the next flight…

But now he’d promised one of the longest running politicians in the country that he _would_ make the flight… so long as he could start running in the next… forty seconds, at least! But would he really be able to do it, even if the door _did_ open in time? He’d given himself as much chance as possible, jumping up as soon as the plane stopped to make sure he was at the front of the queue, even though he wasn’t supposed to do so until the seatbelt lights turned off. He’d even done a few stretches to make sure he was limbered up for the run but… would it be _enough?_

“Can’t you just let him off now? I can _see_ the walkway’s been there for three minutes!” Tochikura was complaining at the staff again, as if they could magically make everything go faster if he yelled at them enough. Whereas in reality it wouldn’t have surprised Kiyotaka if him constantly distracting the staff had actually _delayed_ the flight even more… and it had taken every ounce of patience he had, and constant reminders to himself that impressing a Diet member would do _wonders_ for his career, not to storm over to the man’s seat and yell as much.

Did Kiyotaka even have five minutes left at this point? He checked his watch… five minutes 10 seconds, nine, eight, seven, at the is rate he wouldn’t be held to his promise at all, _three_ , _two_ …

The door opened.

Kiyotaka’s legs started moving before his brain even told them to and he was soon running through the tunnel and into the airport proper faster than he’d ever run before… except for the time he’d raced Hina in front of Mondo and ended up collapsing… That’s how he felt now… he _knew_ he couldn’t keep this pace up! Especially not if he had to pay attention to the signs saying where to go!

He slowed down slightly… he might not have much time, but he still needed to stay calm about this!

The pace was still faster than his usual one, but not so fast that he couldn’t think and didn’t have time to dodge people as he shamelessly ran through crowded halls like the sort of hoodlum he’d have usually given detention to… But even if he gave himself detention for this later, he _needed_ to keep running! He didn’t know how long he had left, but he _needed_ to get to the correct gate in time, even though his heart was pounding in his chest and his lungs were starting to burn with the effort _he needed to keep running!_ The directions on the signs were starting to narrow down to move specific number ranges, he must be getting close! _Just keep going on a bit longer…_ Now he was in the room his gate would be in! _Almost there!_ He could _see_ the desk for the gate, and there was still a staff member stood by it! _Run, run, RUN!_

 _“Please don’t shut the gate!”_ Kiyotaka breathlessly begged as he threw his boarding pass at the man. “Our… our plane was delayed… There’s… there’s more people coming… including a Diet member…”

“Let me see what I can do…” He picked up his radio. “Hey… we just had a runner turn up, can he still get on…? Got it.”

 _Got it!?_ What did that mean? Was that a yes or a no!? Had he made it in time or not!?

“We can let you on, you’ll just have to wait for the walkway to be lined back up properly.”

 _“YES! THANK YOU!”_ Kiyotaka bowed partly out of thankfulness and partly from exhaustion. _“I can’t believe I did it! Ahahaha!”_

“Huh… no kidding…” The attendant muttered as he looked over Kiyotaka’s boarding passes. “I didn’t even see that plane had landed yet!” He looked out of the window and over towards a set of planes a long distance away…

Had Kiyotaka really run all that way in _five minutes!?_ And he’d had to go _around_ in the building instead of just being able to speed across the taxing area like that black jeep on the runway was doing… albeit, _very_ erratically, swerving all over the place at high speed. Kiyotaka was surprised it was allowed there at _all_ … it almost got hit by the plane it had just passed in front of! And… Wait… “Is that jeep _supposed_ to be there?”

“What jeep?” The attendant asked, turning to look just as a member of the ground airport staff ran forward to signal the car to stop…

Instead it just swerved again, so that the man was in its path… and by the time he turned and tried to run away he was already being dragged under the bonnet and…

Kiyotaka flinched as the back wheel of jeep bounced over him and left him twitching on the floor… what the _hell!?_ Why had they done that!? Why were they even _here!?_ And why wasn’t there any security trying to _stop_ them!? Did they even know what was going… on…?

“Oh shit… shit… what…?”

 _“Call security!”_ Kiyotaka ordered the horrified attendant, “They might not know about this! And call the emergency services as well!”

 _“Right!”_ The man scrambled for the phone on his desk as Kiyotaka looked back to see what the car was doing… “Security! Security! Hello?” …It was driving less erratically now… “Hello!? Emergency services!?” …speeding in a straight line towards this building… “Can _anyone_ hear me!” …Towards _Kiyotaka_ almost, if he weren’t stood on the second floor… “Hey! Are anyone’s phones working!?” …Until it made one last swerve and crashed into one of the wheels in the middle of the plane Kiyotaka was supposed to be getting on.

The plane trembled and shifted sideways slightly at the impact, but didn’t move too much… hopefully the passengers were alright! it was the jeep that suffered the most damage, front crumpled as easily as a can of soda in Mondo’s hands. The driver would be lucky not to have had their legs crushed! Who would _do_ something like this!?

…Someone dressed like a giant teddy bear, it seemed. Two of them even! At least, that’s what Kiyotaka could see through the windscreen of the car… They looked like some sort of weird sports mascot, with one side being white and the other black… Why did that seem familiar…? Had he seen something like that before…? Or heard of it…?

Wherever he’d recognised it from before, it probably hadn’t been as unsettling as the moment the doors of the jeep all opened and the bear in the passenger seat, along with three more from the back and _another_ three from the trunk, all slowly walked out in a line along the side of the aircraft furthest away from him. Even the members of the ground crew that had rushed over to see what they were doing slowed down slightly in confusion at the sight, before going over to try and grab at the bears, who ignored their presence completely… What the hell _was_ this!? And why were they just standing around with their heads titled back in laughter…?

**_ *BOOM* _ **

The single noise, the combined result of the eight bears suddenly exploding outwards into orange flame, was loud enough that Kiyotaka could hear it through the thick glass and walls of the airport. And the resultant force was enough to shatter the jeep and the landing gear it had crashed into and tear the wing above it away from the aeroplane, like a piece of tin foil that was ripped away and thrown aside, before the rest of the plane leapt sideways in Kiyotaka’s direction.

Time slowed for a moment as it came towards him, just enough that he thought to grab the desk next to him in anticipation of the shock it would inevitably cause once it hit the wall he was stood on the other side of…

But there was no shock, instead he heard a faint crunch and there was just a faint tremor in the floor beneath him and the wing of the plane connected to the moveable walkway that he’d only been a few minutes away from walking through and ripped it in half, coming to rest roughly halfway down it...

And them, just as it appeared that everything had finally stopped, the walkway slowly, but surely, fell away from the building, dragging the other wings down and off of the rest of the plane, which teetered for what felt like an eternity before tipping over sideways, propped up by the single remaining set of wheels…

Was that it? Was that finally it? Was it over?

Kiyotaka carried on looking over the rest of the runways… no more movement from the damaged plane… no other movement anywhere else… no sign of those bears… or those poor people who’d tried to grab them…

 _Oh gods they were dead…_ and that man who’d been run over still wasn’t moving, despite the pair of people trying to help him… Those… those _stupid things_ had just killed six people! Not to mention the damage done to the plane…

Which should have been about to take off…

“…There are people on that plane…” Kiyotaka realised, numbly.

“Yeah…” The attendant replied, shock making his voice distant.

No wonder, gods know what it must have been like being _on_ that plane! Everyone sitting patiently when all of a sudden the whole vehicles shudders and then leaps sideways, grinds to a halt and then tips up at an angle. Those people must have been thrown about all over the place… especially if they hadn’t put their seatbelts on… Or were still stood up sorting their carry-on luggage while it happened… they’d probably have been thrown all over the place… hit with luggage... _injured…_ in need of _help…_

… _Those people needed help!_

“What can I do to help?” Kiyotaka turned to the attendant next to him.

“I… I dunno!” He cried, “My phone is down, I can’t call anyone to get down there!”

And nor could anyone else, given the way they were all staring in horror at the wrangled plane… Not one of them trying to do anything… But… _someone_ needed to do _something!_ There was no possible way none of the people on that plane were unscathed!

“…How do _I_ get down there, then!?” Kiyotaka demanded.

“Well… a walkway… but our one got smashed!” But that meant there would be other ones… “And we don’t even know if it’s safe!” Kiyotaka’s eyes scanned the other gates, “What if more…”

 _There!_ The next one over still had a queue of people, all frozen in shock, halfway through boarding!

Yet again, Kiyotaka had started running before his brain had truly caught up, and he was already pushing past the airport staff and halfway down to the runway before it even occurred to him that he didn’t even _know_ how many different rules and possibly even _laws_ he was breaking by doing this… but he couldn’t just stand around _staring_ if there was even the _slightest_ chance he could _help!_

But… _could_ he help? Down here on the ground, the size of the plane was _enormous!_ The side closest to him was tipping upwards so high he could barely determine where the door was! But it would probably be easiest to get people off of the _other_ side, which was tipping _downwards_ … In fact, he was surprised no one had opened the emergency exits and started leaving by themselves yet…

The reason for that became apparent so soon as he made it around to the other side of the plane… the heat from the bombs had caused the outer casing to warp and twist… there were holes bent inwards where the bears had been closest, but too small and too jagged for anyone to get through them… and the first few doors he tried didn’t budge regardless of how hard he tugged at the handle, they must _all_ be stuck on this side!

So what could he do? Even if he managed to pull one of the staircases over to the doors on the other side, he wouldn’t be tall enough to reach them by himself!

…But he _wasn’t_ by himself, was he? Sakura would be following him! She’d be sure to help as soon as she caught up and saw what was happening! And in the meantime he could start getting the staircase into position!

* * *

It had probably been just as well that Kiyotaka had been the one to make the mad dash to the next plane. These halls were crowded enough that Sakura would have been at risk of accidentally mowing people down with her larger frame. She could only hope that Kiyotaka had not been slowed too much by them all… But at least she didn’t catch up to find him panting from exhaustion or pain at any point. By the time she reached the room that would contain her departure gate, it seemed that Kiyotaka had already made his way there.

But… something about this area was... off, although she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. The airport was quiet and still, with no suspicious noises or sudden movements to signal an attack on her, so why…

Wait… _that_ was the problem, this part of the airport was still and quiet when it should have been filled with busy people rushing to their destinations. Instead everyone was either stopped or gradually slowing down and turning towards the window to look at…

_What!? How…!?_

One of the planes, the largest in the group lined up next to this part of the building, looked completely wrecked; both wings ripped off, one buried in debris as well, the fuselage tipped up at an angle with the lower half scorched black… What could have done that? A bomb? Had someone successfully targeted the biggest plane there? She hoped that it would have been empty at the time, but looking at the deserted waiting area it was next to, it would appear they’d already boarded…

Hold on… that was the plane she and Kiyotaka were supposed to be getting! So where was _he?_

She ran the rest of the way to the desk, hoping to spot him nearby, but instead there was just the lone figure of a male desk attendant staring out of the window in horror…

“Excuse me…” Sakura dragged his attention away from the wreckage, “I’m looking for a boy with large black eyebrows and red eyes…”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him!” The man panicked… oh no… so Kiyotaka had dashed on board just before…? “He asked how he could help and then ran out through that gate over there!”

He run outside… _after_ the damage?

Ah… Indeed, now she knew where to look it was easy to spot him through the window, straining to pull one of the moveable staircases up next to the plane… but even if he did that, the door would still be too high for him to reach by himself…

She quickly threw the bags aside and headed over to the gate the man had pointed to, where a pair of attendants were arguing with a crowd of people… until they noticed her running full pelt towards them.

“Uhh…! We don’t know if it’s safe to go out there! There could be more…” The one closest to her tried to convince her to stop… although he stepped backwards in fear of her at the same time.

“That is a risk I will take…” Sakura slowed down and pushed him the rest of the distance out of her path. “Excuse me.” She added, before resuming her previous speed.

She wasn’t sure, but it sounded like there were several pairs of footsteps behind her… too many to be the guards choosing to chase her. Perhaps some of the group of passengers had followed to help as well? Regardless she needed to go help Kiyotaka as quickly as possible…

He was still struggling to drag the staircase as she approached him and helped get it moving faster. “Where are we taking this?”

“As close to the front door as we can get!” Kiyotaka ordered, “I think I’ll still need your help to reach it though…”

“I understand.” Sakura confirmed and they quickly placed the stairs in a reasonable spot, quickly checked that it was safely balanced and climbed up… The bottom of the door was barely at Kiyotaka’s eye level, so giving him a boost to reach the door handle was an easy task. Then there was a brief sequence of irritable tutting from him before he figured out how to open the door and gain access to the inside, just as two men and a woman arrived at the foot of the stairs.

“Err… Hello!?” Kiyotaka called as he pulled himself the rest of the way inside, “I… I came to help…”

“What? Hey! Someone opened the front door!” There were some cries from the inside of the plane, followed by a pair of blonde flight attendants appearing in the doorway. One who was clutching her arm protectively and another whose face was unnaturally pallid…

“What happened!?” The pale one asked, “Did someone attack us? Is it safe out there?”

“Err… a van filled with men in costumes drove up and set off a series of bombs along the side of the plane!” Kiyotaka explained as he stood up… had he watched it happen then? “But there doesn’t appear to be anything else like that out here at the moment!"

“Oh… ok… why…?”

“Never mind that!” The injured one snapped at her, “Do you have any medical training!?”

“I know basic first aid!” Kiyotaka offered…

“I’m a surgeon!” The woman shouted as she ran up the stairs, “And my son just completed his residency!” She gestured to the young man running up behind her.

“Great, get up here!” The woman gestured… and then flinched as her other arm fell from its position slightly. “We’re trying to help who we can but we don’t know who to prioritize and other people keep getting in the way…”

“Alright, let me take a look…” The woman told her grimly as Sakura and Kiyotaka helped her up and she header further inside, quickly followed by her son while Kiyotaka looked between the stairs and the inside of the plane unsure of what to do...

“…Do _you_ have any medical skills?” He eventually asked the remaining man.

“No, I came to find out did this and beat the _shit_ outta ‘em!” He growled.

“…They already blew themselves up.” Kiyotaka told him, numbly.

Suicide bombers… It was almost disturbing how unsurprising the information was…

“Oh… so… I came for nothing…?”

Kiyotaka looked almost scared of the idea… “But…There must be _something_ we can do to help… Even if we aren’t medics…” He replied, desperately.

“Right! You! With the armband!” As if to answer his wish, the flight attendant with the broken arm returned and started barking at him in an authoritative voice, “Get in here and start herding anyone capable of walking out of the plane!”

“Understood!” Kiyotaka saluted and promptly headed inside.

“You two stay here and help them get down the stairs!” She told Sakura and the remaining man, then looked sideways at the woman she’d first been accompanied with, who was still stood to the side in shock… “Maybe starting with Janice here…” She suggested, firmly pushing her co-worker towards Sakura…

The woman barely seemed to respond, and it took a moment of coaxing from Sakura before she let herself be lifted down, and even then she still needed to be led down the stairs themselves by the other man… How odd how different people react to these things…

It was a far cry from the first wave of people to come off, who were all too keen to get away from whatever scene was in there. First there were a few adults who were moving so fast they almost ran straight off the edge of the door, despite looking well enough to have helped if they’d wanted to. After that things were more organised; several families with children came first, the parents worriedly shielding the younger eyes as they left, then some older people who were slower to move, and in some cases unsteady enough to need escorting down the stairs. Finally came a second wave of healthy adults who were behaving much more sensibly.

Then the flow of people slowed as injuries started to become more prevalent… Some clutching their arms in lieu of a sling, some hobbling, some apparently needing a shoulder to lean on… In one case that shoulder was Kiyotaka’s…

Tears were running down his face, although he seemed to pay them no mind as he carefully encouraged the man he was helping into Sakura arms. “Ah… I might need help carrying people out now…”

“Very well, I will…” Sakura started to lift herself up to the plane.

“Actually… A lot of the seats and walls have bent… I’m not sure you’d fit. And we’ll need someone strong enough to carry people down the stairs…” Kiyotaka told her. “But if _you_ could come up…” He looked at the man behind her.

“Got it.” He nodded and then climbed up with Sakura’s help.

The next group were mostly unconscious, but hopefully well enough that they’d recover, if the doctors had allowed Kiyotaka and the other man to carry them. During this time Sakura was mostly moving up and down the staircase to take the people off of Kiyotaka and pass them over to a group of passengers who had now gathered around the plane to watch and start treating some of the more minor injuries.

“No! That’s my _brother!”_ There was a sudden break in the pattern as the screaming voice of a young boy broke the organised silence. “ _He needs help”_

“The… the doctors will help…” She could hear Kiyotaka reply weakly, moments before he came into views, the tears now pouring down his face as he silently sobbed at the cries from the young boy he was tightly gripping in his arm. “Y-you just need to give them some space…”

 _“But… But I’ve gotta help him!”_ The boy was too upset to listen as Kiyotaka crouched down and allowed Sakura to lift both of them down, _“AAAAAHHHHH!_ Let me _GOOOOOOOO!”_

Kiyotaka didn’t, seemingly immune to the boys kicking and thumps, despite the fact that she was sure some of them must have hit in the same places as Kenshiro had yesterday. Instead, he just smartly took the boy downstairs and handed him off to a pair of men, before heading back up the stairs and confidently placing one boot into Sakura’s outstretched hands to boost himself back up into the plane…

…There was blood on her hands now… Kiyotaka must have been stepping in blood… Just how bad was it in there…?

After five more unconscious people, she began to see an inkling of the answer as the victims Kiyotaka and his helper carried out became gradually more bloodied and mangled, starting with a teenage boy whose leg had merely had to be set using a metal pole as a splint, through people whose limbs had been crushed and onto some whose extremities were bound with ragged cloth were missing limbs had recently been…

Eventually, after what felt like an endless parade of the injured, a group of medical vans accompanied by armed cars arrived and people spilled out to talk to the group of people down below, several of whom pointed up at her. So it was little surprise when she was approached by two men, a paramedic who simply asked to be lifted onto the plane and an old man with white pointed hair, moustache and beard and glasses… who Sakura couldn’t help but feel had a familiarity about him, for some reason she couldn’t quite place…

“I been told you were one of the first people here…” He flashed a badge at her, “Is that correct?”

“It is, my friend was down here trying to get access to help, so I followed him.” Sakura explained, hoping she wasn’t about to be in trouble for coming here without permission.

“Did you see what happened?” Ah, it would appear not. He was just looking for witnesses…

“I did not, but my friend, Kiyotaka, was watching from that gate and saw the vehicle approaching.” Sakura told him, pointing to it. “He’s is inside attempting to help the injured…”

“I’m afraid I’m going to need to talk to him then.” He said, apologetically, “If you could be so kind as to help me up…”

Sakura crouched to let him up and he quickly disappeared into the plane, then came back a minute later, gently pushing a reluctant Kiyotaka towards the door as he did so…

“But…! I was _helping!_ I can’t just…!” Kiyotaka was crying in both senses of the word.

“And you did a good job, my boy, but you need a rest!” The investigator told him, trying to pat his back comfortingly, “And there’s going to be paramedics crawling all over the place in five minutes, you’d just be in way.”

“But… I can’t just…! _I need to help!”_ Kiyotaka was now trying to push back around him and get back inside, although it was obvious that he’d lost too much strength by now to manage it… and it was true that there would be little he could do to help here for much longer. “And what does it _matter_ who they _were!?_ They already _killed_ themselves!”

“Kiyotaka, there will be people better suited to help the injured here soon.” Sakura tried to convince him, “But there is no one better suited to giving information that might help ensure that a similar attack is not being planned elsewhere…”

“Ah _… Oh…”_ Kiyotaka’s eyes widened and he turned even paler than before at the thought. “O-of course… You’re right. I’ll go talk.” He stopped pushing back and allowed Sakura to lift him back down to the staircase, where he somewhat unsteadily made his was down the stairs and was taken off somewhere inside the airport building.

As the old man had promised, it was not long before large numbers of paramedics arrived, along with a set of cranes and winches that looked as if they might be used to lower people down from the plane. It was at this point that she and the other man with no medical knowledge were asked to move the staircase out of the way while they organised a more convenient means of entry.

“Thanks for all your help…” The man who’d asked them to move the stairs said, “You can probably go inside and get some rest now…”

…As much as her first instinct was to try and find something else do something to help, he was probably correct. The issues now were treating the injured and searching for clues as to who did this and how, neither being things she was particularly well-suited to… “Thank you.”

The air inside the building was… surprisingly cheerful. Or at least, the resilient sort of cheer that comes when a group survives as disaster and are all working together to overcome the damage. Passengers who otherwise would have sat reading books or checking their phones were gently talking to those in shock, and people who were on different flights appeared to have rallied round to buy food and drinks for the ones on theirs. Others were passing around their mobile phones, so those whose money was still on the plane could let their loved ones know they were safe.

The children are being well looked after, also. Various adults were now working in a group to talk to some of the more anxious looking ones and trying to help ease their trauma. Older children appeared to have taken it upon themselves to entertain the less daunted younger ones, including the boy who was sobbing in Kiyotaka’s arms as he was taken off the plane, but was now smiling happily as he played with the similar looking teenager whose leg was wrapped around a metal bar. They looked almost ecstatic when a cashier from a nearby shop came over and let them each pick a toy from a cheap assortment that appeared to have been hastily thrown together in a basket.

If the aim of whoever organised the horror outside was to drive people apart, or even to make them scared, they appeared to have failed spectacularly.

“Hey… do have any money or anything with you?” The man who’d been helping asked her, “I’ve still got my stuff, if you need anything…”

“Hmm… my bag was out here, but it appears to have been moved…” The seats she’d thoughtlessly thrown it one were now occupied by a group of old women. It would be disappointing if someone had taken the opportunity to steal it along Kiyotaka’s belongings… “I had best try to find it.”

Not that it would really matter in the slightest, all things considered, she could have lost a lot more than her belongings if her first plane hadn’t been late…

As it was, a member of staff and moved them behind the departure desk in order to reduce the chances of them being stolen. With that concern out of the way, she considered what to do next… she should probably eat and drink… and she had people who would probably be concerned for her wellbeing…

By the time the queue of people ahead of her had finished their calls, she had managed to eat a pair of protein bars and drink half of a large coffee with protein that a man had suddenly presented her with in appreciation of what she’d done to help. Not that it felt like she'd been able to do much… but perhaps it might have helped save a handful of lives. That would have been reward enough by itself.

Kenshiro was asleep when she rang, so she left a message with his nurses to say she was well. Her father had not heard about the attack, but was glad to hear she was safe regardless of it. So that just left…

“Hello…? Who is this?” Hina’s voice sounded cautiously optimistic as she answered.

“Hello, Hina, it is I…”

 _“SAKURA! You’re OK!”_ Hina cried down the phone in joy, and in the background she could hear several more voices chattering in excitement at the news, “We heard about your flight, but there’s nothing on who’s alive or not and it seemed like it was ages ago and we’d not heard and is Kiyotaka alright!?”

“He is unharmed. Our previous flight was delayed so we were not on board during the attack…” Sakura told her, and Hina relayed it back to the others, who all cheered in response. “He is currently being questioned about what he saw of the attack. And I am sorry for the delay, but we were trying to help those injured in the attacks.”

“Yeah… Makoto and Sayaka have been saying that for the last hour…” Hina giggled in relief, “But I just kept getting worried… well, we _all_ were!”

“I am sure if our positions were reversed it would be just the same…” Sakura admitted.

“Hah! Like I’d go on a plane with a _bomb_ on it! You guys are crazy! I mean, what were you _thinking!?”_ Hina scolded her, “(What!? Alright, _fine,_ I’ll tell her!) Also, Togami’s saying he’s booked a room for you at a nearby hotel, and he can arrange transport for you to get back here, but not until tomorrow because the area’s on high alert… and he’s got some staff at the airport who’ll take you there, so stay where you are, okay?”

“Give him my thanks.” Sakura requested, it was indeed generous of him. “And, as much as I wish to talk, I should probably allow others to use the phone now…”

“Oh yeah… I guess it must be pretty crazy over there…” Hina sighed anxiously, “Thanks for letting me know you’re alright… and… umm… I think it’d help Mondo if you get Kiyotaka to give him a call, once he’s finished…” The last part was said quietly.

“I will do.” Sakura promised, “And I’ll call again once I am at the hotel.”

“Thanks and… be careful, Sakura.” Hina asked her in a worried voice.

Was she worried their might be more attacks? “…I will do.” Sakura assured her, before hanging up the phone.

So, now there was little to do but wait for Kiyotaka and Togami’s staff…

* * *

“So… A brand new black jeep of _this_ model, with the license plate painted over in black paint, came from the opposite end of the runway, ran over a man and then crashed into the plane…” The old man, who reminded him of the headmaster for some reason, was summing up what little information Kiyotaka had been able to tell him, “Then eight people, all wearing the same black-and-white bear costume, that looked like _this…”_ He held up the sketch Kiyotaka had attempted to draw, “All got out and lined up alongside the plane, except for the driver who stayed in the car, then they all looked as if they were laughing for a moment, before they exploded.”

“Yes.” Kiyotaka agreed… Was that really all he'd been able to tell them? How were they supposed to work out who did this from _that!?_ He hadn't been able to tell them any identifying information at all! Had he not been paying enough attention? Should he have been looking elsewhere for clues? He must have done _something_ wrong, but _what!?_

“That’ll be a good start…” _Would it really!?_ Kiyotaka couldn’t help but feel like he was being patronised… “Is there anything else you can think of that was notable?”

“Ah…” Come on, Kiyotaka! _Think!_ This was his last chance to actually _help!_ There must be _something_ he could say!

“…Anything you thought was important at the time, even if it seems odd or inconsequential now?”

Anything he’d thought at the time…? “I… the bears!” Kiyotaka remembered, “I felt like I ought to know them from something…”

“…Can you remember where? They’re not anything we’re familiar with…”

…Come _on!_ Why couldn't he remember this!? It was _important!_ Why hadn’t he paid more attention when he’d… heard about them? Or was it something he'd read? Couldn't he even remember _that_ much!? “…I’m sorry I… I don't remember…” _He was useless…_

“That’s understandable… you’ve been through a lot! But if you do manage to remember, or you think of anything else at all, here’s my number.” The man in charge handed him a card with his picture and a phone number, but no name.

“I… I’ll do my best to think of _something…!”_ Kiyotaka promised… after all there must be _something_ else he could do to help…

“Thank you very much… These men will take you back to the departure gate now.” 

Kiyotaka dutifully followed the two men he’d been told to… He felt like the bears were something written down, but why couldn’t he remember what the words were? Had he heard it second hand from someone else? But who? Or when? Or where even? He felt like it had to have been at school, so sometime over the last year…

 _He was being shaken!_ Was this another attack…!?

“Hey! Kid! Did you hear me?”

“Ah…” It took a moment for Kiyotaka to process what was happening… he was just being shaken by one of the men he was following… They must have been trying to talk to him… “I’m sorry, I was trying to think why I knew those bears…”

“Alright, but… we’re _here_ now, so you can stop following us, alright?”

“Ah… understood!” Kiyotaka told them, and they headed back the way they came with one final concerned glance at him… and the room they’d taken him to…

The departure area was in chaos. There was already more people here than seats for them to sit on, and it was only getting worse as more people were arriving to find their own flights had been delayed by the attack as well. Most of them had to stand, or find somewhere to on the floor to sit, as the chairs were being reserved for the injured…

And there were so many injured, now that he saw them all sat together rather than helping them all out person-by-person… Bruises, broken bones and cuts were in abundance… and they didn’t even include the most severely injured, the ones who’d been caught by flying shrapnel, or hit by their own hand luggage, or crushed by the seats near the engines. The ones who’d been crying out in pain and covered in blood, the ones they couldn’t even _try_ to help because there was already nothing they could do _to_ help before he’d got on the plane. So many people dead and there was nothing he could do…

No… _no!_ There was always _something_ he could do! He couldn’t just here staring at everyone, he had to go and _help!_ He had to _work_ to _fix_ this! That’s always what he did… And that’s what he was going to do right now, he was going to head back out to the plane and…

“You can’t go outside.”

 _What?_ No that couldn’t be right… he must have misunderstood… “I’m going to go help…”

“I get you, kid, but there’s enough people out there now, you’d be in the way.”

“No, I… I was helping earlier!”

“I know, but we’re handling this now. You can go rest.”

 _Rest?_ That wouldn’t help anyone! “No! I don’t need to rest! I can help…! _Please_ let me…”

“Kiyotaka...” He was being held back. “Kiyotaka, I understand you want to stop people’s suffering, but what he says is true. The time when we could help has passed…”

Time… had passed? It was over? There was nothing he could do now?

…There was nothing he could _now…_ but people were still in pain. Why? Why wasn’t there anything he could do to help? Had he done something wrong?

That must be it… there was nothing he could do _now,_ but there must have been something he _could_ have done something earlier… Something was pushed in his hand and someone said something about needing to drink… should he have got the victims water? By the time they’d been carrying them out they had probably needed it, so why hadn’t he thought to do that!? And someone was mentioning talking… he probably should have helped talk to the victims who’d been in shock, but he hadn’t had _time!_ He’d been too busy to do anything but carry people out over and over and over and they _still_ hadn’t managed to get everyone out! There hadn’t been enough people helping… He should have brought more people to help, like Sakura had! And he should have gone after those first few men who’d run out of the plane and dragged them back, like he was being dragged somewhere…

What else had he done wrong…? Someone was shouting at him about telling him something…of course, he already knew he’d messed that up, and someone else said something about waiting… That’s what Kiyotaka had done, wasn’t it… when those bears showed up, he’d stood watching them, instead of running outside to help… Maybe if he’d been out there, he would have been able to help? But that’s what the ground crew did and they all died and didn’t help… no it was obvious! He should have run straight to the other gate, then waited until the bomb went off, and then run to help… He might have been able to get the stairs up there faster and that would have been a few seconds saved…

…But was that _all_ he could have done? That wouldn’t have changed anything! But he couldn’t think of anything else! Why wasn’t there anything better he could have done, and why hadn’t he thought to do it at the time? Why was he so useless!? Why…

“TAKA, WILL YA JUST FUCKING SAY _SOMETHING!?”_

“…Mondo…!?” That was who had just shouted at him… “Why are you here, Mondo …?” Wasn’t he supposed to be back at Hope’s Peak…?

“What!? Whaddya _mean,_ why am I…? _You’re on the PHONE!”_

...That made sense, he was holding something, wasn’t he…? Wait… the phones… could he have used the phone to call for help instead of telling the airport staff to…?

“TAKA, WHY ARNE’T YOU _TALKING!?”_

“…I’m thinking.” …After all, just because the staff’s own commu…

“Think out _loud,_ then!”

“…The staff’s communicators being down didn’t mean _all_ communications were down, so I should have tried to use the payphones to call for help instead of just watching what happened…”

“What?” Oh, right, Mondo wouldn’t know what had happened.

“Someone attacked the plane I was supposed to be getting, and…”

“I know that! It’s all over the news! What I mean is, why’re ya worrying about shit like that?”

“I… I was trying to figure out what I could have done to help…”

“But… ya _did_ help! Sakura just said ya figured out how ta get into the plane and ya got a coupla doctors on and…”

“But… it wasn’t enough! There were still people we were too late to help… But maybe if I hadn’t stood around staring for long I could have done something quicker, or if I’d thought to try different methods of calling for help we could have prevented the attack or…”

“Well… I dunno, maybe ya could’ve done little things different here and there, but no one’s gonna be perfect in that sorta situation! And at least ya did _something!”_

“But I could have done _more…”_

“I doubt it, but either way, it won’t help anyone if you just keep looking back and thinking it over and over in your head… You’ve gotta keep moving, and think about what ya need to do in the future instead of dwelling on what ya _coulda_ done in the past.”

“The… future?” What future? All he could think of was the damage from the explosion and those people crying for help and the blood and…”

“Yeah, the _future!_ Like… for starters, you’re gonna eat and drink something! Then you’re gonna get taken to a hotel and be able to wash up, eat some more and try and get some sleep…” Mondo told him, “Then tomorrow you’re gonna get brought back here, and I’m gonna be waiting ta give ya a hug and the notes for the classes ya missed. Then you’re probably gonna insist on going ta class for the rest of the week instead of resting like a normal person…”

“Of course I am! I can’t waste time…” Kiyotaka started to point out.

“Yeah, I know… Then next weekend you’re gonna have your debate with Togami, cause the council said they’d move it back a week and just have a normal meeting with the old lot tonight, and you’re gonna kick his ass, become president and forge ties with the reserve course like ya wanna.” Mondo continued, “And that’s gonna look all kinds of impressive once ya get out of Hope’s Peak so then you’ll be made Prime Minister and make it so we can get married and get a house together with some dogs and maybe even some kids who everyone’s gonna be jealous of ‘cause they’re _Ishimarus_ like _you!”_

…Achieving his dream? Him and Mondo living happily together? A family who were _proud_ of his name? It all sounded wonderful, but… “I think you missed a few steps, there. Between becoming council president and Prime Minister…”

“Well… why don’t ya try and think about what those are tonight?” Mondo suggested.

“Yes… once I’ve washed up… at the hotel… which I’ll be taken to once I’ve eaten and drank something…”

“Yeah. Which ya oughta go do now…” Mondo told him.

But that would mean hanging up on Mondo… “I… I don’t want to hang up yet…”

“Neither do I but… you sound like you haven’t drunk anything for hours…” Mondo sighed, “You can probably ring me up from the hotel… just look after yourself, first.”

Look after _himself…_ how would that help anyone…

“Taka, _please?”_ Mondo pleaded, “I’m worried about you… Hell, I’ve been worrying all afternoon that you’d been blown up and killed and I was never gonna see ya again and I had no idea what the fuck I was gonna do…”

Oh… It would help _Mondo…_ “But I’m fine! You don’t need to worry about that!” Kiyotaka assured him, “I… I’m going to go now, but I’ll get myself a drink and some food, then go to the hotel and ring you there, alright?”

“Alright… thanks…” Mondo muttered, “I love you.”

“And I…” Wait… he was in a crowded airport… “Err… the feeling’s mutual!”

“… _Pffft!”_ Mondo started laughing at him, “Ya coulda just said ‘you to’, ya _nerd!”_

“Well _excuse me_ for having a good vocabulary, you _delinquent!”_ Despite everything, Kiyotaka couldn’t resist the urge to smile and join in the joke…

“Bahahaha! Seriously though, be careful… cause if you get yourself killed, I’mma beat the shit outta you, ya hardass!”

“And if _you_ ever get yourself killed I’m giving you detention for a _year!”_

“Hahaha! Hah… ahh… I can’t wait ta see you tomorrow…” Mondo’s laugh turned into a sigh.

“Neither can I…” Kiyotaka agreed. “I’ll ring as soon as I get to the hotel, alright?”

“Alright… see ya, Taka.” Mondo put the phone down… probably because he realised Kiyotaka wouldn’t have done it. It was hard enough forcing his hand to put it back on the stand even knowing Mondo’s voice _wasn’t_ on the other side of it.

“Kiyotaka, here…” Sakura gently led him away from the phone with one hand while holding out a carton of juice and an unwrapped energy bar with the other.

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka started with the juice… which hit his tongue with a sweeter and more vibrant taste than he’d ever had, and he soon found himself gulping down the entire thing without even taking the time to breathe… and it was then, as the liquid travelled down to his empty stomach, that he realised just how _hungry_ he was and shoved as much of the energy bar into his mouth at once as possible and started chewing frantically…

And then regretted it as he realised he’d literally bitten off more than he could chew comfortably and had to stop walking in order to force himself to slowly swallow it all and then catch his breath afterwards.

“Feeling better?” Sakura asked, to which he nodded as he shoved a smaller piece of energy bar into his mouth this time, “I have more juice if you…”

She laughed as Kiyotaka nodded even harder and handed him another carton. It didn’t taste as good as before, but it still went some way to quenching his thirst… “Thank you!”

“You are welcome…” She told him, “Now it seems we have little to do but wait for the member of Togami’s staff who has agreed to take us to this hotel…”

“Now hold on a minute!” Kiyotaka jumped slightly at the sound of Tochikura’s voice, “I still need to talk to him!”

“Err… _me!?”_ Kiyotaka asked. Was he upset that Kiyotaka hadn’t managed to get him on the flight after all?

“Yes, _you!”_ The Diet member looked incredibly annoyed that Kiyotaka had tried to confirm that…

“He tried to speak with you while you were in the queue for the phone and… _thinking.”_

…And Kiyotaka hadn’t even realised, let alone responded to him… “Err… I’m sorry about that! I… I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before, and…” He tried to explain.

“Never mind _that!_ I saw you going off to talk those people!” He interrupted testily, “Did they _tell_ you anything!?”

“Err… they said the jeep was a Wrangler Unlimited version…” Kiyotaka remembered… although they’d have him look through pictures of them to make sure they got the right one first, so did that count…?

“I don’t mean about the attack! I mean about our _flight!”_

“Err… our flight?” What about their flight? It had been exploded… what else was there to know…?

“Yes! Did they say when we’re going to be able to _leave!?”_ He demanded.

“Err… no! They just needed me to tell them about the attackers.” Kiyotaka explained.

“And you didn’t think to ask them any questions in exchange?” He muttered irritably.

“No! They’re busy trying to make sure nothing _else_ like this happens again! I’d say that’s more important than our travel plans for the moment!” Kiyotaka argued, “That’s assuming they’d even know, which I don’t think they would as they’re not associated with the airport!”

“Well, it’s not like the airport staff are managed to get their act together and help, either!” He complained.

…’G _et their act together’?_

Kiyotaka looked around the room and out of the window… there wasn’t a member of the building’s staff who wasn’t either guarding something, dashing around from one point to another, taking count of the people who’d been on the plane or outside assisting with the recovery effort.

“…With all due respect, sir, I think they’re too busy trying to _save_ the _lives_ of the people _injured in a terrorist attack_ to be giving out general travel advice!” Kiyotaka pointed out, as sternly as he dared talk to one of the longest standing members of the _Diet._ “You’d probably be better off arranging a different form of transportation, if you need to leave _that_ quickly!”

“I suppose, but I shouldn’t _have_ to!” He moaned, “I mean, how did they even get that close to the plane anyway! Didn’t anyone bother to try and stop them!”

“Yes, they did!” Kiyotaka answered, “I saw one man attempted to divert the car upon it’s approach, but he was run over as a result. There were also five member of the ground staff who attempted to apprehend the bombers just before the detonation!”

“Oh… I see… that’s… that’s a _tragic_ loss of life…” He sighed, “They should never have been put in that situation…”

“Indeed…” They’d just been trying to do their job, going to work every day, probably not earning a fantastic wage, but still doing the very best they could to provide for themselves and families, like his father always di…

“…And the police force keeps asking for more money when they apparently can’t even stop some idiots getting a bomb into an _airport!_ Maybe if they actually made the staff they’ve already got get on with their _jobs_ instead of taking advantage of taxpayer funds, then…”

 _“How DARE you! I KNOW policemen and not ONE of them is ‘taking advantage of taxpayer funds’!”_ What little patience Kiyotaka had for this _stupid man_ and his _constant complaining_ was gone in a flash, “If _anything,_ most of them are wearing themselves to the _bone_ doing the work of at least one-and-half, if not _two,_ men! And they _still_ wish they were able to do even _more_ than they already are! They became policemen because they wanted to do the right thing for their country, help protect the innocent and bring criminals to justice! _Not_ to take advantage of the government!”

…It looked like he didn’t have anything to say to that. He was just staring at Kiyotaka in shock…

“…You’re talking about your _father_ , aren’t you?” Sakura, on the other hand, pointed out his potential bias regarding the subject…

“Not _just_ my father! He’s told me enough stories about his coworkers for me to know that the only reason _any_ of them could have allowed something like this to happen would either be because the attackers were clever enough to organise all of this without leaving any form of paper trail _whatsoever_ , _or_ because the counter-terrorism unit is so overworked and underfunded that they weren’t _able_ to follow up on any suspicious clues these people left behind in enough _time_ to stop it!” Kiyotaka explained to Sakura, somewhat angrily. “If it’s the former case, then that’s _no one’s_ fault, and if it’s the _latter_ than the blame lies with those _setting the national policing budget!”_

Sakura blinked at him in surprise, her gaze slowly moving away from him and towards…

Oh gods… _Tochikura!_ He’d just blamed this attack on the _Diet,_ in front of _one of its longest serving members!_

“That’s a very simplistic view of how the police force works.” He told Kiyotaka, stiffly, “They’re capable of prioritising more important tasks.”

“Err… of course!” Kiyotaka agreed, apologetically, “I just meant they might not have been _aware_ at the time that it _could_ be important, and that’s why they didn’t…”

“ _And_ there’s a lot of thought that goes into setting the national budget every year.” He carried on. “As much as we’d _like_ to be able to give every public service every bit of funding they’d _like_ to receive, in reality we have to make a lot of… very _difficult_ decisions regarding what we can and can’t _actually_ afford, and set tight budgets to ensure that wastage of public funds is reduced as much as possible.”

“I…” Kiyotaka started to try and apologise…

“Now I believe I have to organise new travel arrangements. Good day.” He walked off before Kiyotaka got the chance…

 _Urrrghh!_ What had he been _thinking!?_ Ranting like some crazed idiot and insulting a Diet member right in front of him! So much for making a good impression on him! If his father heard about this, he’d probably never speak to Kiyotaka again!

* * *

(Monday, September 17th 2012)

It would appear that sleep was going to be a stranger to Sakura tonight…

It was not a matter of comfort or noise. Togami had found the pair of them a twin room in a luxurious hotel with beds even more comfortable than those at Hope’s Peak. And Kiyotaka was lying so still and quietly that he almost appeared to be dead. Perfect conditions in which to sleep.

And yet, somewhat expectedly, her mind kept wandering back to the events of today, wondering if there had indeed been anything different the pair of them could have done to help more, or how the attackers had managed to breach the airport’s security, or _why_ they’d done so…

She’d been given hints of one possible answer to that last question… Hina’s parting words from both their her phone calls, the conversation Kiyotaka had had with Oowada, along with the incredibly circuitous and cautious route Togami’s butler had taken on the route to the hotel, all combined with a snippet of a report on the attack she’d overheard from the television in the hotel bar…

_“…The attackers may have been targeting a pair of Hope’s Peak students, who were returning from a weekend trip…”_

Of course, there had been other forms of speculation… other possible targets were included the arrogant politician Kiyotaka had argued with earlier, a well-known movie actor who’d been travelling to his next filming location, or perhaps just the sheer _number_ of people who had been on board the flight.

…But what if it _had_ been her and Kiyotaka? Had she made this same trip so many times, that they’d learnt her routine and found a way to target her? Should she vary her plans, or perhaps stop visiting Kenshiro altogether…?

But it may be that that was exactly the type of thinking they were hoping to elicit from her, and various other people. These types of attacks were usually intended to cause fear after all… so would cowering away from travel be playing into their hands? Or was it merely a reasonable precaution? Was she even willing to stop seeing Kenshiro? Should she be? She was no criminal. She’d done nothing to deserve being forced to stay in one place to ensure her own safety… But it might not just be her own safety, but that of other people… unless it turned out that the perpetrators of the attack had a different motive entirely…

…This was futile. There was little solace to be found on meditating on how she should react to something that might not have been the case in the first place. She should do something to take her mind away from such thoughts… perhaps some light exercise, or if the bar was still open she could ask for some warm milk to help her sleep…

She sat up quietly, so as not to wake Kiyotaka…

“Is something the matter?” Kiyotaka asked her from his own bed, “Or could you not sleep either?”

“You were not asleep?” Had he been paralysed with thought again or just avoiding moving and waking her?

“No… I just… I know Mondo told me not to, but I keep thinking about the explosion and… everything _else_ that happened today!” Likely including how ‘rudely’ he considered himself to have behaved to that ridiculous old man. “…Would you mind if I turn on the news? I just… want to know if they’ve… got any leads… or information on people who are safe… or if there’s been any other attacks at all…”

So, in order to process the events of today, he intended to study them… like every other thing that ever troubled his mind. “That is fine. I was intending to go to the bar for warm milk, if possible. Would you like anything?”

“…Maybe some cocoa would help me sleep…” He commented, although it not was in an overly hopeful tone, “If you wouldn’t mind.”

“It is no problem…”

Upon her return, Kiyotaka’s eyes was sitting up in bed, eyes transfixed by the large television on the opposite side of the room, which was currently showing a reporter standing in front of a small room filled with chairs that were facing a row of empty seats behind a table on a stage at the back…

“The police are about answer questions.” Kiyotaka explained, as she handed him his drink. “And they said that word’s going around that there should be an update into the investigation by now, as well!”

“I see.” Perhaps that would shed some light onto who the attack had been targeting…

After several minutes of pointless discussion where the reporters attempted to guess at what was going to be said, a well-dressed, albeit tired-looking, policeman entered the room and sat in the middle of the row of tables, adjusting the microphone that had been placed in front of him as he did so and began reading from a series of cue cards…

_“Regarding today’s attack, I can tell you that at around 1:35 pm, a group of what is currently thought to be eight people in costumes, travelling in an off-road vehicle, gained access to the airport by blasting a hole in the fence near a non-functional security camera. They then proceeded to drive into a 747-I8, the largest plane in operation at this time, and set off a series of thermobaric bombs along the side of the aircraft. We can confirm that there have been twenty-five deaths counted so far, and thirty-four people are currently in critical condition. Our thoughts go out to those people, and their friends and family…”_

Those poor people…

“Twenty-five, _already?”_ Kiyotaka was already beginning to tear up again.

_“Due to the calculated nature of this attack, and the large number of civilians targeted, we are treating this as a terrorist attack. I can also tell you that no groups of individuals have claimed responsibility for this attack so far, but we are continuing investigations into the perpetrators of this attack and the source of such high-powered explosive devices. I will now take questions.”_

“That’s all they know?” Kiyotaka sighed, “If only I’d been able to give them better clues… Or figure out where I’d heard of those bears from…”

“Bears?” Sakura asked, paying half her attention to the television in case motives were asked about…

“The bombers were all dressed in black-and-white bear costumes…” Kiyotaka clarified, “And I was _sure_ I’ve heard of something like that, but I can’t think of _where…”_

Sakura could only assume he wasn’t talking about panda bears… but she couldn’t help but think he was correct and she had heard about them as well… “The school paper… Hinai claimed to have seen them late at night…”

 _“Of course!_ How could I have forgot _that!”_ Kiyotaka slapped himself, “I’ve got to let that investigator know right _now!”_ He dashed over to the telephone and quickly dialled a number written on a card from his pocket… Only for his face to slowly tighten in concern… “The signal’s not getting through…” He sighed as he put the phone back down. “I’ll have to try again later… And ask Hinai for a more detailed description of them and see if they match up!”

“Indeed.” Sakura agreed, just at the policeman on the television told a reporter that they did not know the motive for the attack, or if any specific people on the flight had been the target…

But if those bears really _had_ been seen at Hope’s Peak, it seemed all the more likely that the target was either herself or Kiyotaka…

_“Is it true that you’ve taken a man into questioning regarding this attack?”_

_“I cannot disclose information on the progress of the investigation at this time…”_

“The isn’t really telling us anything, is it?” Kiyotaka commented, “Perhaps we should try to sleep again?”

It was a fair suggestion. The questions were getting less informative answers as time went on…

_“Have you seen the footage of Representative Tochikura’s argument with Ishimaru? The Hope’s Peak student?”_

“..What!?” Kiyotaka’s head snapped back to the screen, “What is she talking about…!?”

 _“…I have, yes.”_ The policeman seemed to smiling somewhat…

“Someone _recorded_ that!?” Kiyotaka cried, “And there are _chiefs of police_ that have seen it!?”

_“Your thoughts on Ishimaru’s comments, sir?”_

“Now _everyone’s_ seen my deluded ranting at a _Diet member!_ I’m _RUINED!”_ Kiyotaka continued panicking, “…Father’s never going to speak to me _again!”_

“…Kiyotaka, I am sure that footage is not as damning as you believe…” Certainly, no one there in the airport had thought less of him for standing up for his father and every other hard working member of the police…

 _“…I can’t make any comments regarding this particular attack.”_ Kiyotaka fell silent as the policeman on screen began to answer the question, _“However, I DO still stand by my previous comments, warning the government that their cuts to the police force would, and now HAS, resulted in a reduced level of security across the nation, not just from terror attacks but from everyday crime as well… Not to mention that the force is made up of many hard working men and women whose efforts deserve to be recognised!”_

“…What?” Kiyotaka stared at the screen in confusion, as the reporters all also responded to the statement with surprise, every one of them clamouring to have their questions heard.

 _“No more questions…”_ The policeman left, calmly pushing aside reporters as he did so…

“I don’t understand… what did that have to do with _me…?”_ Kiyotaka’s brows furrowed at the screen… He really couldn’t make the connection… or perhaps he didn’t dare to hope there was one…

“You said that the police work hard and are underfunded.” Sakura reminded him, “His thoughts on the matter are that the police are underfunded and work hard…”

“…You think he’s _agreeing_ with me!?” Kiyotaka looked flabbergasted.

“Why would he not? It is not as if your comments on the workload of your father and his colleagues were a lie, is it?” Sakura asked.

“Of course not… but… Representative Tochikura has been serving on the Diet for _years!_ Surely _he’d_ have a better understanding than I do!”

“But surely, the people running the police force itself would understand it even more so…”

 _“Interesting comments from the police chief, there…”_ The scene on the television had cut to a different room, where a news anchor looked to be hosting a discussion with between a two other men…

 _“Well, he WOULD say that! He’s hardly going to point out how rude the kid was being when he was saying the police ought to get more funding, is he!?”_ The older of the two others started negatively.

“Of course…” Kiyotaka sighed…

 _“You call that RUDE!? How about SHAKING a man who’s in shock because he witnessed as group of suicide bombers and then spent almost three hours tending to the wounded? Or doing nothing but complain about the delay while he’s recovering by talking to a friend? Or demanding trivial information from someone who’s obviously starving and trying to eat!?”_ The younger of the two men countered, _“If anything, that video’s a perfect example of how out of touch the Diet is with the needs of the country!”_

 _“The Diet is not ‘out of touch’!”_ The older one argued back, _“Running a country is a far more complicated matter than that kid could understand! As Representative Tochikura said, they have to carefully consider what the country can and can’t afford and…”_

 _“…and decide that it CAN afford to pay Representatives twenty-one million Yen a year, plus up to 12 million in expenses!?”_ The younger one interrupted.

_“Diet members are required to be highly skilled and learned… The high salary prevents them from needing to take other jobs or be susceptible to corruption…”_

_“Then how do you justify the amount we spend on the military, when the government’s own nurses need to resort to food banks to feed their children!”_

_“Our country’s security is important! As these attacks today showed!”_

“…This is ridiculous! They’re just arguing over _me,_ instead of informing people about the bombing!” Kiyotaka complained, reached for the remote and switching to a different news channel…

_“A lot of people are saying that’s the sort of attitude politics needs…”_

…Who were _also_ discussing Kiyotaka.

_“Hah! Don’t they remember his grandfather!?”_

_“But he’s NOT his grandfather! All accounts say he only does as well as he does because of a strict study regime! He understands the value of hard work!”_

“Here too!?” Kiyotaka complained and changed the channel… To one where a picture of himself, covered in blood and shoving the energy bar from earlier into his mouth, was being shown…

_“Just LOOK at him! He’s unelectable! He’d never survive the media gauntlet…”_

_“That’s after he spent three hours carrying the wounded out of a bomb site! And what does it matter what he looks like in the media when he already has thousands of young people saying they’d vote for him based off of one Youtube video?”_

“This is ridiculous… I haven’t got anywhere _near_ getting into politics yet…” Kiyotaka sighed and changed the channel again…

_“…Everyone’s acting like he’s this new voice for the common man, but keep in mind that this is a boy going to a prestigious boarding school! How’s he supposed to understand the plight of the average, working man?”_

_“Because his father is one! From all accounts I can find, Takaaki Ishimaru has been diligently working for the police force for over a decade! With little recognition for his hard work, all while having to juggle the costs of raising a child AND pay off his father’s debts!”_

“Ahh…?” Kiyotaka’s finger froze, hovering over the remote.

_“Well… that rather proves Tochikura’s point about the police being the place to find cushy, well-paid jobs!”_

_“He joined BEFORE any of the controversies surrounding Toranosuke came to light! And that was DESPITE his father being able to offer him any number of ‘cushy, well paid jobs’! He’s someone who joined the force because he felt it was his duty to serve his country and then stuck with it regardless of how hard it got! It’s no wonder his son showed so much respect to the police earlier!”_

_“Well… just because he sympathises with the police, doesn’t mean he understands all professions…”_

_“Expect in the video he stands up for the airport staff as well, when…”_

“Argh… can’t they go back to talking about Father…?” Kiyotaka pleaded, tears beginning to well in his eyes as this pair turned their attention back to him. “I don’t think I’ve _ever_ heard anyone say anything that nice about him before!”

“Well… I am sure it will not be the last time.” Sakura tried to assure him.

“What? Why not?”

“Because they are talking about you… and despite what he may wish at the moment, your father’s reputation is tied to yours…” Sakura explained.

“But… that’s _terrible!”_ Kiyotaka cried, _“_ That’s exactly what he didn’t want! I’ve made myself look like an idiot and now _he’ll_ get dragged down with me!”

What did he mean? “Kiyotaka, were you not listening to what those people were saying just now?”

“Of course I was! They were saying I’m a rude child, and liable to repeat my grandfather’s mistakes, assuming I’m elected which is unlikely given I’m unelectable and I won’t understand the plight of the average man…” Kiyotaka was only listing off the negative parts…

“Did you not listen to the responses?” Sakura asked, “The ones who said you grew up in that very plight, and that people already wish to vote for you, because you are not your grandfather…”

“Of course I heard that! But those were all opposition members! The people who actually have _power_ were all insulting me…”

Those people were all politicians? And it was the current rulers who’d reacted badly to him… “Ah. I understand… they fear you.”

 _“What!?”_ Kiyotaka exclaimed, “I’m just a child! They’re all respected elders…!”

“Are they?” Sakura asked, she’d couldn’t have named any of them…

“What? Of course they are! They run the country! Everyone respects them!” He insisted, “There’s no reason for them to be afraid of _me!”_

“Hmm… perhaps it would have been more fair to say that they fear what you represent…”

“You mean… Hope’s Peak?” Kiyotaka misunderstood.

“No… I meant you represent _change…”_ Hmm…he still didn’t understand… “You say everyone respects them, but the amount of support you garnered by shouting at one of them would suggest otherwise…”

“But, that’s just younger people!”

“Younger people who will only grow their numbers as time moves on…” Sakura pointed out, “Whereas the older ones who support them are dying out… and they know it.”

“But… by that time the younger people will be older and not support me anymore…”

“Ah… no… I did not mean that you can only appeal to those under a certain age.” Sakura corrected him, “I mean that the world is changing over time, and the young of today have grown up with different values to the older generations… values that are represented by people like _you,_ not _them._ That is why they are already trying to launch their strongest offense at you… because they see you as a threat, and know you will only grow stronger with time.”

“Hmm…” Kiyotaka considered it. “But that would be _completely_ irresponsible of them!”

“…How so?”

“There’s just been a _terrorist attack_ and instead of discussing how to make sure something like that never happens again or showing respect for the dead, or talking about how to help the victims, they’re all just trying to shore up their political advantage! It’s… it’s _shameful_ and… and…”

“Out of touch with the needs of the country?” Sakura suggested.

“Yes! Exactly!” Kiyotaka agreed, before considering it more. “…That was one of the things that was said in my favour, wasn’t it?” He remembered.

“Indeed… change is like a strong current. Those who struggle to move against it put themselves at risk of being destroyed by it…”

“You mean… you think they’re just making themselves look _less_ respectable by attacking me like that?” He asked.

“Yes. All you need to do is stand fast and keep championing for what you believe is right, and others will follow your lead.”

Kiyotaka thought on that for a while, a light smile slowly spreading across his face… “Thank you… You know… for the first time, I’m starting to think I might understand how I could actually become Prime Minister… besides putting in as much effort as I can, that it!”

Ah… always espousing his belief in effort… some things would never change, regardless of how much they had both had grown over the past year…

“…I just wish it hadn’t taken a terrorist attack for me to find out.” Kiyotaka continued, “I’d give up any chance of being Prime Minister if it meant I could have stopped those bombs…”

“Yes… it has certainly been… a tragic day.” Sakura sighed, “But… try not to dwell on it too much. I believe Oowada suggested you consider how to ensure similar events do not occur again…”

“Yes! I could start by campaigning to increase the priority given to the police budget… or just _all_ emergency services funding, to make sure that victims can get medical treatment as soon as possible… Maybe I’ll try…. to start a petition… if there isn’t… one… alread…”

…He’d fallen asleep with his back leant against the wall and his head on his chest. It was understandable, given he’d already been injured even before the exhausting events of the day began, and the thought of being able to make a difference had put his mind at rest just enough for him to succumb to sleep…

She could only hope that his life went the way he planned, and he’d get the chance to make the changes that he, and seemingly so many others, were so desperate to see happen…

But until then, perhaps some light exercise would help take her mind off of the events of the day. Or she could pray that she would not be involved in anymore horrifying attacks…

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s it! Thank you for reading! It’s certainly been a bizarre year for myself, actually managing to write something this long and actually finish it!  
> So what next? My plan for this AU is that it will continue into the DR:IF timeline, so the next fic in this timeline will probably focus on the Tradegy unfolding. However before I start writing that, I will probably take a break from this AU for a few months. I have a few shorter fics I’m working on, plus I’d like to build up a buffer for the DR/Pokemon AU I’m writing. I also have a slightly longer (like 100,000-150,000 words maybe) spin off fic that I was originally intending to write and upload before carrying on with this AU itself, because it becomes partly relevant to something I was planning to write later in THIS AU. (It’s set in the Universe Yamada creates in his doujin for Kiyotaka’s birthday, where Kiyotaka is a magical robot. The idea being that Yamada writes something in it specifically to help Kiyotaka get over something in the future.). Plus I need to play Despair Girls and finish watching DR3 so I can decide what elements of those I will be including in the future of this AU. (I’ve already realised that I might be changing the timeline set up in Despair Girls, regarding when the captives are captures…)  
> If you want notifications about my work, you can subscribe to my AO3 user account (pretty much everything I write is Dangan-Ronpa focusing on Taka and Mondo) or I have a tumblr blog, which mostly is just where I write stuff (although there is the odd political reblog) here: http://charlotteml1.tumblr.com/  
> But, once again, thanks for all of the Hits, Kudos and Comments on this fic! I hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll be interested in my work in the future!


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